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August 2014
                                                                                                                         Volume 5, Issue 8   
In This Issue
- Join Us: AVLF Monday Night at the Movies
- Reflection on a Rough Week
- Thanks to WBMM&P for GAL Fundraiser
- AVLF in the News
- New AVLF Board Member: Denelle Waynick
- Safe Families Office: Welcome and Farewell
- Thank You, AVLF Volunteers!
 
Our Events
  
Fundraisers

October 16 at 6:30 p.m.
The Supreme Cork Wine Tasting and Silent Auction
5 Seasons Westside Brewery
www.thesupremecork.org

November 6 at 6:00 p.m. 
AVLF Winetasting
World of Coca-Cola
**Deadline to be listed in event announcement: Sept. 2** 
http://avlfwinetasting.org/

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Lawyer in the Library Series
 
September 11 at 1:00 p.m.
Landlord and Tenant Issues
Kirkwood Library, 11 Kirkwood Road

September 24 at 6:00 p.m.
Landlord and Tenant Issues
Wolf Creek Library, 3100 Enon Road


September 25 at 6:00 p.m.
Landlord and Tenant Issues
Kirkwood Library, 11 Kirkwood Road


Check our website for details and additional events. 

Training Opportunity

Join our dynamic training for our Domestic Violence Program so that you can take part in representing survivors of intimate partner violence.

When: Tuesday, October 7 from 9:30 AM - 1:30 PM

Where: Alston & Bird, 1201 West Peachtree Street

For details, email Julia Black

 
Successes

A hardworking family came to our Saturday clinic desperate for help at a hearing on their claim for unpaid wages - scheduled three day later! Despite having little time to prepare, the our intrepid Director of Housing and Consumer Programs, Cole Thaler, went to court and won a resounding victory. The hearing went so well, and the Judge admonished the previously defiant Defendant so thoroughly, that when the court started to award our client $3,000, the Defendant volunteered that the correct amount was actually $3,200! The clients emailed Cole saying: "Thanks to all lawyers for remembering the people in need!" You are a credit to the profession, Cole!
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Mike Barry's client moved into her rented home only to discover infestations of roaches and rats, and water leaks throughout the home.  Her landlord refused to make repairs or to return the money she paid. With diligent advocacy by Mike, an Alston volunteer, this tenant reached a settlement agreement that put money back in her pocket and got her out of the bug-infested home.

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Our client got water bills of $5,000 per month - and the landlord denied there was a leak at all! Volunteer attorney Ben Byrd of Friend, Hudak & Harris, LLP proved the tenant's massive damages in court - and the judge awarded her damages and fees totaling $51,000! Denial doesn't get landlords very far when AVLF volunteers are on the case!  

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What happens when a landlord turns off a tenant's water service instead of filing an eviction? In volunteer attorney Winston Folmar's case, the judge threatened to jail the landlord and awarded $5,000 in punitive damages to Winston's client! Warning to Fulton County landlords: illegal evictions are NOT taken lightly in our courts!

 
Like us on Facebook
 
Follow us on Twitter
 
View our profile on LinkedIn
 
 
This just in: We have a new LinkedIn page! If you have a profile, we hope you'll follow us.

Join Us: AVLF Monday Night at the Movies
 
Please join us for a one-time screening of the documentary film American Winter on Monday, September 15 at Landmark Midtown Art Cinema. Your $10 admission includes a Q&A after the screening with guest speakers Harry Gantz, Co-Director of American Winter; Bill Bolling, Executive Director of the Atlanta Community Food Bank; Melissa Johnson, Policy Analyst, Georgia Budget & Policy Institute; and Cole Thaler, Director of Housing and Consumer Program, AVLF. Our goal is to help everyone do a better job as we work together to ensure that Atlanta is a healthier and safer place for all of us.

Special thanks to our friends at the law firm of Taylor English Duma for sponsoring the event.

To read the Daily Report's recent article highlighting the event, click here.

To register, visit avlfatthemovies.org.

   


Reflection on a Rough Week

 

by Liz Whipple, Director, Domestic Violence & Guardian ad Litem Programs  

 

In the four years I've worked at the Safe Families Office, I have seen and heard some terrible things. I speak often about worst-case scenarios, be it in trainings or presentations, but there is a distance in the recounting. Last week, however, there was no distance when a voice on the other end of the phone said "Liz, there's been a shooting." It was the police calling, a call the likes of which I'd never before received and I hope I never do again. The fact that it was happening at all, though, meant a client of ours was involved.

