AVLF's Pro Bono Briefs

AVLF Faces Programmatic Changes in 2012

2012-02-06T12:34:00.000-08:00

By: Tamara Serwer Caldas, Deputy Director, AVLF

Dear Friends of the Foundation,

In this first newsletter of 2012, we write both to highlight accomplishments from the year that has just ended, and to tell you about some significant changes we are experiencing as an organization as we begin the new year.

In 2011, AVLF’s Domestic Violence Project together with the Partnership Against Domestic Violence provided legal support to 2,452 survivors of intimate partner violence. AVLF trained 81 lawyers and other legal professionals to represent and advocate for survivors of domestic violence and provided full legal representation to 186 clients. Our Saturday Lawyer Program provided legal assistance to about 40% more clients in 2011 than in 2010, and increased by 50% the number of volunteers participating in the program. During the past three years, AVLF volunteers have secured almost a million dollars in judgments and settlements for clients in housing, consumer, wage and domestic violence cases. The organization’s Dollars for Judgments Program, an innovative project aimed at collecting difficult-to-collect judgments for clients of our other programs, has referred $260,000 worth of debt to experienced creditor attorneys since the program was initiated in September 2010. AVLF’s Housing Advocacy and Resource Center, a housing advice clinic located in the Self Help Center of the State Court of Fulton County assisted over 500 tenants since it opened in May 2011. More than 300 clients received bankruptcy referrals to pro bono attorneys – the highest number in a decade. Our Wills & Advance Directives Program expanded to serve more emergency personnel than ever before, and the Probate Information Center continues to be a model of successful court-based legal assistance.

In many important ways, 2011 saw meaningful improvements and significant increases in all of the services AVLF provides to our client and volunteer communities, and for that we are most proud. Coupled with these accomplishments, we enjoyed our most successful Winetasting fundraiser in the event’s history! It was an extraordinary year.

We improved our services in 2011 despite a substantial decline in financial resources that began shortly after the recession in 2008 and from which it has been very difficult for AVLF, like most non-profits in Atlanta, to recover fully despite the extraordinary generosity of law firms and individual contributors. Consequently, we begin 2012 having made some very difficult staffing and programmatic changes driven by our desire to remain fully focused on our core programs and organizational mission. Our long-term viability and continued effectiveness for our clients are, as always, our primary concerns.

The most substantial change in 2012 is the termination of the One Child One Lawyer Program (OCOL) at AVLF effective February 1, 2012. This decision was necessitated by budget considerations, and we are very sorry to lose such an important program. The good news is that the project’s director, Lila Newberry Bradley, will continue to represent the children that were served by OCOL. She will be joining the staff of the Office of the Child Advocate in the Juvenile Court of Fulton County, where she will continue the good work of this program.

The One Child One Lawyer Program began at AVLF in 2005, and since that time Lila has recruited and trained a very eager and effective group of volunteers to represent the best interests of abused and neglected children in legal proceedings in the Fulton County Juvenile Court. Since 2008, that representation has focused on children whose parents were participating in the Family Drug Court of Fulton County’s Juvenile Court, where the primary issue is the parents’ drug addiction and its impact on their ability to take care of their children. We are delighted that Lila will be in a position to serve the same children she has served for the past seven years, but are very sorry she will not be doing so with AVLF, and that there will no longer be an opportunity to volunteer for this program. Pro bono attorneys with existing cases will of course continue to be supported through the duration of their representation.

Responsibility for AVLF’s Guardian ad Litem program will shift to the director of AVLF’s Safe Families Office, Elizabeth Whipple, who will be assisted by program coordinator, Jessica Caldas, but otherwise there are no changes in the operation of this program.

Finally, AVLF’s very successful Wills & Advance Directives Program has been suspended as we retool our office with fewer staff. We will continue our Wills for Emergency Personnel Program, through which we partner with Troutman Sanders and others to assist local fire and police departments with wills and advance directives, but we will not be accepting new requests for wills from other members of the community until further notice. We will also not train or recruit volunteers for this program until we are able to support this program in its fuller form.

