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?”

AVLF is bringing its signature Saturday Lawyer Program into Fulton County’s highest-poverty neighborhoods.

On April 1, 2016, AVLF officially launched its Family Law Program for survivors of intimate partner violence. Adding such a program has been a goal of AVLF for years.

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.

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.

Jenny A. Mendelsohn, Special to the Daily Report (Reprinted with permission)

One recent Saturday morning, over black coffee in a paper cup, Ms. Crawford softly told me her story. A few months before, she was happily moving into her new Atlanta rental home with her fiancé and 6-year-old daughter. She dreamed of starting a new life with her small family and a second child who was on the way.

November 12, 2015: Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation seeks to hire a Development Director. The Development Director will report to the Executive Director and work interactively with the AVLF staff, volunteer […]

An Atlanta judge convicted real estate developer Rick Warren on two counts of housing code violations in Atlanta Municipal Court on September 22.

Mark S. VanderBroek, Special to the Daily Report (Reprinted with permission)

Imagine this scenario: A young couple struggling to make ends meet falls behind in paying the water bill for the townhouse they are renting. They eventually make payments to bring the account current, but shortly after that the water is shut off. The water account is in the landlord’s name, and he refuses to do anything to get the water turned back on.

Marty Ellin and Kenisha Wade recently appeared on Fulton County Commissioner Joan Garner’s TV show, The District. Watch it here.

Angela Waldrop, Special to the Daily Report (Reprinted with permission)

Mr. S. was a 54-year-old veteran and former long-distance truck driver who was finally ready to settle down in one place. In early 2013, he found what he thought was the perfect Atlanta apartment.

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.