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Board Member Spotlight: Jim McGinnis

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Board Member Spotlight: Jim McGinnis

Jim-McGinnis_300x300Quick snapshot: Jim McGinnis. I graduated from Auburn in 1979 and Mercer Law School in 1982. My first job was as an Assistant D.A. in Cordele, Georgia, working for Gary Christy. I did my first jury trial within a month of starting work. I wound up in Atlanta practicing exclusively in the area of family law. I’ve been with Warner Bates for the last five years.

How did you get involved with Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation? I got involved with AVLF because of my partner, Barry McGough. Barry noticed that the funding for the Guardian ad Litem program in Fulton County had been eliminated. Barry suggested that our firm host a fundraiser to try to help. I contacted Marty Ellin, director of AVLF, and we had a fundraiser at our office to benefit the Guardian ad Litem program. That was five years ago. Last week we held our fifth annual fundraiser and raised over $20,000 for AVLF to benefit the Guardian ad Litem program.

Give us your best elevator pitch – what does AVLF mean to you? My work with AVLF means being involved in an organization of compassionate people who care about delivering legal services to those who desperately need them, but would otherwise have no access to these legal services. Battered spouses have a place to turn because of AVLF. Tenants who get screwed by slumlords have a place to turn because of AVLF.

What is your favorite AVLF moment? In the first pro bono divorce case I handled through AVLF, I represented a disabled Marine veteran who had been abused by her husband. We met in my office to prepare for a hearing the following week. When I told her that she could meet me at my office and we could ride down to the hearing the following week, she told me how relieved she was. She explained that she was worried about court because she didn’t know how she was going to pay for parking. At that moment, I realized how fortunate I am and how much I take for granted. I also realized that there is a segment of our society that is less fortunate and deserves our help, both as lawyers and people.

What are you proudest of professionally? I’m very proud of being a partner at Warner Bates. I’m also very proud of being on the board of the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation. The people who work at the Foundation could all make more money by working somewhere else. However, they choose to work for those less fortunate and I respect that choice. The Board of Directors is made up of the best and the brightest of the Atlanta legal community. I’m thinking they made a mistake by letting me on the board.

And personally? Being married to the same wonderful woman for 29 years and raising three sons who all graduated from college with no debt and a paid for car. We all seem to be pretty happy!

Is there anything else you want our readers to know? Yes. Get involved with the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation. Attend the wine tasting in November. Become an Atlanta Volunteer Lawyer. You will be glad you did.

 

I Am a Father First

I am a father before all else, and how I view everything in the world is shaped by this. 

So in the days after men were murdered for the uniform they wore, following hard on men being murdered for the skin they wore, it was especially difficult to hear the pain of my daughters asking, “Dad, what can we do?”

Initially, I wasn’t sure I had an answer. And even if I did, would it be heard in the blame blasting from every outlet?

But showing up always seems important. Doing something based in kindness, rather than waiting until complacency sets in again, always seems right. And I have learned over and over and over that when I feel badly for myself, doing something for someone else sets me straight.

Put together… I went to the AVLF office. I joined Atlanta Volunteer Lawyer Foundation’s staff and a dozen volunteer attorneys that week and helped people who had no other chance to access the legal system on which we have to depend to address the fear that things are coming apart. It was good, it was emotional, and I felt like I was adding a small piece to the healing, even if maybe it was only my healing.

I also found an answer for my daughters in what I know is true: if you want peace, precious children, work hard for justice.  

Low-Income Tenants Need an Advocate in Eviction Court

Written by John Moye, Special to the Daily Report (Reprinted with permission)

Imagine that you are a low-income single parent, living in a rented trailer and coping with the severe health effects of a brain tumor.

After living in the same home for nearly seven years, your lease is coming to an end in October. By phone, you negotiate a two-month extension with your landlord, allowing you to stay in the property through December. Your rent is paid in full in November and December.