The balance of the Foundation’s pro bono programs remain intact, as does our commitment to serving the civil legal needs of Atlanta’s low-income families. We continue to seek ways to improve the quality and reach of our services to the most vulnerable in our community as we strive for the day that all people have access to civil legal assistance when their most basic legal needs are at stake. We have been able to sustain the majority of our work during difficult times because of your support, and we will only be able to continue because you choose to stand by us with your financial and volunteer contributions.

Please consider making a donation today so that 2012 can be a year in which we can build and strengthen AVLF’s programs instead of being forced to consider ways to cut back further in the year to come.

As always, we appreciate your continued support!

Thank You for a Terrfic Year!

2012-01-03T06:44:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends of the Foundation:

Amazingly, we are but days from the end of the year. It has been a very difficult year for so many organizations that serve those in need of free civil legal services, and this note could speak to how the poor and working poor of our community- and those that seek to promote equal access to justice for them- continue to struggle. And the sadness and frustration of so many is an ongoing story that should be told, and in bleak, real terms.

But forgive me, fellow lawyers, if in the middle of the pain and strain I instead recount how well the pro bono programs of AVLF continue to serve those desperate for your and our help. I write of the success, rather than of the distress, because no matter the difficulty the AVLF staff and the Atlanta legal community have not backed down or looked away, so I am able to write from pride and from hope.

Although our funding from traditional grant sources has all but disappeared, we have managed to sustain and in some instances even improved every pro bono program. The Saturday Lawyer Program is revitalized, and in 2011 an average of 240 volunteer attorneys have met with and served an average of 320 clients with an array of housing, consumer and other civil legal concerns. Supporting the Saturday Program, in 2011 the new Dollars for Judgments Program, through which State Bar of Georgia Creditor's Rights Section members collect judgments secured by AVLF clients or their volunteer attorneys, became a reality: we believe that this is the first such project in the country. AVLF's Eviction Defense Program continued to borrow on the talents of volunteer attorneys primarily from King & Spalding, Troutman Sanders, Seyfarth Shaw and Carlton Fields to represent individuals in imminent danger of losing their homes. The value of this program becomes more evident every year, as more Fulton County residents now rent their homes than own them, and as foreclosures continue to overwhelm home owners and their frequently unsuspecting tenants.

In a development that had an impact in 2011 and holds even more promise in 2012 and beyond, the State Court of Fulton County opened a courthouse-based Self-Help Center that provides information to courthouse visitors about the judicial process: importantly, an AVLF attorney staffs that office 4 days a week to provide specific information and direction to tenants involved in landlord-tenant conflict. In the future, and especially when the State bar of Georgia passes Model Rule 6.5, we expect to have a volunteer attorney available to answer questions from Courthouse visitors every hour that the building is open.

With special help in 2011 from Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton, Sutherland, DLA Piper and Arnall Golden Gregory, the Domestic Violence Project's Safe Families Officeagain saw over 2100 visitors. Through this Office, dozens of volunteer lawyers, paralegals and other supporters helped hundreds of victims of intimate partner violence secure Protective Orders, collect lost wages and medical costs and otherwise secure rulings to the benefit of the victims and their children. AVLF's Children Law Programs continued their excellent work in the Fulton County Juvenile Court and Fulton's Superior Court, promoting the best interests of children whose parents are in drug treatment programs and caught in custody disputes respectively. Members of the Estate Planning & Probate Section of the Atlanta Bar Association again staffed The Probate Information Center, giving free legal advice to individuals who have questions about the legal affairs of recently departed family members. AVLF's Wills Program trained lawyers to draft wills and advanced directives, and those volunteers served dozens of seniors and emergency services personnel.

Lawyers in Atlanta served and supported AVLF in other ways as well. Our signature fundraising event, the AVLF Winetasting, hosted in 2011 by King & Spalding at the firm's Atlanta office, set a fundraising record for the Foundation by raising over $400,000. Over 500 individuals and nearly seventy law firms, accounting firms and related entities made generous donations to the this 20th annual event, which this year also featured an exciting Silent Auction. Please mark November 1, 2012 on your calendar now for the 21st Annual Winetasting!

