JIMMY RUSERT | February 7, 2018
Junior Board of Directors President Jimmy Rusert explains what led him to AVLF, and how he thinks the Junior Board can make the organization even better.
When Marty Ellin asked me to take the helm as the president of Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation’s Junior Board in May 2017, the first thing that came to mind was: “I have seen some brilliant, dedicated people lead this group of… well, brilliant, dedicated people. I cannot mess this up. I have to be a good steward of this organization.”
I’d already been on the Junior Board for four years, so I knew its primary function was to advance and support AVLF’s mission by recruiting volunteers, raising money, and serving as ambassadors to the Atlanta legal community. And I know my Junior Board colleagues had been achieving these goals like a well-oiled machine for years.
The Junior Board’s current roster consists of associates from 14 law firms (including some of the most prominent both in Atlanta and in the country), in-house counsel, forensic accountants, and representatives from litigation support firms. In the past year, its members have assisted with more than 20 of AVLF’s cases directly, referred even more to friends and colleagues throughout the city, and raised tens of thousands of dollars through its signature fundraiser, the annual Beertasting and BBQ Battle.
This event mixes 750 guests, some of the best BBQ in the city, and dozens of craft beers to support AVLF and its fellow legal aid organization, the Atlanta Legal Aid Society. The Junior Board’s work leads directly to quality legal services being provided to Atlanta’s most underserved populations. Friend-raising and fundraising were “old hat” to this group, so being their president should be easy, right?
Like most members of the Junior Board, I love to work with AVLF because I know how much courage it takes for AVLF’s clients to stand up for themselves–to their landlords, to their abusers–and what a difference the right lawyer can make in their lives.
But after speaking to Walt Davis, AVLF’s Board of Directors president, I had a realization. The conversation was simple: “The Junior Board has done great things. But can it be even better?”
I was not simply charged with watching over a group that could easily run itself, although it could. I was charged with something more: we need to expand AVLF’s incredible group of volunteers. We need to leverage our vast network of lawyers and support to serve the underprivileged residents of this city that gives us so much.
While that has been the goal to which the Junior Board has strived for years, I realized we needed to seek out new and different ways to advance that work.
Like most members of the Junior Board, I love to work with AVLF because I know how much courage it takes for AVLF’s clients to stand up for themselves–to their landlords, to their abusers–and what a difference the right lawyer can make in their lives.
I found out about AVLF while I was still in law school. While working as a summer associate, a law student’s version of an internship, I helped a senior attorney take on a domestic violence case. We won her a protective order, shielding herself and her children from her abuser. After court, we offered to walk her to her car; after all, her abuser would be leaving the courthouse at the same time. She politely declined because she said she had the order that she needed to protect her children, and that was what mattered most.
In that instant, I knew I needed to do more to help AVLF. If that is what one client could do with one lawyer, I wanted to help AVLF grow and replicate that feeling for hundreds, if not thousands, of other clients and the lawyers who have the privilege of helping them.
This selflessness showed not only her immense courage but also the power she felt having a court order against her abuser. In that instant, I knew I needed to do more to help AVLF. If that is what one client could do with one lawyer, I wanted to help AVLF grow and replicate that feeling for hundreds, if not thousands, of other clients and the lawyers who have the privilege of helping them.
Our vision for the Junior Board’s expansion for the coming year (and the years after)—how we believe it can grow and replicate the good that AVLF does—has two primary components.
First, we are recruiting even more dedicated people from different organizations that share our passion for pro bono work. Already, every Junior Board member recruits volunteers and raises funds for AVLF within their own personal and professional circles. But there are other circles that remain untapped, and who may not even know the difference they can make. We can help AVLF tap into those resources.
Second, we are taking on an expanded role, working directly with the Board of Directors to create collaborative efforts. Watching a documentary about my favorite band recently, I marveled at the back-and-forth method its two lead members took when writing songs – one would have an idea and the other would help flesh it out and turn it into something beautiful. It made me think: There are some people in the world that are truly visionary on their own, but so many more that can achieve the same results with the right counterpart. That is what the two Boards that both care deeply about AVLF can be—counterparts that support and challenge each other to do more for the Foundation.
I know firsthand just how impressive and talented a group of people my Junior Board colleagues are as volunteers, fundraisers, and ambassadors for AVLF. But imagine what we could do if, for every Junior Board member, there were 20 more advocates ready to step up and make a difference. Imagine the number of children we could help to stay in their homes and schools. Imagine the number of disadvantaged renters we could help to overcome a landlord-tenant system that has ignored their pleas for years. And imagine the number of victims of intimate partner violence that we could empower to stand up to their abusers and extricate themselves from the cycle of violence.
You can find a list of the entire AVLF Junior Board of Directors here. Trust that voice in your head telling you that you could do more to give back this year and reach out to one of them to offer to help out with a case, find a sponsor, or contribute to AVLF. And when you do, tell them I said “thank you,” because I take immense pride in being a part of a group of such brilliant, dedicated people.
Want to know more about the great work our boards do? Check out some of our board member spotlights.
Jimmy Rusert
AVLF Junior Board President
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Jimmy Rusert is the President of AVLF’s Junior Board of Directors and an associate in the Atlanta office of DLA Piper, a global law firm. Jimmy focuses his practice on U.S. employment matters, including day-to-day advice and counseling, preparing employment agreements and other employee materials, representing clients in employment disputes, and assisting corporate and private equity clients on employment matters in connection with mergers, acquisitions, and other corporate transactions. Jimmy also maintains a complex commercial litigation and investigations practice. When he is not practicing law, he spends as much time as possible with his wife and two rambunctious (but sweet) sons, especially outdoors or playing sports. He also plays guitar and banjo, and occasionally writes music. He loves to cook.