2013 Law day
Georgia’s Law Day 2013 ‘Dream Team’ to Receive
National Honor
By Rita A. Sheffey
Hunton & Williams LLP
[email protected]
T
he American Bar Association (ABA) has announced
that Georgia’s Law Day 2013 ‘Dream Team’ will
receive a Law Day 2013 Outstanding Activity Award at
the ABA’s Mid-Year Meeting in Chicago, Illinois in February
2014. The national honor recognizes the successful efforts
of a unique collaboration of organizations to promote Law
Day.
generations exploring current impacts of the civil rights
movement: Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations
Andrew Young, Executive Director of the Andrew Young
Foundation Andrea Young, and Georgia State Senators Jason
Carter and Nan Orrock.
In April 2013, the Atlanta Bar Association teamed up with
seven other voluntary bar associations – the Gate City
Bar Association, the Georgia Asian Pacific American Bar
Association, the Georgia Association for Women Lawyers, the
Georgia Association of Black Women Attorneys, the Georgia
Hispanic Bar Association, the South Asian Bar Association of
Georgia, and the Stonewall Bar Association, the State Bar of
Georgia, the Chief Justice’s Commission on Professionalism,
the Multi-Bar Leadership Council, the Atlanta Public Schools
and the National Center for Civil and Human Rights (Center)
to present the award-winning Law Day program for lawyers,
middle and high school students, and the public. The ABA’s
2013 Law Day theme of “Realizing the Dream: Equality for
All!” inspired our efforts. (The Atlanta Lawyer, April 2013).
We set out to reach a broad, diverse audience. We
particularly sought to engage students. “Youth Talk” featured
accomplished student speakers talking to their peers. We
were joined at the Bar Center in Atlanta by more than 100
high school students from Grady High School and the D.M.
Therrell High School of Law, Government, and Public Policy.
Participating by video conference were more than 30 middle
and high school students in Tifton, Georgia. The students in
Atlanta had an opportunity not only to listen, but also to ask
questions. Feedback was extremely positive and the teachers
are interested in collaborating with us again. Sessions 2 and
3 also were interactive and designed to engage the public as
well as lawyers. Session 4 afforded a unique opportunity to
eavesdrop on a conversation among civil and human rights
leaders from multiple generations.
Our nomination of the ‘Dream Team’ for the ABA Award
demonstrates how well the collaborative effort met the ABA’s
six criteria for Outstanding Law Day Activity Awards:
• Expands Public Awareness of the Rule of Law:
• Engages the Target Audience:
• Forged Partnerships with Community Groups, Schools and
the Legal Community:
Four substantive sessions targeted to students, lawyers
and members of the public included content and discussion
regarding the role of lawyers and the legal profession in
addressing human and civil rights issues, past and present.
This Law Day event was unique in the collaboration of local
bar associations with each other and with the State Bar of
Georgia, the Chief Justice’s Commission on Professionalism,
the Atlanta Public Schools System, and the National Center for
Civil and Human Rights. This was the first such collaboration
with the Atlanta Public Schools System.
• Highlights the 2013 Law Day Theme:
• Quality and Innovation of the Program:
The ABA’s theme was the perfect inspiration for collaborating
with the Center. Session 1 focused on making the connection
between the American civil rights movement and the principles
of human rights to middle and high school students. Session
2 analyzed a broad spectrum of human rights violations in
the United States and abroad. Session 3 looked specifically
at human trafficking. Finally, Session 4 was a conversation
among prominent civil and human rights leaders from multiple
The Center created outlines of the substantive sessions based
on the ABA theme, drawing upon the Center’s deep knowledge
of the subject matter and connections to extraordinarily
well-qualified speakers. Dream Team members refined the
program outlines and added their contacts to create the final
stellar list of speakers and moderators. The Center’s expertise
contributed to the high quality of the topic outlines and the
broad collaboration was truly a “Dream Team.”
14
THE ATLANTA LAWYER
December 2013
The Official News Publication of the Atlanta Bar Association