Perhaps the most significant evolution in the manner in which AVLF interacts with our lawyer constituency was the establishment of a Junior Board, headed by Brian Smith of Arnall Golden Gregory. This 16 member Board offered insight and energy to our volunteer work and fundraising in 2011, and promises to do much more of the same in 2012, tailoring its pro bono contributions to take real ownership of specific substantive issues.

We were significantly more effective in 2011 in reaching our friends in the Atlanta legal community with news, requests for volunteer assistance, requests for money and general information about the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers foundation. Our database was expanded to add the names of over 13,000 lawyers living in metropolitan Atlanta, and our monthly Newsletter to that group was instrumental in sharing information and securing legal help for our clients. We were active on Facebook, produced a video about the work of the Foundation and its volunteers, shared a Dine-Out for AVLF at La Tavola for 100 guests and improved our web site so that anyone interested in working with AVLF, or being represented by it, can access critical information about our pro bono programs.

But back to the malaise that engulfs us. There is uncertainty everywhere. Federal and local governments are beset by dysfunction. The economy is moribund. The Braves lost an insurmountable lead. Yet AVLF stayed the course, demonstrating commitment and responsive, effective public interest leadership to assure quality volunteer counsel for those with no other access to free lawyers when facing dire civil legal problems. For that, we thank our volunteers, our friends and our funders and ask you to stand with us again in 2012 as well. Best wishes to all through the holidays and the new year!
Warm regards,

Marty Ellin, Executive Director
Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation

***We've almost reached our end-of-the-year- goal of $5,000. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to AVLF's Domestic Violence Project by midnight on December 31st by clicking here. Any amount helps!!!

2011-12-21T10:32:00.000-08:00

Client focus informs current practice

2011-12-21T10:20:00.000-08:00

Year of service as a deferred associate deepens appreciation of need for relationships

By: Jared Welsh, Associate, Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton

When I was offered the opportunity to spend a year working in the public interest prior to starting as a first-year associate at Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton, I jumped at the chance.

Like many people, I had become a lawyer in part because it would give me a unique ability to contribute to my community, and a year spent doing public interest work would give me a rare opportunity to focus exclusively on doing just that. At the same time, I hoped it would give me real, practical experience rarely available to first-year attorneys. My time at the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation more than delivered on these hopes and expectations; over a year working directly with clients to solve their most pressing issues, I developed skills and experience that have proven invaluable in private practice.

At AVLF, I focused on assisting low-income clients with housing-related issues. Almost immediately, I began working directly with potential clients, identifying legal issues in which we could provide effective assistance. And thanks to AVLF's tremendous expertise and willingness to invest time and resources in a new attorney, I soon was able to guide clients through the process of making a claim or answering an eviction notice with confidence. Before long, I was negotiating with opposing counsel, making court appearances and representing clients in mediations. I constantly was learning not just the law, but the practice of law—skills such as identifying the critical facts in a dispute, convincing opposing parties that compromise made the most sense for them, too, navigating unsympathetic bureaucracies and managing a client's expectations when the ideal solution was truly out of reach. Each day was challenging and exciting, and we always provided attentive, insightful, professional advice and assistance—something that I soon learned was incredibly valuable to our clients, even when we couldn't reach the result they hoped for.

My work at AVLF included many vivid, memorable cases. There was a couple who faced imminent eviction because of a simple clerical error at the eviction court and a woman who couldn't afford to replace all of her children's clothing and other belongings after moving into a bedbug-infested apartment. There were too many clients who had paid rent for months to absentee landlords, only to discover upon receiving an eviction notice that their homes had long since gone into foreclosure. With AVLF's help, many of these people were able to save their homes or obtain the recovery they needed to start over.

In one particularly moving case, I helped AVLF staff and a volunteer attorney enforce a court order to recover a client's property from his landlord, who had evaded service and refused to cooperate with counsel after an illegal eviction. We arrived at the apartment with marshals and a locksmith, gained entry to the property and recovered most of the client's belongings—and, when the landlord arrived to protest, we finally were able to serve him personally.

