PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
LAWYERS WHO
SERVE
Margaret Hughes Vath
Georgia State University
School of Law
Although I consider myself a Jersey girl, I spent my
elementary school years in a tidy Houston suburb
called Ponderosa Forest. Last month, I watched with
nostalgia-tinged sorrow as a deluge of rainwater in-
undated that neighborhood, and as my childhood
home was flooded up past its second story windows.
The fifty-plus inches of rain dumped by Hurricane
Harvey had forever changed my little sliver of the
Lone Star State. ad hoc group of Louisiana volunteers, sprang into
action—rushing across state lines with their trucks
and bass boats.
For days, I did what many of you did: I wondered and worried about friends and family
suffering through the storm; I scrolled Facebook
watching for safety check-ins and updates; I waited
for text messages to be returned. And then—I hosted
a houseful of Hurricane Irma evacuees.
I wondered and worried about friends and family suf-
fering through the storm; I scrolled Facebook watch-
ing for safety check-ins and updates; I waited for text
messages to be returned.
“How can I help?” I wondered.
And then, about a week later, as news of more hur-
ricanes and even earthquakes became a staple of the
daily news, I did what many of you did:
My dear friend from law school
had just moved to Florida,
right smack into the middle
of a mandatory evacuation
zone. I was delighted to open
my home to her, her husband,
her two wonderful girls, and
her adorable dog. My son, Vincent, got to experience
having “sisters” for about five days; and my cats got
to experience having a “brother.”
“Being a member of the Atlanta Bar Association
affords you the opportunity to help in a way
that directly affects your local community.”
But, in closely following the gloomy news, I was struck
by the sheer number of positive stories. My news-
feed seemed suddenly filled with neighbors helping
neighbors. Strangers created a human chain to help a
woman in labor; a news reporter abandoned his post
to rescue a man from a submerged car; first respond-
ers went days without sleep. And the Cajun Navy, an
6 August/September 2017
While we had a wonderful time touring Atlanta and
reminiscing about law school; our thoughts and con-
versations frequently returned to the devastation left