Our client’s hands shook as she held her phone to the courtroom microphone to play, for all to hear, a voicemail left by her ex-boyfriend. That voicemail demonstrated the fear and emotional pain he had caused her over the course of their relationship and after they were no longer together. It was clearly very difficult for her to listen to the insults directed toward her in the voicemail. When her shaking hands accidentally stopped the playback of the recording, the entire courtroom seemed to feel her pain as she had to replay the message from the beginning.

Jenni Stolarski, Safe Families Office alum and DeKalb County Chief Assistant Solicitor-General, posted the following text on her Facebook page following the recent Amber Alert, and she was kind enough to let us share it with you. We hope you enjoy reading it as much as we did!

Thank you, Michael. Unless perhaps you are Donald Trump, it is hard to listen to someone overstate your virtues, but thank you for believing at least some of what you just shared. Thank you for making my job so easy and so much fun. And please know that I learn as much from you as you claim you do from me. For example, because of you, I know the difference between Run The Jewels and Run DMC, and between Killer Mike and Mike Tyson. Thank you for pumping up my street creds!  You are a great lawyer and a great friend.

Rick Deane, it is an honor to share the day with you. Congratulations on all that you and your firm have accomplished, and I thank you for joining with Walt Davis and Ashley Heintz and Ken Smith and others who make Jones Day and AVLF such a strong partnership.

Give us your best elevator pitch – what does AVLF mean to you? Our nation’s most serious gap in professional services is providing legal advice and representation to people just above the poverty line. They do not usually qualify for public assistance but they cannot afford an attorney’s services, even for crises such as domestic violence and evictions. AVLF is one of the key organizations bridging that gap in Fulton and Clayton Counties.

Whenever anyone asks me what I do for a living, I have a standard answer: “I work for a non-profit that provides pro bono legal services to low-income Atlantans.” If it seems like the person is still listening, I’ll throw in, “We do civil work – typically landlord-tenant and domestic violence issues.”

That’s not really what I do, though.

How did you get involved with AVLF? Maggie Hanrahan, my predecessor on the Board, asked me whether I was interested in getting involved. I told her, “Absolutely!”

Imagine this: You’ve reached the end of your work day and you’re heading home. You shut down your computer, grab your briefcase and umbrella, and head to your car. As you ease out of the parking garage and into Atlanta rush hour traffic, you start thinking about what’s waiting for you at home. What do you have in the fridge for dinner? What veggies did you pick up at the grocery store last weekend? Should you splurge and order delivery? Or if your other half beat you home, maybe dinner will be coming together already, something simmering on the stove, delicious smells radiating from the hot oven. You make a mental note to throw a load of laundry into the washing machine before sitting down to eat.

How did you get involved with AVLF? I attended a pro bono training program hosted at King & Spalding by the former head of the Safe Families Office, Liz Whipple. She was fantastic! I soon learned her infectious enthusiasm for AVLF is a common attribute of the staff.

Quick snapshot: I am the Managing Attorney for Environmental Litigation and Policy at Southern Company. Prior to that, I managed a group of lawyers at Georgia Power, and I began my career as an environmental lawyer at Morris, Manning & Martin. Before working as a lawyer, I was a newspaper reporter. I graduated from the University of Florida with a B.S. in Journalism, from Columbia University with an M.S. in Journalism, and from the University of Michigan for law school. I sit on the board of the Chattahoochee Nature Center, which is one of the most beautiful spots in metro Atlanta, and just retired from the board of Buckhead Christian Ministry, a wonderful ministry that provides assistance to the working poor.

How did you get involved with AVLF? I participated in a Domestic Violence (now Safe Families) training 10 years ago and was hooked. I had prior volunteer experience as a domestic violence crisis counselor, and AVLF offered a great opportunity to serve that community that was so close to my heart.

Rho Thomas, Special to the Daily Report (Reprinted with permission)

Georgia’s security deposit law is crystal clear: Once the tenant vacates, the landlord has 30 days to return the deposit or to notify the tenant of the reasons for withholding it. The law does not allow landlords to withhold security deposits out of spite or malice. But as I listened to my new client, Sade Dixon, tell me her story, I wondered if her former landlord did exactly that.

Automatic stay, default judgement, tort, pro se, adverse party, TPO’s, ex parte, standing order, judgment proof, and whatever this symbol is: §. My years of watching The Practice, Scandal, and The Good Wife did not prepare me for this. In my first few weeks at AVLF I was bombarded by these phrases and more. On top of learning new legal terms, I tried to memorize names of countless law firms while trying to remember which lawyer worked at which firm. For a person who had no prior legal experience, this was quite a task. In my five years of property management, I was accustomed to talking about closing costs, repair escrows, and FHA loans. The legal field was unfamiliar territory, but I was excited and eager to take in all that AVLF had to offer.

Quick snapshot: I attended Georgia Southern University beginning in 2007. I have been working with TrustPoint International for 2 years, specializing in litigation support for law firms and corporations. I joined AVLF’s Junior Board of Directors in early 2015.

How did you get involved with AVLF? It was through my involvement with TrustPoint that I learned about AVLF and its purpose. From the first moment I met Marty Ellin, I knew I had to be involved. His passion was infectious. Through the gracious time and recommendations of Jennifer Jackson, Liz Whipple and Michael Lucas, that involvement became a reality.