AVLF routinely achieves such extraordinary results for its clients, and it was a great privilege and a true learning experience to spend a year participating in its great work. But in some ways it was not these special cases that meant the most to me, but rather the day-to-day client relationships I developed, some of which continue even now. Working with clients over time, helping them confront ongoing legal issues and giving them advice based on the insight into their circumstances that only a sustained relationship can provide is at the core of a lawyer's service, whether his clients are low-income individuals or major corporations. Of all the legal skills AVLF gave me the opportunity to develop, this constant engagement with and focus on my clients' circumstances and needs has most deeply informed my private practice. This aspect of my experience as a public interest lawyer has given me a deep appreciation for this most basic part of our profession, which will continue to serve me well in private practice. And the knowledge of what a difference insightful, professional advice can make for anyone will help ensure that I continue to do pro bono work throughout my career.

First weeks on job were 'a crash course in juvenile law'

2011-12-20T13:36:00.000-08:00

Deferred health care associate gains quick appreciation for responsibility
By: Diana Cohen, Associate, Arnall Golden Gregory

My very first client as a newly minted attorney was a four year old boy named Jamie,[1] and our initial meeting took place seated on his foster mother’s living room floor while he polished off a plate of chicken nuggets. At the time, I was working as a deferred law firm associate with the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Association’s (AVLF) Once Child, One Lawyer Program. My law firm, Arnall Golden Gregory (AGG), has a strong partnership with AVLF and I have always been interested in juvenile law, so the One Child, One Lawyer Program was a perfect fit during my deferral period from the firm.

My first few weeks at AVLF were a crash course in juvenile law. I worked directly with Lila Bradley, the Director of the One Child, One Lawyer Program, assisting her with the docket of child deprivation cases that she handles through Fulton County Juvenile Court’s Family Drug Court program. On a typical day, I would attend hearings with Lila, try to keep pace during impromptu hallway meetings with various social workers and attorneys, and use any spare moments to catch-up on the complicated histories behind each case. One case involved nine children who were divided up and placed in several foster homes. Another case involved a teen boy who had to live in a therapeutic residential facility because severe emotional-behavioral issues had caused him to lash out physically against her foster mother. All the cases involved mothers with drug problems who were attempting to get back on track, with varying degrees of success.

By the time my first solo client meeting occurred, I’d shadowed Lila on countless other child meetings and interviews, but the task still felt daunting. My client, Jamie, had been living in a stable foster placement for as long as he could remember, with a grandmotherly figure who took great pride in his care. The initial case plan was for him to return to his mother’s custody after she completed drug treatment, but things had changed by the time I became involved. Jamie’s mother had dropped out of her treatment facility, stopped attending visits with Jamie and his siblings, and failed to return phone calls from her social worker. The new case plan was to terminate the mother’s parental rights, so Jamie and his siblings could move to permanent adoptive placements. That first meeting was just one of many where I would gradually try to ascertain Jamie’s feelings and preferences related to these difficult issues.

For the first five minutes of our meeting, Jamie stared intently at the chicken nugget crumbs on his plate, occasionally shrugging as I asked him about school. His trust would not be won easily. As I got to know Jamie better during subsequent meetings, I learned that he enjoyed visits with his six siblings (who were living in different foster homes), and felt especially attached to his three year old sister. From time to time, I would ask Jamie about his mother. He would look over at his foster mother, thinking perhaps I meant her. Jamie’s foster mother would gently remind him that his mother is the lady he sometimes sees on Saturday when he visits with his siblings. “Oh, their mother,” Jamie would reply, thinking he’d solved the riddle.

When I transferred from AVLF to my position at AGG as a healthcare associate, the firm adopted Jamie’s case on a pro bono basis so I could continue to work on it. During my first year at AGG, I represented Jamie and his three year old sister in the termination of their mother’s parental rights. Although termination of parental rights (TPR) is considered a last resort, Jamie’s case had been pending for years and, after initially working very hard in her drug treatment program, his mother had gone into a downward spiral involving drugs and prison, followed by close to a year of no contact with her younger children. The TPR hearing, which I handled on Jamie and his sister’s behalf, was expected to be relatively simple given the compelling facts in favor of termination.

