…low-income households. AVLF’s Domestic Violence Program operates the Safe Families Office in conjunction with Partnership Against Domestic Violence. This program provides free legal and safety planning assistance to survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking. This program also trains and places volunteer attorneys to represent survivors of domestic violence at hearings regarding temporary protective orders. Plea…
When JoAnn came into the Safe Families Office, she was exhausted from trying to co-parent with her child’s father, who often turned to violence when they disagreed about parenting or finances. She had been strangled and slammed into the walls of her home before she came in, and she was scared and didn’t know where to turn. After obtaining an ex parte Temporary Protective Order, JoAnn and her children moved out of state to protect themselves, but…
…LP Kenneth Franklin, Duane Morris LLP Kristen Rajagopal, Kristen Rajagopal LLC Anastasios Manettas, Manettas Law Courtney Dixon, Atlanta Legal Aid Society Yvonne Williams-Wass, Eversheds Sutherland (US) LLP David Cheng, Dickason Law Group Gabriella Medina Nunez, AVLF Safe Families Office Intern, Georgia State University School of Law Taylor Lyn Williams, Smith & Lake LLC Intern, Georgia State University School of Law Guardian Ad Litem Nathaniel Bl…
…tage by her child’s father for hours, Ms. Malone came directly to the Safe Families Office to file for legal protection against him. The SFO team sprang to action and wasted no time placing her case. Audrey Bergeson from Smith & Lake (and AVLF’s Junior Board) volunteered to represent Ms. Malone. Audrey didn’t take any shortcuts: she expertly presented over 20 exhibits to the judge, including photos and voicemails that left no question about what h…
…m. General admission tickets: $75 each Visit purshoeingjustice.org for details and to purchase tickets….
…ased in part on the addition of a Staff Attorney and Navigator to the Safe Families Office, and a contemplated expansion of the SWON Program. Achieving these outcomes required the AVLF staff to create meaningful pro bono opportunities for Atlanta’s lawyers, to recruit and when necessary to train those attorneys in the relevant substantive area, to respond to thousands of phone calls from would-be clients hoping to secure the services of the pro bo…
…t her, but she was always terrified to call the police. Her boyfriend, a retired police officer, always told her no one would believe her. But Ms. Laurens had recently begun fostering her grandchildren, and knew she had to get them away from his abuse. She visited the Safe Families Office ready to make a change. Thanks to dedicated and empathetic representation by Lindsey Hacker with Levine Smith Snider & Wilson, Ms. Laurens walked away from court…
…serves survivors of domestic violence, who have been assisted by the Safe Families Office, with their long-term family law legal needs. As the Family Law Program Staff Attorney, Audrey manages the program, provides direct client representation, and pairs clients with experienced family law attorney volunteers. Prior to joining AVLF, Audrey practiced family law as an associate with Smith & Lake, LLC. Before practicing with Smith & Lake, Audrey was…
…he served as a senior prosecutor at the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office; he worked in private practice as a commercial litigation associate at Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP before then; and he taught public high school students as a former educator in Atlanta Public Schools. Currently, Pierce is an executive committee member of the Gate City Bar Association, a LEAD Atlanta Class of 2022 alum, a member of Mayor Andre Dickens’s LGBTQ Adv…
…rograms Crystal Redd was previously a Staff Attorney. She works across the Safe and Stable Homes Project, providing individual representation in landlord-tenant, eviction defense, and wage cases, supporting the work of the SWON community-based sites, and consulting volunteer attorneys on legal matters. Kelsie Matthews Joins the Standing with Our Neighbors NPU-V team Kelsie was previously on the Community Assistance team. Cole Thaler, Co-Director,…
…ught-provoking blog pieces for AVLF. Read them here. Cole Thaler Director, Safe & Stable Homes Project Check out more from this author. Cole serves as the director of AVLF’s Safe and Stable Homes Project. He oversees the Saturday Lawyer Program and the Standing with Our Neighbors Program, among others. Before joining AVLF, Cole was a supervising staff attorney with Georgia Legal Services Program, where he represented low-income rural Georgians in…
…ught-provoking blog pieces for AVLF. Read them here. Cole Thaler Director, Safe & Stable Homes Project Check out more from this author. Cole serves as the director of AVLF’s Safe and Stable Homes Project. He oversees the Saturday Lawyer Program and the Standing with Our Neighbors Program, among others. Before joining AVLF, Cole was a supervising staff attorney with Georgia Legal Services Program, where he represented low-income rural Georgians in…
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