Who, what, & where? Dena Hong, J.D. with honors from Emory in 1999; undergrad at Indiana University. I’ve been with UPS since 2004 and am currently Labor & Employment Counsel for the Corporate office. Before joining UPS, I was a Labor & Employment associate at Kilpatrick Stockton and a Litigation associate at Smith, Gambrell, & Russell. I’m the current Vice President of the AVLF Board of Directors and will the President in 2016.

CAREY KERSTEN | June 30, 2015 Quick snapshot (name, education, job history, any other boards you sit on, etc.): James M. (“Jimmy”) Rusert, University of Georgia, A.B.J., summa cum laude […]

Please share your quick snapshot (name, education, job history, current position on board, etc.): Sarah Leopold Zampell, St. Lawrence University, B.A. with honors in history (2000); Emory University School of Law (2005); I was an associate with Holland & Knight, LLP for seven years and left the practice in 2012 to stay home with my children.  

How did you get involved with AVLF?  I first volunteered with AVLF in their Safe Families Office during law school as part of a public interest course. After that I was hooked and have volunteered ever since in a number of programs including in their One Child One Lawyer Program representing children in DFCS custody and in their Saturday Lawyers Program.

Meredith Dobbs, Daily Report (reprinted with permission)

W. Steve Allen is a banker, not a lawyer, but he became the board president for the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation this year—the first nonlawyer to head the board in its 35-year history.

Congratulations to Michael Lucas, AVLF’s Deputy Director, for winning the 2015 SOAR (“Serving Others and Achieving Results”) Award from the Public Interest Law Association of Georgia State University’s College of Law.

Please share your quick snapshot (name, education, current and past jobs, etc.): Elizabeth Finn Johnson, Harvard University A.B. with honors in Government, University of Virginia Law School J.D. 1987; just retired as Senior Counsel, Employee Relations at The Coca-Cola Company, which I joined in 1990 as Litigation Counsel. Associate at Troutman Sanders 1987-1990.

How did you get involved with AVLF? My first introduction to AVLF was through the Winetasting when I was a young lawyer. In terms of work with AVLF, that started in 2001, after we formed our Pro Bono Committee at the Company and our first project was Wills on Wheels with AVLF. In addition, my husband was a longtime Saturday Lawyers volunteer.

Quick snapshot (name, education, current and past jobs, etc.):

Avital Stadler, Duke University 1993 (BA in Public Policy Studies) and Emory University School of Law 1998. Clerked for the Honorable Julie E. Carnes on the Northern District of Georgia out of law school. Served two stints each with McKenna Long & Aldridge and Sutherland Asbill & Brennan. Now, General Counsel at Esquire Deposition Solutions, LLC.

How long have you been involved with AVLF?

I took my first Saturday Lawyer case in 2002. I have regularly accepted cases through AVLF. I joined the Board in 2006 and have served every executive committee role from secretary to board president.

Adria Perez is a Partner at Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP. Her connection with AVLF began when she was a summer associate at Kilpatrick Townsend when she represented domestic violence victims through the Safe Families Office. Adria credits AVLF for teaching her how obtaining a protective order for a victim can create a ripple effect that will change the victim’s and the victim’s family’s future for the better. Recently, Adria received an email from a client for whom she helped obtain a protective order in 2007. The client wrote: “Things are going as good as can be…but the thing that matters the most is that my daughter and I are together which is priceless. I just wanted to say thanks because without you it could have been so much worse…I just wanted to let you know that you made a difference to me and my daughter which we will be forever thankful for you.” From her experience with AVLF, and now being a member of the AVLF Board, Adria has learned how AVLF truly saves lives, and is very proud to be a part of such a great Atlanta institution.  

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.”

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.

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.