And, then, in early December—after accepting the rent—your landlord informs you that she wants you to move out immediately. She denies that she ever agreed to let you stay through December. Instead, she serves you with eviction papers. The complaint alleges that the lease ended two months ago and that you have breached the lease by refusing to vacate.

You cannot afford to hire a lawyer to challenge the dispossessory action, and your physical disability will make travel to the court in Atlanta extremely difficult. What do you do?

Low-income tenant faces illegal evictionFor my client, Ms. Armstrong, and for many others, this type of nightmarish hypothetical is all too real. I met Ms. Armstrong through my pro bono work with the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation’s Eviction Defense Program. AVLF provides low-income tenants such as Ms. Armstrong with legal services and helps them protect their interests when a dispossessory action is brought against them.

While AVLF boasts a solid roster of pro bono attorneys throughout Atlanta to assist with dispossessory cases, many more volunteer attorneys are needed—particularly since the landlords in these cases are almost always represented by counsel and have greater financial resources than most low-income tenants.

In my case, AVLF first made sure that Ms. Armstrong answered the complaint to avoid a default judgment. It then assigned the case to me. At the dispossessory hearing, we raised the defense of the oral agreement allowing my client to remain through the end of the year. We took the position that, by accepting rent for those months, the landlord had ratified her oral agreement with Ms. Armstrong through her conduct, thereby creating a “tenancy at will” that lasted through at least the end of December.

We ultimately succeeded in getting the complaint against Ms. Armstrong dismissed with prejudice, allowing her to stay in her home through the end of December as she had planned. Moreover, we demanded (and obtained) a full refund of her security deposit, thereby providing her with additional time and funds to plan her transition to a new home.

Like many AVLF clients with whom I have worked over the past year, Ms. Armstrong was extremely grateful to have the support of an attorney throughout her case. Once the lawsuit was over, she sent me a note personally thanking me for being her advocate in court.

While my client was able to get the result she wanted, I have seen repeatedly the extent to which low-income, Moye_Johnunrepresented tenants in dispossessory proceedings can feel like the deck is stacked against them—due to unscrupulous landlords, poor living conditions, and a judicial system that many tenants simply do not understand. Through AVLF’s program, tenants like Ms. Armstrong are assured that their interests will be protected and will not be taken advantage of by aggressive or dishonest landlords.

While my assistance only took a few hours out of my busy week, the outcome had a tangible positive impact on someone else’s life.

Moreover, volunteering with AVLF has proven to be an invaluable professional experience—not only allowing me to help people who sorely need legal aid, but also helping me develop my advocacy skills in a fast-paced courtroom environment.

Most important, perhaps, AVLF’s Eviction Defense Program provided my client with a true advocate—someone to fight for her interests and protect her rights—where otherwise she would have been left to fend for herself.

Read the original post on the Daily Report here. 

John M. Moye of Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton focuses his practice in the areas of technology and software litigation, trade secrets and restrictive covenants, telecommunications and complex business litigation.

 

New Answer Clinic Allows Tenants Their Day in Court

If your landlord is evicting you but you have a strong defense or counterclaim, you’ll get your day in court, right?

WRONG – unless you properly raised that defense or counterclaim in your written answer.

Nearly 40,000 eviction cases flood the Fulton County courthouse each year. Many of those tenants receive mediation and hearings. But tenants who were confused by the answer form and left it mostly blank, or who did not articulate their defense or counterclaim, find themselves on the 4:00 p.m. calendar. Also known as the “judgment on the pleadings” calendar, all of those tenants will lose their case by order of the court – without ever having a chance to speak.

In an effort to help tenants with good cases avoid that result, the Georgia Law Center for the Homeless began holding a weekly Answer Clinic in June. Every Wednesday in the Fulton County Magistrate Court clerk’s office (Room TG100), attorney and law student volunteers meet with tenants to identify the ones with strong defenses and counterclaims and help articulate them in their answer. Amy Mei Willis, an Equal Justice Works Fellow with the Law Center, coordinates the Answer Clinic.

