The Atlanta Lawyer January/February 2014 | Page 36

section update Public Interest Law Section Update By Beth Stephens, Chair Georgia Watch [email protected] This year has been an incredibly busy and successful one for the Public Interest Law Section (PILS). We are proud of our accomplishments in our second year as a Section, and we appreciate the support from our fellow Sections and Atlanta Bar members. I will take a moment to recap our events so far this year. In July, PILS hosted a networking happy hour for attorneys and law student interns in East Atlanta Village. We also cosponsored a summer intern happy hour event organized by the Georgia Lawyer Chapter of the American Constitution Society. In October, PILS organized a CLE program entitled “Making Change: Strategies for Impact Litigation” where attorneys from the private bar, the Atlanta Legal Aid Society, and Georgia Legal Services Program came together to share ideas and techniques for pursuing impactful cases on behalf of vulnerable clients. PILS also presented Tamara Serwer Caldas with the Rita A. Sheffey Public Interest Award at the Celebrating Service Luncheon in October. This award is given each year to an Atlanta Bar member who has demonstrated leadership in the public interest, excellence in the profession and an outstanding commitment to the Bar. In November, PILS, along with the Women in the Profession 36 THE ATLANTA LAWYER January/February 2014 Section, hosted a very special event where we brought together some incredible female judges to tell their stories and talk about their many contributions to the public interest. The Honorable Dorothy Toth Beasley, Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears, the Honorable Susan Edlein, and Chief Judge Cynthia D. Wright joined a panel moderated by former Juvenile Court Judge Sharon N. Hill. On January 9th, PILS hosted the first Dinner Series event where we invited House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams to join a few of our members for a dinner conversation about important issues in our community. On January 16th, PILS, along with the Criminal Law Section, showed the documentary film “Gideon’s Army” to an auditorium of law students and attorneys at Emory Law School. This event celebrated the critical work of public defender offices in our State and the organization, Gideon’s Promise. Claudia Saari, Chief DeKalb County Circuit Public Defender, and Ilham Askia, Executive Director of Gideon’s Promise, joined us after the screening to answer questions. We look forward to planning another public interest happy hour and another dinner series event in early spring. Please be on the lookout for our events and come see us. The Official News Publication of the Atlanta Bar Association