Ms. Travis was a low-income single mother in Fulton County who was thrilled to sign a lease and pay a deposit on a new apartment. But when she moved in, she discovered that the unit had no running water, no functional electricity or appliances, and no working door locks. She reported the problems to the landlord, whose response was essentially “too bad.” He refused to repair the unit or release Ms. Travis from her lease. She reached out to the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation for help, and I accepted the case pro bono.

Walt Davis is a Partner in the Atlanta office of Jones Day, the largest law firm in the U.S. and among the largest worldwide. At Jones Day, Walt’s practice principally focuses on shareholder litigation and corporate governance matters, and he regularly counsels corporate boards, board committees, and senior management in connection with internal and governmental investigations. In recent years, Walt has been named a “Rising Star” in the area of Securities Litigation by Georgia Super Lawyers magazine, and in 2013, he was named one of the Fulton County Daily Report’s “40 Legal Rising Stars to Watch” in Georgia. Walt is also a graduating member of LEAD Atlanta, Class of 2007. 

Jim McGinnis, a partner at Warner Bates McGough McGinnis & Portnoy, has assisted clients for more than 30 years in his work before judges and juries across Georgia as one of the state’s leading family lawyers. (Warner Bates is the oldest family law firm in the state.) His practice includes divorce and custody cases, and his 13 appeals cases before the State Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court of Georgia resulted in published opinions.

 “The work of the Volunteer Lawyers Foundation is vitally necessary and, from a personal standpoint, personally gratifying,” said Jim of his board position. “I value every minute of my time here and recommend it to others.”

Jim works with every aspect of AVLF as treasurer but has done the most work with the Guardian ad Litem program. “Navigating the legal system has its challenges, and no child should ever shoulder that burden,” he says. “Time spent helping children is always time well-spent.”

Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation thanks our wonderful friends at United Distributors for coordinating the donation of the exciting wines and spirits that were poured at the 23rd Annual AVLF Winetasting. […]

Whether she’s providing pro bono legal aid for pregnant teens, or advocating accessible health care and reproductive justice for women, Kinshasa K. Williams, a healthcare attorney, is typically at work on behalf of other people. And law is not the first career in which she’s championed those who lack access. Before going to law school, she was an Epidemiologist with the Louisiana Office of Public Health and with the United States Department of Health and Human Services, working to achieve higher standards of care in Louisiana’s family planning clinics.

On September 15, AVLF sponsored a screening of the documentary American Winter. Through the stories of eight families, the documentary vividly shows how one lost job can cascade into depleted savings, utility shutoffs, eviction, homelessness, hunger, and profound hopelessness.

The film follows one woman visiting a food bank for the first time. As a worker places food in her basket, the woman breaks down crying. She explains that she’s never had to turn to a food bank before; the groceries will make a huge difference to her family. The worker hugs her, touches her hand, looks in her eyes. “You can help somebody another time,” the worker says.

AVLF is proud to announce Denelle Waynick as its newest board member. Denelle is Vice President of  U.S. Legal Affairs for UCB, Inc., where she is responsible for leading and managing the legal team in the U.S. Denelle is also a member of UCB’s U.S. Leadership Team and participates in the strategic planning and management of the organization.

by Meredith Hobbs, Daily Report (Reprinted with permission from the Daily Report. Original article can be found here.)

If you are reading this, it’s unlikely that you are poor. The Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation wants to raise consciousness and start a conversation in the local legal community about what poverty in America looks like today.

There are so many reasons why we are proud to work at AVLF, the most obvious of which is our association with our fearless leader, Marty Ellin. Marty is a living example of the fight for justice on behalf of Atlanta’s poorest residents, and he inspires us on a daily basis. We are thrilled to announce that our friends at the Gate City Bar Association feel the same way about Marty – they are inducting him into their Hall of Fame.

Mrs. Thomas twisted her fingers nervously in her lap. We sat at the kitchen table in her Vine City home, collection notices and court papers spread out before us.

“I wanted to pay the credit card bill,” she told me. “I knew I owed it, and I knew I was supposed to pay. I just didn’t have the money.” Mrs. Thomas called for legal help after she went to the bank to withdraw money and learned that her account had been frozen because of a garnishment.

Grand Cru John Chandler & Elizabeth Tanis | Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP | King & Spalding LLP Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP | The Coca-Cola Company Legal Division Warner, […]