AVLF’s Cole Thaler volunteered with the Answer Clinic on its second day, and immediately saw its benefits to tenants. Volunteers listened to tenants’ descriptions of poor conditions, improper notice, and the like, and showed them how and where to raise those issues on the answer forms. Volunteers also helped tenants with Magistrate Court’s new electronic filing system, which can be confusing to tenants who are not computer-savvy.

There are many reasons why tenants with good cases need help filing answers — whether it’s literacy challenges, language barriers, or simply being intimidated by the judicial process. Due process does not exist if the procedures are too confusing for unrepresented tenants. Thanks to the Answer Clinic, tenants who would otherwise be shut out and silenced have a meaningful opportunity to access justice.

4th Annual Beer Tasting and BBQ Battle

The 2016 event, presented by the Daily Report, was an unqualified success. Nearly 800 friends of Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation and Atlanta Legal Aid Society attended the sold-out June 2nd event at Opera, raising over $100,000 to support equal access to justice in our community. We are so grateful to the chefs who donated their time and food: Kevin Outzs of the Cockentrice and Spotted Trotter, Andreas Muller of Revival, Sweet Auburn BBQ, Twin Smokers BBQ, and Jim ‘N Nicks BBQ. Sweet Auburn BBQ took first place for the second year in a row, with Jim ‘N Nicks BBQ taking second place. We couldn’t have done it without event co-chairs Sarah Zampell and Ansley Sluss – or without the support of United Distributors, C. Parks Catering, Coca-Cola Company, and Hop City. Thank you for all those who came out in support of AVLF and ALAS!

From the Staff: Thoughts on the Family Law Program

For the last year, I’ve had the unique opportunity to take part in the domestic violence trainings for the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation. In each training, we would address the many barriers that survivors of domestic violence face in finding safety and stability. Throughout this process, I often felt a twinge knowing that our domestic violence program addressed only a small portion of the barriers facing survivors, due to the fact that the protections and remedies provided by a family violence protective order are only temporary.

However, the launch of AVLF’s new family law program, which includes a social worker, allows us to address our survivors’ family law needs—such as divorce and custody—in a more comprehensive and permanent manner. Frequently, survivors attempt to leave an abusive relationship seven or more times before finally succeeding, falling into a destructive pattern. The most dangerous time for our survivors is the period when they attempt to leave their relationship, as their abusers lose the control and power over the survivor that define domestic violence.

Thanks to our new family law program, not only do survivors gain access to the knowledge and expertise of the volunteer attorneys to guide them through a complicated and difficult legal process, but the volunteer attorneys gain exposure to the gratitude and kindness of clients in desperate need of their assistance. This gratitude serves as a reminder of the reason why many of us became family law attorneys.

SFO Extern: My First Time in Court

When I started as an intern at the Safe Families Office in the Fulton County Courthouse, co-run by Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation and the Partnership Against Domestic Violence, I thought I knew it all. I went to an all-women’s high school, and I even graduated from Agnes Scott College, a women’s college. I organized a benefit for an international battered women’s shelter as my senior project, and I thought I was prepared for whatever came my way at the Safe Families Office. I was even prepared for the ever-present question, “Why does she stay?” But I was not prepared for how emotionally involved I would become in AVLF’s Safe and Stable Families Project.

I started as an intern with AVLF at the SFO in August of 2015 and stayed on as an extern in the spring of 2016. I was eager to represent a domestic violence client at a 12-month protective order hearing under Georgia’s Student Practice Rule, and I finally had my chance in February 2016. I had conducted the Ms. R’s intake, and her story touched me. She was a young mother of two and a recovering addict working hard for her children. She was sweet, polite, and the last person you might expect to be a victim of domestic violence.

