Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation Newsletter   
Connecting Lawyers and the Community                                                                                 April 2015
                                                                                                                         Volume 6, Issue 4         
In This Issue
 
Training Opportunity

 

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

When: Monday, June 8 from 12:00 - 4:00pm

Where: Kilpatrick Townsend, 1100 Peachtree St NE
 

To register, click here.

Our Events
 
3rd Annual Beer Tasting and Celebrity BBQ Battle
June 11, 6:00 - 9:00pm
The Atlanta Event Center at Opera
1150 Crescent Ave NE
http://beertastingevent.org/

Monday Night at the Movies
September 21, 6:30 - 9:00pm
Landmark Midtown Art Cinema
931 Monroe Dr NE C212

24th Annual Winetasting
November 5, 6:00 - 9:00pm
Georgia State University College of Law 

Check our
website for details and additional events.   

Bravo!

Congratulations to Michael Lucas, AVLF's Deputy Director, for winning the 2015 SOAR ("Serving Others and Achieving Results") Award from the Public Interest Law Association of Georgia State University's College of Law. This award is given annually to an attorney who the PILA board believes has done an exceptional job of serving the community and helping those in need. For his work representing low income Georgians in a variety of legal matters, Michael was honored at a reception on April 9 at the GSU College of Law.

 

Successes

When the Atlanta home that Ms. Barrowman rented was foreclosed on, her landlord promised to return her security deposit within two weeks of her moving out. Unfortunately, that didn't happen, and an AVLF volunteer attorney sued the landlord on Ms. Barrowman's behalf and won. But the landlord refused to pay the money he owed. That's when Dollars for Judgments Program volunteer attorney Bryan Kaplan of Kitchens Kelley Gaynes PC stepped in, and negotiated with the landlord to pay off the judgment. Ms. Barrowman used the cash as a down payment on a used car, that she uses to drive her husband to his dialysis appointments. Great work, Bryan!

 

Mr. Rodriguez, who speaks only Spanish, got a job in an Atlanta restaurant. His first paycheck bounced. When he tried to collect his second check, his employer became aggressive and threatened him. After Mr. Rodriguez called the police, the employer told him to come back on Monday to get the rest of his pay. But when Mr. Rodriguez returned to the restaurant, it was closed, and the employer was nowhere to be found!  Fed up with the games, Mr. Rodriguez came to AVLF for help. Volunteer attorney Tynetra Evans filed a lawsuit against the restaurant, and the case settled at mediation - for the full amount that Mr. Rodriguez was owed. Thanks to Tynetra and to volunteer interpreter Ricardo Corporan!  

 
Community Outreach

On March 23rd, Deputy Director Michael Lucas spoke - in Spanish - to staff and clients of the Latin American Association about how workers can protect themselves from wage theft by unscrupulous employers and AVLF's programs to get them justice when it occurs. He was joined by AVLF volunteers Charles Bridgers and Kevin Fitzpatrick from the law firm of DeLong, Caldwell, Bridgers & Fitzpatrick, LLC.  

 

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Beer Tasting at Opera - Six Weeks To Go!



Register at beertastingevent.org today!
 

Presenting Media Sponsor: Daily Report  

 

Imperial Stout Level: CIGNA, SPR Atlanta 

 

Double IPA Level: Alston & Bird LLP | Beacon Hill Staffing Group | Burr & Forman LLP | Carlton Fields Jorden Burt | Champion Firm, P.C. | Clements & Sweet, LLP | Clyde & Co. US LLP | DTI | Exponent | GlassRatner Advisory & Capital Group LLC | Greg Williamson, Real Estate Consultant, Atlanta Communities | Hal Freeman - ReMax Metro | Iris Data Services | JackBilt Development | Jones and Kolb | Kaufman, Miller & Forman, P.C. | King & Spalding LLP | McGuireWoods LLP | Microsoft Corporation | Northwestern Mutual | Paul Hastings LLP | Special Counsel | TrustPoint Court Reporting | TTR Consulting    

  

Pale Ale Level: A. Montag & Associates | Amy French of Harry Norman Realtors | Jane & Brooks Batcheller | Homrich Berg | Jones Day | Legare Attwood & Wolfe | LexisNexis | Metro Atlanta Reporters | Morris, Manning & Martin, LLP | oXYGen Financial | Primrose School Midtown | The Simon Law Firm | Smith & Lake LLC | Thomson Reuters | The Whole Dog Market | Willamette Management Associates   

 

In-Kind Sponsors:  Carole Parks Catering | The Coca-Cola Company | Hop City | Jim 'n Nicks Bar-B-Q | PwC | Smokebelly BBQ | Sweet Auburn Barbecue |  The Pig and the Pearl | Twin Smokers BBQ | United Distributors  


Board Member Spotlight: Steve Allen
 
The Daily Report recently published an article about AVLF Board President Steve Allen. They've graciously given us permission to reprint it in our newsletter. Read the original article here.


