section update
Public Interest Law Section
By Jessica Felfoldi
Atlanta Legal Aid Society, Inc.
[email protected]
T
he Public Interest Law Section has much to look
forward to this coming year. We will kick off our everpopular Speaker Series with an engaging panel on
consumer law developments this fall. If you haven’t yet had
a chance to explore the entirety of our developing Atlanta
Beltline, stay tuned for a special section event, including a
tour, to get the backstory and to hear about what’s still on the
horizon. We are also starting a new monthly breakfast CLE
series this fall, with topics ranging from the impact of recent
Supreme Court decisions on several key public interest
matters, to environmental legal battles here in Georgia, to
ethical and logistical issues related to the representation
of special populations. We hope you will join us for one or
several of these “coffee talks” for a little fellowship, noshing,
and new insights on a variety of fascinating
and timely legal subjects.
managing attorney of Atlanta Legal Aid Society’s Southside
Office as member-at-large.
If you haven’t already been out to one of our events, or if it’s
been a little while, I hope you’ll take the time to see what we
have to offer and consider joining our section. If you have an
interest in the public interest – we are interested in hearing
from you.
The Public Interest Law Section is thrilled to
welcome on board several new members-atlarge, including the Honorable Susan Edlein of
the Fulton County State Court; Daniel Walsh,
Senior Assistant Attorney General for the
Georgia Department of Law; Wade Malone,
partner at Nelson Mullins; Ashten Bailey, staff
attorney at Greenlaw; and Jim Knoepp, Deputy
Legal Director at the Southern Poverty Law
Center.
We are equally delighted to welcome back
several board members from prior years,
including Melanie Velez-Ruffin, Regional
Director for the U.S. Department of Education
Office for Civil Rights in Region IV, as immediate
past president; Jessica Felfoldi, attorney with
Atlanta Legal Aid Society’s Disability Integration
Project, as chair; Lindsey Siegel, attorney with
Atlanta Legal Aid Society’s DeKalb Office, as
vice chair/chair-elect; Wingo Smith as secretary;
Michael Lucas, Deputy Director of Atlanta
Volunteer Lawyers Foundation, as treasurer;
Steve LaBriola, partner at Fellows LaBriola,
as member-at-large; and Kimberly Charles,
58 THE ATLANTA LAWYER
June/July 2015
The Official News Publication of the Atlanta Bar Association