Her story struck me, and I knew I wanted to represent her at her 12-month hearing. I did everything in my power to prepare ­­– I knew the facts backward and forward. However, a day prior to the hearing, I learned that because my Ms. R had an open divorce case involving the same Respondent, her protective order case was to be heard in front of her Family Division judge, rather than by one of the regular family violence judges. I was incredibly nervous. I had observed the regular family violence courtroom and become familiar with those judges, but I had no idea what to expect with the Family Division judge.

I woke up the day of the hearing prepared and ready to present my case. Ms. R arrived timely, and we were ready to proceed. I was not prepared for the Respondent to show up with an attorney; most parties represent themselves in TPO hearings. Needless to say, I was terrified. Opposing counsel was older and undoubtedly more experienced than I was. He immediately proposed to settle the case and insisted that Respondent have visitation with the children. Given the facts of my case, my client was unwilling to agree and adamantly wanted to proceed.

Once we appeared before the Judge and I was sworn in, opposing counsel requested a continuance, claiming that he had just been retained and needed additional time to prepare. He also suggested that the protective order issues could be ironed out in the parties’ status conference in the divorce a few weeks later. But Ms. R wanted to move forward that day.

I objected to the continuance, arguing that the Respondent had plenty of time between being served with the protective order and the hearing date to obtain an attorney earlier. I also argued that because of the nature of my externship, I would not be able to represent Ms. R on an alternate date. Further, I was the one who had built a relationship with this client and was familiar with the case, and I was prepared to proceed.  Luckily, the judge was persuaded, and the hearing moved forward.

While I was nervous, I knew I had to stay strong for Ms. R. She and her children needed my help to earn the protection to which she was entitled. My direct of Ms. R went well, and she was able to clearly articulate the severe abuse. I was a little thrown off when opposing counsel made objections to leading questions and the client’s lack of personal knowledge, but I did my best for my first time in court – and I learned some of the things I can do next time to prevent those types of objections.

Opposing counsel cross-examined my client and focused heavily on her past addiction issues. I objected on relevance grounds but was overruled. It looked like things could take a bad turn, but my client owned up to her past and repeatedly reminded him about her success in recovery. When I was able to cross-examine the Respondent, I clearly asked some good questions because he ended up admitting to some of the alleged abuse. The judge extended the 30-day protective order for 6 months and ordered that Respondent have no visitation with the children until at least the first status conference in the divorce – a solid victory for my client.

The hearing lasted for an unusual and intense 2.5 hours. I am so happy we won – it felt so amazing. Knowing that I helped my client, even just a little bit, made me feel like law school is so worth it. Having this experience built my confidence, but even more importantly, receiving a favorable outcome provided relief and happiness to both Ms. R and me.

Assuring Peace of Mind for a Mother and Child

Charles Wardlaw, Special to the Daily Report (Reprinted with permission)

When I first met Stacy, she told me the father of their 1-year-old daughter had threatened to end the child’s life. He told her if she made him pay child support, it would be the worst thing she ever did.

As Stacy and I spoke about her life, she was overcome with emotion as she realized that he had both the intention and means to make good on his threats. While Stacy had found the strength to apply for an ex parte 30-day temporary protective order (TPO), it was clear she would need my help in securing a longer protective order to free her from abuse.

In the days leading up to the TPO hearing, Stacy called me often. Every conversation was filled with what she thought were “golden nuggets” that would ensure she got the result she and her daughter needed. We figured that the father was certain to disavow that he ever made a threat against his own daughter. Every time Stacy called, I listened patiently because I realized just how important this hearing was to her. In addition to providing her with legal advice and counsel, she needed me to serve as a counselor and reassure her that everything would be OK.

Compounding her stress was the fact that up until she filed for the 30-day TPO, the father had helped her pay for child care costs. The amount he contributed was meager, but it was indispensable to Stacy; it allowed her to support herself and her daughter. When I told her that we would seek child support in the TPO, I looked her in the eyes and promised that I would do my best to make sure that both she and her child were protected.

