MEMBERSHIP
If You Build It , They Will Come ______________________________________________________________
JACQUELINE L . PAYNE Atlanta Legal Aid jlpayne @ atlantalegalaid . org
I have always loved that quote from “ Field of Dreams .” Serving on the Lawyer Referral and Information Service ( LRIS ) Board of Trustees has certainly been that type of experience . I have now been on the Board for four years and am presently about to end my term as Chair . During my time on the Board , I have focused on growth and recruitment .
We presently have 195 attorneys signed up to take cases . We have worked on beefing up our Family Law area , as that is the biggest need , both on the regular LRIS referrals , and on our Modest Means panel . We still need you ! Please sign up if you have not already . We are still building and growing .
For me , as a Legal Aid attorney , I love that there is a resource for those applicants I encounter who are over income for Legal Aid , or otherwise ineligible for Legal Aid . Serving on the Board has given me a better understanding of the case types available for referral , and of the need for attorneys in the areas that receive the most calls . Director Lucia Keller ( LRIS ) has indicated that the office receives more than four thousand calls each month ! There is definitely a need for more attorneys to sign up . The sheer volume of calls each month , if able to be placed , could provide a steady revenue stream for your law practice . There is an urgent and a particular need for family law attorneys , but all practice areas are open . This is the time to sign up ! The Atlanta Bar Association and LRIS membership enrollment period is just commencing .
Keller and her staff work hard to make sure that placements happen . I thank her for her support and kindness during my tenure as Board Chair .
Bar M & DCP , Atlanta Bar SLIP , AVLF , Atlanta Legal Aid , GAIN , Georgia Innocence Project , Gideon ’ s Promise , the Latina American Association , and Pro Bono Partnership of Atlanta . It would be wonderful to be able to increase the Foundation ’ s funding of these grants . One of the ways to do that is to of course have more members of the Bar sign up for LRIS . LRIS provides a wonderful opportunity for attorneys building a practice .
I want to thank my entire Board for their excellent service on behalf of LRIS . Thanks to Hon . Fatima Harris Felton ( The Harris Law Firm LLC ), who will be Board Chair for the 2023-2024 fiscal year . I appreciate her support as Vice-Chair .
A big THANKS to departing members James D . Blitch IV ( Blitch Law PC ), Kana Anne E . Caplan ( Krevolin & Horst LLC ), Stephanie P . Graham ( Graham Estate Planning ), and Kyle H . Jarzmik ( Law Office of Kyle H . Jarzmik LLC ).
Also , a HEARTY WELCOME to new Board members Walter Gabriel Jr . ( Law Firm of Walter Gabriel LLC ), Tristan Morrison ( Morrison & Hughes ), Trevi-Ann Thompson ( City of Atlanta Municipal Court ) and Bomkapr Kanu ( Law Office of B Kanu LLC ). Peter H . Strott ( Strott & Dillon LLC ) returns as LRIS Vice- Chair and Board Chair-elect .
As I complete my term as Board Chair , I will continue to work with LRIS to fulfill their goal of building and recruiting more attorneys in the Atlanta area to sign-up and to serve .
LRIS continues to provide a yearly grant to non-profits in the Atlanta area through the Atlanta Bar Foundation . This year , we were happy to be able to allocate $ 160,000 . The non-profit groups granted funds this year were Truancy Intervention Project , Atlanta www . atlantabar . org THE ATLANTA LAWYER 41