president’s message
Building Communities
By Lynn M. Roberson
Swift Currie McGhee & Hiers LLP
I
have just returned from the National Conference of Bar
Presidents’ annual meeting in Chicago. Our immediate
past president, Rita Sheffey, attended with me as she is
now on the board of the Metropolitan Bar Caucus. It was a
very productive meeting as I was able to gather ideas from
other bar leaders from across the country. Bar associations
really do attract the best lawyers! Everyone was more than
willing to share their ideas and best
practices.
The Atlanta Bar Association
conducted an electronic Bar Poll
of all Active & Life Members on
Friday, July 6, 2012 for contested
judicial candidates for the judicial
circuits of Atlanta, Cobb, Coweta,
DeKalb, Fulton, Gwinnett, Stone
Mountain and Rockdale State and
Superior Courts. The poll results
were published in several news
outlets and, we hope, provided
some guidance to the electorate
concerning the various candidates.
We hope you will all participate in
these polls in the future as they
can be a valuable resource for our
community.
Similarly, our Summer Law Internship Program (“SLIP”)
celebrated its twentieth year mentoring high school students
THE ATLANTA LAWYER
and providing them insight into our legal community. The
SLIP program also provides legal offices in the public sector
helpful assistance which they could not afford otherwise,
given our current economic circumstances. How can they
accomplish this good work? They are able through strong
fundraising efforts to provide stipends to these students.
Many donors are our own bar sections, such as the Litigation
section, which provided stipends
for ten students this year. The
Committee’s chairs, S. Wade
Malone, Natasha Perdew Silas,
and Nekia S. Hackworth Jones,
are to be congratulated for all
their hard work and many years
of success. They are building a
pipeline for students interested
in legal careers to move into
the legal community. Several of
the students who have passed
through the SLIP program are
now practicing attorneys in our
community.
Here I am in the cab from the O’Hare airport
on the way to the hotel after having asked the
driver for some air conditioning. He passed a
hose through the window between the front and
back seat!
In this issue of The Atlanta Lawyer,
you will learn of some of the many ways our members are
contributing to our community and trying to make it a better
place for everyone. Our Minority and Diversity Clerkship
Program Committee has been rejuvenated. It has provided
meaningful work experiences for those law students who
have traditionally had difficulty finding clerkships. The
Committee’s chairs, G. Wayne Hillis Jr., Curtis J. Martin
II, W. Seaborn Jones, and Charles T. Lester Jr., are to be
congratulated for all their hard work and success.
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August/September 2012
Look through the winning essays
submitted by SLIP students to see
how much this program contributes
to our community.(pages 10-13).
Our Atlanta Council of Younger
Lawyers (ACYL) held its annual kick off for its Associates’
Campaign to raise funds for various pro bono organizations
including the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation (AVLF),
which provides legal assistance to those who do not qualify
for Legal Aid, but who cannot otherwise afford legal services.
ACYL pursues financial donations from associates in firms
throughout Atlanta to contribute to this most meaningful work.
Central Atlanta Progress advises us of the good work in
which they have been engaged to help build our community
(see page 6).
The Official News Publication of the Atlanta Bar Association