I’ll never forget the pit in my stomach when Jamie’s mother appeared for the hearing. Despite her prolonged absence, she now wanted to make one last effort to maintain her legal status as Jamie’s mother. It would be my job to cross-examine her when she testified in the case – to ask questions that highlighted her track record of failing to care for her children. In the end, Jamie’s mother testified that she did not feel comfortable taking care of him and his younger sister; rather, she hoped to preserve her relationship with her older teenage children who were represented by another attorney. I was spared from having to ask many difficult questions, but it was a very close brush with one of the hardest tasks that any child advocate will have to face.

Months after the TPR was final, Jamie was transferred from his foster mother’s house – the only home he’d ever known – to a new adoptive home 60 miles away. Jamie’s foster mother felt that she was getting too old to care for him long-term and therefore felt that she could not offer herself as an adoptive placement. Although Jamie’s adoptive parents are completely dedicated, the transition was rough. Jamie began acting up in school and bedwetting. His adoptive parents are continuing to work with him, his teachers, and a therapist to help him adjust to the huge change in his life.

Although Jamie’s case closed when the adoption became final, I have continued to handle other pro bono One Child, Once Lawyer cases during my last two years at AGG. Certain critical legal skills are common to both my healthcare and juvenile law practices. In both areas, I have to listen closely to my clients, try to put myself in their shoes, and understand both the immediate issues and the bigger picture. The best regulatory advice comes from an attorney who understands a healthcare client’s business, just as the best child representation comes from an attorney who understands the child’s broader family relationships, educational concerns, and psychological issues. My One Child, One Lawyer cases have taught me that lawyers have a great deal of power, and that power needs to be handled with the utmost care and sense of responsibility. Life-changing decisions are made every day in Juvenile Court – when families are split apart, or new families are created. In my healthcare regulatory practice, our clients rely heavily on the counsel that we provide, and I take that responsibility very seriously.

AVLF and its programs embody a commitment to public service and a belief in the ability of committed attorneys to do great things for their community. I try to emulate these ideals in my current practice and believe they have given me an excellent foundation for a meaningful legal career.

Former AVLF Deferred Associate Recounts First Experiences in Court

2011-12-09T13:04:00.000-08:00

Crucial law lessons learned from AVLF domestic violence work after receiving firm's deferral

By: Franklin Trapp, Associate, DLA Piper LLP (USA)

I entered my 3L year, 2008 – 2009, happy to have an offer from a law firm – DLA Piper. Then came the economic downturn, forcing many law firms to defer their future associates. When I initially learned that I too would be deferred from my original start date, naturally I was nervous about my future. However, DLA Piper handled the situation beautifully, helping me to find and obtain a fellowship position with AVLF’s Domestic Violence Project – a project to which my firm has dedicated many hours representing victims of intimate partner violence. As a Deferred Fellow at AVLF, my job was to work the DV Project’s intake center and represent clients in court. That is, instead of being out of work, DLA provided me with a generous stipend and I had the opportunity to both practice law and to help those in need.

One of my first clients, Susan, had been brutally beaten by her husband. One night, a few weeks after leaving her husband, Susan received an anonymous phone call. The voice on the other end of the line told her that something was wrong with her car. Susan went out to the parking lot to check it out. Her husband was waiting in the shadows and attacked Susan with a syringe, screaming that he was going to infect her.

I represented Susan in her attempt to get a 12-month protective order. The chilling facts of the case, combined with a history of violence, made the court’s decision open and shut. Afterward, thanks to AVLF’s comprehensive service to victims of intimate partner violence, I was able to represent Susan in her divorce. This was uncharted waters for me – the first divorce I ever handled. The process was contentious, to put it mildly. It was typical to leave status conferences with the husband screaming at me and my client. The husband also was able to delay the case significantly, so that it dragged on and on with little progress. However, we finally obtained the divorce, and on terms favorable to Susan. A year later, I checked in to see how she was doing. AVLF, she said, helped to give her life back to her. Now Susan is pursuing a degree in education and feels she is truly free from her husband’s abuse.

