Feature Article
A Labor of Love
Following My Passion for Public Service
By Rita A. Sheffey
Assistant Dean for Public Service, Emory University
School of Law, Atlanta Bar President 2011-2012
[email protected]
D
o you wake up every day (or most days), without the
alarm, and feel energized and excited about the day
ahead, even on a weekday? Have you found your
calling in life?
Throughout my life, from time to time I would hear a colleague,
friend or family member remark that he/she truly loved work
and had found his/her calling. I have enjoyed my work, but
I am not sure I considered it my calling. To find one’s calling
seemed to require something both intensely personal and
powerful.
On January 20 of this year, I joined the Emory University
School of Law as the first Assistant Dean for Public Service
and knew I had found my calling. In this role, I work every
day to connect with law students and colleagues to nurture
the desire to help people. I hope to show our students the
many different ways a lawyer can do that,
regardless of practice and at different
times in one’s career. The opportunities
are limitless as we create a Center for
Public Service encompassing all aspects
of service.
know what I already know, namely that Emory Law, Dean
Robert Schapiro and our colleagues have an extraordinary
commitment to serving our global community and to ensuring
that all Emory students and alumni are professionals who
exemplify the highest values of our profession.
Prior to joining Emory, I had spent my entire legal career
to date -- 27 years -- with one law firm, Hunton & Williams.
Although I had been increasingly immersed in pro bono,
public interest, and bar leadership throughout that time, and
my Emory role is focused exclusively on service, the transition
from “Big Law” to academia has been transformational.
As a child, like many people, including many lawyers, I
wanted to be a doctor and “help people.” When I did not
realize that dream, I pursued other career opportunities,
first obtaining a Ph.D. in Chemistry and heading toward a
“The more I learned about Emory’s
commitment to service, the more I wanted
to be part of the future and to focus on
planting and nurturing seeds of service
in the next generation of lawyers.”
Working collaboratively, I will help create
and disseminate a strong and consistent
message about Emory’s commitment to
service. Among my many specific tasks
are advising student groups focused
on public interest and service, and
supporting and expanding opportunities
for students to volunteer for public
interest organizations and government
agencies. I also am working to increase opportunities for
students to obtain coveted judicial clerkships, as well as
counseling students who want to dedicate themselves to
careers serving others while ensuring they have access
to all available options to do that without undue financial
burden. Further on the horizon will be opportunities to
collaborate with other Emory schools, as well as other law
schools and community and government organizations. And
there are even loftier opportunities beyond. I want others to
6 THE ATLANTA LAWYER
March 2015
career in college teaching and research. I soon realized
that such a career just didn’t speak to my heart at that
time. Following an interest in the law, I changed course and
went to law school. Focusing on combining my advanced
degrees and pursuing what at that time was a popular focus
on environmental issues, I joined Hunton & Williams in my
home state of Virginia to do environmental litigation. For the
next 27 years, I had some incredible opportunities to work
with talented colleagues and wonderful clients, trying cases
The Official News Publication of the Atlanta Bar Association