Celebrating 125 Years
During Deborah Zink's and Gregory Stuart Smith’s presidencies
in 1997 and 1998 respectively, the Estate Planning and
Probate Section was formed and Insurance Specialists, Inc.
became the highest level sponsor until 2012. From 1997
to 1999, the Bar began many of the programs and events
members have grown to think of and look forward to as
annual events: the Litigation Section organized the “Take Your
Adversary to Lunch” program; the 5K
Legal Runaround began to raise funds
for the Police Scholarship Commission,
which provides scholarships to the
dependents of City of Atlanta police
officers killed or injured in the line of
duty; and the first Bard performance,
"A Courthouse Line," debuted to a
sold out audience at the 14th Street
Playhouse. Not only did the Bar office
move from the Equitable Building to
Peachtree Center, Bar computers
moved from MacIntosh to PCs.
to charge a percentage fee for fees collected by the panel
members for cases referred.
When the American Bar Association met in Atlanta in August
2004, Merrill Corporation agreed to publish a special issue
of The Atlanta Lawyer for every registrant and Atlanta Bar
member in full color on slick magazine quality paper. It was
Former Bar President Jeffrey O.
Bramlett’s presidency in 2000 saw the
formation of the Elder Law Section and
the Lawyer versus Lawyer program
to assist members dealing with
disputes between lawyers. During
Seth Kirschenbaum’s 2001-2002
presidency, he hosted the now-famous
retreat at Lake Lanier for leaders
of local minority and specialty bar
associations that would form Multi-Bar
Leadership Council (MBLC).
The 115th birthday of the Atlanta
Bar brought more recognition for the
Bar’s work: SLIP celebrated its 10th
anniversary with former Mayor Shirley
Franklin as the keynote speaker for the
kick-off and TIP won the American Bar
Association’s Harrison Tweed Award.
Technology advances brou