PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
under then President Wade Watson III. William Hubbard,
President- Elect of the American Bar Association, spoke at a
sold out festive luncheon, following a welcome reception the
night before sponsored by the Bar Sections.
As Chair of the Therrell High School Task Force, I worked
with Melody Richardson, Chair of the Law Day Committee
and Nekia Hackworth Jones to celebrate the first Law
Week at Therrell High School. In May 2014 we held a legal
jobs related symposium and a mock trial by the Therrell high
school students. Additionally, a record number of attorneyteachers creatively taught the students about the Civil Rights
Act; Therrell students earlier participated in the Dream Team
program at the State Bar of Georgia.
On May 20, 2014, I began my term as the 107th President of
the Association and the Honorable Anne Elizabeth Barnes
of the Georgia Court of Appeals administered the oaths of
office to me and other Association officers. A variety of other
deserving Bar members were honored for their service to the
Association and the community.
In June 2014, the Atlanta Bar Foundation (ABF) held the
largest (1,000 attendees) and most monetarily successful
($53,000) Law Jam: Battle of the Bands, under the leadership
of David Schaeffer, Brenton Hund, and Executive Director
Sally Hogsette, who has since retired. June and July also
saw a record number of 44 Summer Law Internship Program
(SLIP) participants; high school students received a stipend for
their work in law firms, courts and government agencies. The
revitalized Minority and Diversity Clerkship Program (MDCP)
also provided 20 paid clerkships to first year law students.
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Fall 2014 started with the Atlanta Bar Association’s Legal
Runaround 5K race, which benefits the Police Scholarship
Fund for children of disabled or slain police officers. Executive
Director, Terri Beck encouraged running teams to be formed
for the first time; accordingly, we had the largest number of
runners in decades which included teams from firms, law
schools and other bars.
The annual Celebrating Service Luncheon and Pro Bono
Fair was held in October. McArthur Genius Award winner,
Jonathan Rapping, founder of Gideon’s Promise and
Professor at Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School, was the
keynote speaker. He spoke about the work of public defenders
and encouraged all attorneys to get more involved to make
that system work.
In November, the Labor and Employment Section was part
of a multi-bar reception at the Center for Civil and Human
Rights, which commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Civil
Rights Act of 1964. This month the Atlanta Bar Foundation and
Lawyer Referral and Information Service (LRIS) distributed
more than $111,000 to programs of the Atlanta Bar and other
worthy community organizations.
We have a lot to look forward to in 2015. LRIS will celebrate
60 years of service. On February 24, Linda Klein, the
President-elect nominee of the American Bar Association
will be the keynote speaker at our winter bar-wide event.
On May 1 and 2, A Courthouse Line XI: North Side Story
will entertain audiences. The Annual Meeting will be held in
May, and LawJam will follow in June. Watch for more as yet
unannounced events that you may find of interest to you.
Join Us!
December 2014
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