LIZ WHIPPLE | June 25, 2015
Working at AVLF is, at its heart, about making friends. The incredible people at the Fulton County Courthouse who have taken me in, thank you. To the smart and eager interns who have gone above and beyond and turned into friends, I can’t wait to see the wonderful things you do with your lives. To AVLF and Marty, Michael, Tamara, Toni, Jessica and Julia in particular, thank you for giving me the room to grow into this job and the support to do it well. To Robin Taylor and Nilu Tabari at Partnership Against Domestic Violence, thank you for being not just partners but family at our crazy courthouse office. To the volunteer attorneys who allowed me to lure them into this crazy and wonderful project, please know that your skill, kindness, and the ability to take on work outside of your already hectic jobs and lives inspires me and makes me proud to be a lawyer. To the other amazing friends, attorneys and non-, thank you for being role models of compassion, patience and hard work – I need those. At the end of the day, the greatest thanks goes to the clients whose strength and endurance lead them to our doors and who allow us the privilege of working with them.
As I conclude 5 years (which feels both like 5 seconds and a lifetime) doing the best job of my life, I look forward excitedly, if a bit nervously, to the next stage. As I take over the directorship of the Domestic Violence Clinic at the University of Alabama School of Law, where my real passion for the work I do know was instilled, I cannot help but think how everything I have been able to do at AVLF has prepared me to teach and to pass along the passion so many have for such important work. I’ll miss you all. (Except Julia and Jessica, who I’m kidnapping. Please don’t mention it to them.)