On the day of the hearing, I showed up to the courthouse early. I was anxious to ensure that there was no contact between my client and the father, and I imagined and planned my actions in a worst-case scenario. Once Stacy arrived, we went over the strategy for her direct examination. Essentially, she needed to tell her story—all of it —and explain to the judge exactly what she wanted.

Stacy told her story just as we planned, and during her testimony, the same emotions surfaced. As we expected, the father denied making such threats, but it was obvious to everyone in the courtroom that this situation demanded relief.

The court granted the TPO and awarded child support in an amount that was higher that what the father had contributed monthly to date. The judge also emphasized the need for further counseling for the family, and by the end of the hearing, the mending process had begun.

I was relieved that Stacy got the protection and financial support she needed, and I am so proud of the role I played in securing safety and peace of mind for her and her daughter.

Read the orignal article here.

From the Courtroom to the Classroom

Charlie Deal, Special to the Daily Report (Reprinted with permission)

I used to be one of those people who believed the stereotypes surrounding domestic violence. I would wonder, “Why doesn’t she just leave?” “Maybe she started it,” or “Why does she keep going back to him if he is going to continue abusing her?”

I knew I wanted to attend law school to give a voice to those who didn’t have one, but I never expected that Atlanta Volunteer Lawyer Foundation’s Safe Families Office (SFO) would give me that chance. I began volunteering in the SFO in August 2015 and took on my first case under the Student Practice Rule in November. My entire perspective on domestic violence has completely changed because of my time at Safe Families.

My time at the SFO has given me first-hand experience working with survivors of domestic violence. I’ve seen women, as well as men, seek help from our office to escape their abusers. I have had the opportunity to hear their stories and assist them with filing paperwork and navigating the courthouse to obtain their protective orders.

I learned that it’s never as easy for survivors to leave as others may think. Issues concerning money (or lack thereof), children, work and other family members all factor into a survivor’s decision to leave or stay.

Taking on my first case was an overwhelming yet gratifying experience. My client, Ms. J, was a mother of three young children, one of whom had also been subjected to abuse by the respondent. I learned a lot about the elements of control because of this case. Survivors of domestic abuse do not always suffer only physical abuse. Cultural differences, financial control and isolation existed throughout this case, and all are problems some survivors face.

Ms. J tried to earn her degree and had attended college for a semester. When she needed to reapply for financial aid, the respondent withheld tax documents from her so she could not file for financial aid. She had to quit school. The respondent refused to provide her with their health insurance information when she was pregnant with her third child. Ms. J could no longer afford to go to her prenatal doctor appointments and eventually had her baby on the floor of her home because she couldn’t afford a trip to the hospital.

After interviewing Ms. J, I began preparing for our hearing. And after several email exchanges with my supervising attorney, I finally had a solid outline of my direct examination.

I didn’t sleep at all the night before my hearing. I kept worrying that the respondent would show up with an attorney, and that I was going to let my client down due to my inexperience. My hand shook the entire time Judge Pitts swore me in before I argued my first case.

After calendar call, cases with attorneys are typically heard first. Judge Pitts asked who wanted to go next, and I made myself wait until we were the last attorney case heard. I didn’t want a jury box full of seasoned attorneys observing me.

When my case was finally called, the feeling I had when I called my client to the stand is something I cannot describe. I had butterflies in my stomach, and my voice was shaky and soft for the first few questions I asked. I had to get my nerves under control; I had to come through for my client.

My greatest professional experience thus far was seeing my client’s face when Judge Pitts granted her a 12-month protective order. Ms. J obtained what she wanted, and I was able to help her through the process.

The things I have learned while working at AVLF are things you cannot learn in a classroom. I have grown not only as a future lawyer, but as a person as well. I learned that my clients will not always be like me and will come from all walks of life. I have learned that situations aren’t always black and white, and the law is not always either. I have gained courtroom experience that will be invaluable when I’m a practicing attorney.