Steve Allen
John Disney/Daily Report

Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation Brings Banker on Board
Meredith Hobbs, Daily Report

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.

He said he got involved with AVLF about eight years ago so that he could meet lawyers who might want to bank with him. "I saw AVLF as a target-rich environment, if you will," he said. "My very first involvement was drinking a glass of wine at the wine-tasting," Allen recalled, referring to the group's popular fall fundraiser.

 

As Allen learned more about the organization and what it did in the community - especially in helping domestic violence survivors and fighting homelessness through legal services to tenants facing evictions - he got interested in its work. READ MORE      


Slumlord City: AVLF Attorneys Stand Up for Tenants

My client, Mary Jackson, and I stood in the hallway outside Fulton County Courtroom 1B - eviction court. Ms. Jackson rubbed her reddened eyes. She had just finished describing the conditions inside her rented home: a broken furnace that forced her and her children to huddle around space heaters; a non-functioning oven; uneven floors that dipped dangerously downward; holes in the doors that let the cold air in. She listed all of the times she called her landlord for help, only to be brushed off. The landlord listened placidly, his face unmoving. Finally he leaned in toward me. "It's not," he said with disdain, "like I'm a slumlord." READ MORE 



Much-Deserved Thanks from the DV Project

 

On Monday, April 13, the often unsung heroes of AVLF's Domestic Violence Project gathered in the beautiful offices of Alston & Bird for cocktails and hors d'oeuvres. Court administrators, elected officials, volunteers, board members, and fans raised a glass to toast each other. We are so grateful to have friends in so many corners of the community. Special thanks to Cheryl Naja and Mary Benton for making the evening possible.   


Thank You, AVLF Volunteers!

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

Saturday Lawyer Program

Tom DeSimone, Robins Kaplan; Mindy Wolf, Attorney at Law; Andrea Avery, Attorney at Law; Adam Masarek, Attorney at Law; Eva Hill, Attorney at Law; Wendy Choi, Ballard Spahr; Winston Folmar, Ballard Spahr; Kate Hausmann, Attorney at Law; Richard Caplan, Attorney at Law; Melissa Roth, Attorney at Law; Jessica MacAllister, Troutman Sanders; Drew Powers, Troutman Sanders; Eric Astrin, Troutman Sanders; Marie Meltzer, Attorney at Law; Tony O'Brian, Attorney at Law; Chris Sleeper, Attorney at Law  

 

Eviction Defense Program

Christopher Wiech, LeClair Ryan

 

Saturday Paralegal Program

Stephanie Hamm; Joy Dominguez; Sharlena Foster

 

Domestic Violence Program
Kristy Seidenberg, The Law Offices of Kristyne L. Seidenberg; Paula Rothenberger, Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP; Kacy Romig, Jones Day; Uchenna Ekuma-Nkama, Jones Day; Bethany Rupert, King & Spalding LLP; Kenneth Franklin, Duane Morris; Tracey Ledbetter, Sutherland Asbill & Brennan; Adam Reinke, DLA Piper; Renata Turner, Atlanta's John Marshall School of Law; Yolanda Greenaway, Atlanta's John Marshall School of Law; Jordan Whittaker, Georgia State College of Law; Meredith Rainey Permar, Emory University School of Law; Andrea Avery

Guardian ad Litem Program
Jerbrina Johnson, J.L. Johnson & Associates; Margaret Ruthenberg-Marshall, Hanranhan Freitag Family Law; Greg Miles, Georgia Power Company; Sarah Cash, Georgia Power Company; Cynthia Morris, Law Office of Cynthia Morris; Hoganne Harrison, The Hogan Law Firm, LLC; Esther Vayman, Vayman &  Teitel; Herman Tunsil, Law Office of Herman Tunsil