 

READ MORE

 


Thanks to Warner, Bates, McGough, McGinnis & Portnoy for Guardian ad Litem Fundraiser

 

Another year, another fabulous fundraiser hosted by Warner, Bates, McGough, McGinnis & Portnoy. The beautiful penthouse offices of WBMM&P provide a panoramic perch over all of Atlanta, the perfect backdrop for sushi and socializing at the 3rd annual fundraiser for AVLF's Guardian ad Litem program. The event is the primary pillar of support sustaining a program that has proven invaluable to the Fulton County Superior Court's Family Division, and as usual, judges, attorneys and other family law professionals gave generously (and celebrated convivially) at the event. Many thanks to our gracious hosts, as well as the event's signature sponsors IAG Forensics, Signature FD, and Paragon Legal Technology Support.

 

 


AVLF in the News
 
Check out Creative Loafing's article on Liz Whipple and the Safe Families Office. We're so proud!
 
AVLF Deputy Director Michael Lucas was named to the Daily Report's Rising Stars 2014. Congratulations, Michael!

New AVLF Board Member: Denelle Waynick  

 

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.

 

Denelle graduated with a law degree, cum laude, from the Howard University School of Law in Washington, D.C., and has a bachelor's degree in Accounting from Rutgers University in New Jersey. Says AVLF Executive Director Marty Ellin, "Denelle's enthusiasm for joining and supporting the Atlanta legal community is inspiring. We are delighted that she has chosen to be a part of our Foundation." Welcome, Denelle!     

 

READ MORE 


Safe Families Office: Welcome and Farewell  

 

Congratulations to Nilu Abdi-Tabari on her new position as the new Fulton County Legal Advocate at Partnership Against Domestic Violence. For the past year and a half, Nilu has dedicated her Mondays to AVLF as a volunteer at the Safe Families Office. Now, her experience and passion for victims of family violence will become a full-time commitment as she heads up PADV's team in the Safe Families Office alongside Liz Whipple. We couldn't be happier to see a volunteer opportunity turn into a career change, and look forward to the future of our dynamic partnership.

 

At the same time, we say goodbye to Robin Taylor, the departing PADV Legal Advocate, who has been an inspiration and a friend to all of us at AVLF lucky enough to work alongside her. The office will feel the effects of the Robin-shaped hole for a longtime, and we will expect pop-ins and phone calls to keep us on track. Thank you, Robin, for all you've done to make the Safe Families Office a family for those who work there.


Thank You, AVLF Volunteers!

AVLF thanks the following volunteers for their service during the month of July:

The Saturday Lawyer Program

Niki McDonald, Thomas Kennedy Sampson & Tompkins; Sherida Mabon, Thomas Kennedy Sampson & Tompkins; Candis Jones, Thomas Kennedy Sampson & Tompkins; Allegra Lawrence-Hardy, Sutherland Asbill & Brennan; Yvonne Williams-Wass, Sutherland Asbill & Brennan; Ava Blake, Ballard Spahr; Winston Folmar, Ballard Spahr; David Barnes, King & Spalding; Christopher Bruce, Gate City Bar; April Hall, Gate City Bar; Dawn Jones, Gate City Bar; Douglas Okorocha, Gate City Bar; Denise Farrior, Attorney at Law; Thomas Blaylock, Attorney at Law; Garth Snider, Attorney at Law; Neal Weinrich, Attorney at Law; Lena Abalmazova, Attorney at Law; Andreea Neculae, Attorney at Law; Nneka Egwuatu, Attorney at Law
 

Low Income Creditors Assistance Project

Paul Baisier, Seyfarth Shaw

 

The Eviction Defense Program

Rebecca Davis, Seyfarth Shaw; Eric Dominguez, King & Spalding

 

Dollars for Judgments

Paul Baisier, Seyfarth Shaw; Christopher Yarbrough, Frederick J. Hanna & Associates; Mary Lou Morris, Frederick J. Hanna & Associates; Quinn McGill, Frederick J. Hanna & Associates  

 

The Saturday Paralegal Program

Tiffany Austin; Kamau Sankofa; Eveth McPherson  

 

Domestic Violence Program

Debbie Segal; Knox Withers, Arnall Golden Greggory LLP; David Frist, Alston & Bird; Richard Farnsworth, Farnsworth Law; David Cheng, The Law Office of Attorney David Cheng; Sarah Cash, Georgia Power Company; Emily Yu, Hunter Weinstein & Somerstein; Danielle Walker, Emory University School of Law; Megan Gordon, Emory University School of Law; Juli Crider, John Marshall School of Law; Nilu Abdi-Tabari

Guardian ad Litem Program 

Raina Nadler; Bobby Burnett