I am truly grateful for the experience I have had providing pro bono representation for these survivors and giving back to my community.

Read the orignal article here.

Board Member Spotlight: Ashley Heintz

Ashley HeintzQuick snapshot: Ashley Prebula Frazier Heintz. I went to The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where I received a B.A. in Political Science and minors in Social & Economic Justice and Spanish. I attended The University of Georgia School Law, and thereafter clerked for Judge Clay Land in the Middle District of Georgia. After clerking, I joined Jones Day, where I now practice securities litigation. In addition to serving on AVLF’s Junior Board and the PurSHOEing Justice planning committee, I also serve on the Board of Reading Is Essential For All People (REAP) and the Board of the Make-A-Wish of Georgia Atlanta Young Professionals.
 
How did you get involved with Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation? In the fall of 2014, my mentor and AVLF Board Member Walt Davis, knowing I was passionate about public service, the access to justice, and shoes, introduced me to Elizabeth Finn Johnson to discuss PurSHOEing Justice. The next thing I know I was helping on the committee to plan the 2015 PurSHOEing Justice event. I started volunteering the same year.

Give us your best elevator pitch – what does AVLF mean to you? AVLF provides a chance for those who would not otherwise have a chance to be represented and supported in their struggles and legal battles by outstanding volunteer lawyers and other professionals. AVLF deploys the best and brightest attorneys in Atlanta who are passionate about this community and the rule of law to help our citizens. Whether we are representing a survivor of domestic violence, a mistreated tenant, or a child through our guardian ad litem program, AVLF seeks to provide justice and compassion to our clients. One client at a time, we are making the Atlanta community better. The work that we all do or can do for AVLF, whether as board members, volunteers, sponsors, or supporters, literally changes lives.  
 

Ashley Heintz PQWhat is your favorite AVLF moment? Earlier this year, I, along with three other attorneys from my firm, went to trial on behalf of an AVLF client in a landlord-tenant matter. Our clients were a mother and son who quite literally lost all of their worldly possessions and became homeless due to the landlord’s failure to repair the premises, resulting in three floods of their apartment and rampant mold and mildew growth. At the conclusion of trial, the judge granted our clients the full jurisdictional amount of damages. When we walked out of the courtroom, both of our clients were crying tears of relief and joy. They both gave us hugs, wanted a team picture, and could not stop saying thank you. The mother looked at us and said that now they could get their own place to live and buy a new couch. That comment struck me, and humbled me. In believe that moment epitomizes why we volunteer for AVLF: the clients. And it reminded me the importance of what we do: help people get access to basic human necessities and the chance to get justice.  
 
What are you proudest of professionally? I am proud of the fact that I have a career in which I can do sophisticated legal work while maintaining an active pro bono practice and staying involved in the community. I love that I am able to fulfill my passion for public service with the support of a firm that encourages community involvement and, specifically, supports AVLF’s work. 
 
And personally? I am proud that I have an incredible husband who supports me in all of my endeavors and inspires me to live out my passions and approach each day as a new opportunity.
 
Is there anything else you want our readers to know? Going into this profession and a large firm, I made the commitment not to give up public service. I hope that all lawyers take the opportunity that AVLF and other non-profit organizations provide to give back to the community and put our skills to work for those who cannot afford to pay us for our services.

Out of the Tower, Into the Streets

Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation is bringing its signature Saturday Lawyer Program into Fulton County’s highest-poverty neighborhoods.

For years, AVLF has invited pre-screened clients to our office on Saturday mornings to meet with attorney volunteers. By all measures, the Saturday Lawyer Program is a great success – for those clients who can reach our office. But transportation challenges, health problems, family care responsibilities, and work schedules (among other reasons) keep some clients with strong cases from getting help from AVLF.

