PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
LEADERSHIP THROUGH SERVICE
“
By Harold E. Franklin, Jr.
King & Spalding LLP
“You, our valued members, allow
our Association to serve the
community.”
A
s so many during this Holiday season are fortunate
to be able to cherish time with friends and family,
this time of year for many is also a time of reflection
on personal and professional goals and how we can enrich
the lives of others. It is especially fitting that I highlight the
exceptional work of the Atlanta Bar Association in displaying
leadership through service.
Through the Atlanta Bar Foundation (“Foundation”), the
charitable arm of the Atlanta Bar Association, our association
has continued to provide critically needed support to so
many of our pro bono and community service partners.
These organizations literally change lives and protect the
less fortunate and help uphold the rule of law. This year,
the Atlanta Bar Association’s Lawyer Referral Information
Service (“LRIS”) program, through the excellent work of the
lawyers who comprise the referral panel, generated (through
the fee sharing arrangement) a record breaking recovery
from successful cases. As a result, the Foundation, primarily
as a result of the generous contributions of LRIS, provided
a record-breaking $250,000 ($200,000 of which came from
LRIS this year) in grants to deserving pro bono and community
service partners. This level of giving was unprecedented and
will have a profound impact for so many deserving non-profit
4 THE ATLANTA LAWYER
December 2015
organizations and the individuals they serve. We appreciate
the leadership of our Foundation (and its President Wade
Malone) and our LRIS program (including its Board Chair,
Celia Sunni, and its Director, Carla Brown) for such a positive
year for the bar and find it particularly fitting during this, the
60th Anniversary of our LRIS program.
I am also pleased to report that, in keeping with our tradition of
leadership through service, we are preparing next month to have
the Equal Justice in Law Enforcement (“EJLE”) Symposium on
January 14, 2016 at the Georgia State University College of
Law. Our Association has a longstanding tradition of leadership
in promoting the fair administration of justice. This year I
established the EJLE Initiative to engage the legal community
and key stakeholders (citizens and the law enforcement
community) in a focused collaborative effort to help prevent and
lessen the prospect of law enforcement shootings (and/or the
use of excessive force) involving non-violent unarmed citizens.
The school outreach phase of the program, which formally
commenced last month, is well underway and has allowed
us to reach almost a thousand high school students. The
program provides Atlanta Bar members with meaningful
volunteer opportunities with minimal time commitments, so
The Official News Publication of the Atlanta Bar Association