president’s message
The Season of Giving
By Lynn M. Roberson
Swift Currie McGhee & Hiers LLP
T
he Atlanta Lawyer highlights this month celebrations
of the season and the extraordinary generosity of
our member attorneys and our special ability to really
enjoy ourselves. The winetasting for the Atlanta Volunteer
Lawyers Foundation (“AVLF”) in early November was a
real highlight for me this year as I was invited to serve
wine to the attendees. This role helped my popularity
tremendously! I even had repeat customers. One lawyer
claimed his brother had stopped to sample the wine I was
serving and recommended he try it himself. I happen to
know this lawyer’s brother was not attending the affair so
he was making excuses to take another taste. All of the
donated grab bag bottles of wine were sold, too. This event
[email protected]
is incredibly important to the continuing viability of AVLF as
many of its prior sources for contributions have dried up or
become less generous in light of the recession. Our member
lawyers recognize that in a recession, not only are charitable
contributions harder to come by, but the need is so much
greater. Such a sterling example was demonstrated earlier
this year by ALL the judges of the Fulton County Superior
Court, who came together to make sure AVLF’s Guardian
Ad Litem program did not have to be sacrificed.
The Atlanta Bar Secret Santa continues to bring joy to children
in the DFACS program who might not have as memorable
a holiday celebration without the generous donations of our
members. And our Atlanta Santa Project brings so much joy
to children who would not have a merry Christmas without
our fabulous Santas (a.k.a, Judge T. Jackson Bedford,
Jr., John Bailey, M. Gino Brodon, Mike Brewster,
Don Edwards, Brian Johnson, Judge Christopher J.
McFadden, Gary Spencer) and his elf helpers. When you
read the stories of some of the participants and recipients
of this program, you see how much your generosity of time
and money can make a difference by letting children know
they are cared about by many people they do not even know.
In early December, many of our members gathered to
celebrate many of our lawyers who have published books
or music. It was a great party “Up on the Rooftop”. This
year was the second year of this fabulous celebration at
Ventanas. And, like last year, the weather cooperated so
everyone could enjoy the panoramic skyline view from the
venue and its outdoor rooftop patio. Atlanta lit up at night is
truly inspiring – especially if you have lived here as long as
I have and seen all our skyscrapers rise over time. Atlanta
Bar Board member Karen Fultz and her committee (Greg
Presmanes, David Schaeffer and Rita Sheffey) really did
a fine job putting the event all together. And, of course,
nothing gets done at the Atlanta Bar without the invaluable
assistance of our staff. We are all so grateful for Diane
O’Steen and her many outstanding staff “elves” (Mariana
Pannell, Byron Lomas, Michele Adams, Kari DeLoach,
Mary Lynne McInnis, Tanya Windham, Brantly Watts,
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THE ATLANTA LAWYER
December 2012
The Official News Publication of the Atlanta Bar Association