6-18 pop up clinic
AVLF volunteer Seun Adebiyi

Now AVLF is beginning to venture out of our seventeenth-floor office suite at Peachtree Center and into the communities we serve, by holding occasional “pop-up clinics” in the neighborhoods of greatest need. On June 18, AVLF’s Cole Thaler and three volunteers held the first pop-up clinic at Community Grounds coffee shop in Historic South Atlanta. The event was publicized through neighborhood organizations, businesses, and service providers, and was geared to tenants having problems with their living conditions or landlords.

Special thanks to volunteers Seun Adebiyi, Carlos Nolasco, and Olivia Carnegie, and to Katie Delp, Executive Director of FCS Ministries, for hosting us and helping us plan. If you are interested in volunteering for an upcoming pop-up clinic, email cthaler@avlf.org.

AVLF Launches New Family Law Program For Survivors Of Intimate Partner Violence

On April 1, 2016, Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation officially launched its Family Law program for survivors of intimate partner violence. Adding such a program has been a goal of AVLF for years. Often, obtaining a temporary protective order is just the first step in breaking free from the cycle of violence. Many survivors of domestic violence are married to or have a child with their abusers. Many have claims for unpaid child support. Many are men who have not legitimated their children and if they want protection from a TPO, they must do so knowing the children may remain in the care of the abusive woman. While a temporary protective order may give the survivor separation from his/her abuser, as well as child support, alimony, and/or custody, that order is only valid for 12 months. If additional steps aren’t taken to permanently secure separation, financial, and custodial matters in a separate family law action, survivors are often forced to turn back to their abusers at the end of the 12 months.

DV PQAVLF was thrilled to receive a grant from the Victim Legal Assistant Network (VLAN) that has allowed us to hire a full-time family law staff attorney, Nilufar Abdi-Tabari, to coordinate the provision of pro bono family law services with our clients, as well as a social worker “Navigator,” Camille Millar, to provide social service support to the clients paired with family law attorneys for representation. AVLF’s model has always been to pair willing Atlanta-area volunteer attorneys with clients in need of pro bono services. There are too few pro bono family law programs available to low-income metro-Atlantans. We invite all Atlanta-area family law attorneys to take on one pro bono case per year through this program. Your support and willingness to participate in this program is absolutely essential to allow survivors of domestic violence to truly break free from the cycle of domestic violence. If you are interested, please contact Jamie Perez at jperez@avlf.org.

We are so grateful to the following attorneys who have agreed to partner with us on this new venture, which will allow us to provide a more holistic and permanent solution to addressing the pervasive problem of domestic violence in Atlanta:

Kimberly Ader
Lawler Green Prinz, LLC

Ivory Tertenia Brown
Ivory T. Brown, P.C.

John Lind Collar, Jr.
Boyd Collar Nolan & Tuggle LLC

Alexander R. Cutler
Lawler Green Prinz, LLC

Jennifer Leigh Evans
Davis, Matthews & Quigley, P.C.

Sally Fox
Fox Legal, LLC

Hannibal Heredia
Hedgepeth, Heredia & Rieder, LLC

Julia H. Hill
Lawler Green Prinz, LLC

Rebecca Hoelting
Hoelting & McCormack, LLC

Nancy Lawler, Esq.
Lawler Green Prinz, LLC

Jonathan R. Levine, Esq.
Levine Smith Snider & Wilson, LLC

Elizabeth Green Lindsey
Davis, Matthews & Quigley, P.C.

John Mayoue
Mayoue Gray Eittreim, P.C.

Rachel Platt
The Platt Law Firm

Pilar J. Prinz
Lawler Green Prinz, LLC

Rebecca Crumrine Rieder
Hedgepeth, Heredia & Rieder, LLC

Jed Silver
The Silver Law Firm, LLC

Amy K. Sullivan
Lawler Green Prinz, LLC

Louis Tesser
Kessler & Solomiany LLC

Kristin Zimmerman
The Platt Law Firm