Update on Atlanta Bar Association Pro Bono Activities
T
he Atlanta Bar Association continues to look for
ways to support and encourage pro bono. We
host quarterly meetings of PIER, the Public Interest
Executive Roundtable, a group of Directors of the pro bono
and public interest organizations in metro Atlanta. Rachel
Spears, the Executive Director of the Pro Bono Partnership
of Atlanta, develops the agenda for each meeting with
input from her peers. This group functions as a resource
for best practices, a mechanism for support, and just plain
networking and socializing. The camaraderie is unparalleled
and the sophistication of this group is incredible. By hosting
them four times each year and assisting them in obtaining
resources to benefit them collectively, the Atlanta Bar is
further enhancing leadership of these organizations for the
future.
Our Public Interest Committee also continues to thrive. To
say that this group of talented young (in age or spirit) public
interest lawyers has high ambitions and great expectations
would be a gross understatement. First under the leadership
of Lindsay Verity, and now Haley Schwartz and Mariel
Sivley, they have held fun social events, but also wellthought out, targeted substantive programs of interest to
public interest lawyers. We gave them a nudge and they
took off running. Their energy and goals are limitless. On
October 19, the Public Interest Committee will present the
first of its Speakers Series, this one featuring the Honorable
Marvin H. Shoob and attorneys who were involved in the
Mariel Boatlift, an incredible pro bono effort by Atlanta Bar
members during Frank Strickland’s tenure as President
in 1985-1986. More programs will follow. I am delighted
that the event will be co-sponsored by the Atlanta Bar
Litigation Section, chaired by Steve LaBriola this year, and
by McKenna Long & Aldridge, LLP. Click here to register
for this event. If you are interested in co-sponsoring future
events of the Public Interest Committee, please let Mariana
Pannell know at [email protected].
Also, each month, under the leadership of Sara Pheasant
and Cheryl Naja, we compile an electronic newsletter
in which non-profit organizations can list their non-legal,
non-monetary needs (clerical, consulting, information
technology, office supplies, and library support) and law
firms and corporate legal departments similarly can list the
services and items they are willing to provide. There have
been many successful connections thus far. If you are not
on the distribution for this newsletter and would like to be,
please let us know.
Our grants program for Atlanta Bar programs and to support
pro bono and public interest organizations also continues.
The Atlanta Bar Foundation and the Atlanta Bar Association
Lawyer Referral and Information Service will announce the
recipients of this year’s grants at the Celebrating Service
Luncheon on October 21, 2011.
Finally, we have asked all of the Atlanta Bar Sections to
create, adopt or otherwise engage their members in pro
bono legal services. Our goal is 100% participation. Many
are already incredibly active and more are getting involved
every day. I will provide an update on their activities in a
future issue.
Pro Bono is alive and well at the Atlanta Bar Association! ■
Awards
Atlanta Bar Association
Pro Bono
Jeffrey J. Nix, Troutman Sanders LLP
Community Service
Women in the Profession Section, Laura C. Zschach, Chair,
Bodker Ramsey Andrews Winograd & Wildstein
Public Service
Representative Stacey Y. Abrams
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THE ATLANTA LAWYER
October 2011
The Official News Publication of the Atlanta Bar Association