On another case, I faced an opposing counsel who, to put it mildly, had a great deal of difficulty behaving in a civil manner. This case forced me to develop a thick skin, and to do that quickly, too, while learning how to advocate for my client in the face of a truly awful opposing counsel. The opposing lawyer’s primary tactic to obtain favorable terms for her client was to bully me at every opportunity: yelling, filing false conflict letters and bogus “emergency motions,” barraging me with insults, even calling me names. I have to chuckle now, remembering the emails I received from this lawyer – whenever my name appeared in the text of the email, she actually would insert a devil-face emoticon next to it. Once in the lobby outside the courtroom, this lawyer was so loud and threatening that the court staff felt compelled to call in the Sheriff’s department to calm her down. To deal with this lawyer’s behavior, I found myself preparing more diligently and thoroughly than I ever had before. I wanted to cover every possibility and make sure that everything I presented to the court was airtight. The negative example and behavior of this opposing counsel taught me a great deal about procedure, ethics and civility. All along the way, my mentors at AVLF guided me and taught me how a real lawyer should act and how to truly and honestly represent my client, all the while playing by the rules and maintaining a poker face. The case was ultimately resolved in my client’s favor. Later, she obtained a divorce, thanks to the help of another AVLF volunteer lawyer. I haven’t seen that opposing counsel since our last court date, but her behavior during this case has made her the stuff of legend with the court staff.

Now, I am a second-year associate with DLA Piper, working mainly in construction law. I am constantly aware of how much there is to learn about this area of law, and about practicing law, period. But learning the ropes in a court of law, with real live clients whose safety may be at stake, and in an often intense courtroom setting, forced me to understand how to respond swiftly and how to think outside of the box. I truly believe those experiences are easing my path from naïve, wide-eyed associate to useful lawyer. I have a long way to go in this career, but I am very grateful to my firm and to AVLF for allowing me to start my practice with this experience. Serving as a Deferred Fellow turned out to be both incredibly useful and a great luxury: it gave me confidence, and it gave me the time and the support to learn skills I will always be able to use throughout my career.

They Were Always There When I Called

2011-12-05T07:29:00.000-08:00

By: Michael Lucas, Director of Housing and Consumer Law Programs, Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation

Ms. B arrived for her appointment at the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation’s (AVLF) Saturday Lawyers Program desperate for help in getting her, her daughter, and her four year-old granddaughter out of the deplorable living conditions they had been subjected to – and felt trapped in – for several months. After hearing of the severe structural, mold and mildew conditions leading to the counters collapsing and Ms. B literally falling through a wall left brittle by moisture, the insect infestation resulting in spider bites on the four year-old, and damage to personal belongings, David Zacks, Kilpatrick Townsend Partner and seasoned litigator, Hillary Rightler, first-year associate in Atlanta’s Complex Business Litigation group, and Nick Stanislo, the Firm’s Manager of Civil Investigations and recent recipient of AVLF’s annual “Making a Difference” award, jumped on board.

This team got to work immediately. Nick focused on unraveling a complicated ownership and management picture, and within a few days I was pulling into Ms. B’s apartment complex with David, Hillary, and Nick. The situation was worse than we expected: a several building, several-hundred unit, sprawling complex that – save maybe a half-dozen occupied units – looked like a ghost town with whole buildings roped off, boarded up, and likely full of squatters. The management office looked deserted, although the landlord still managed to collect Ms. B’s rent and threaten eviction. We quickly attracted the attention of the hapless “maintenance man” – apparently acting in that role in name only – who questioned our presence as Nick gathered photographic evidence for the case.

It was what happened inside, however, and the quick outcome that followed, that I will carry with me as an example of the Saturday Lawyer Program, Kilpatrick Townsend, and the Atlanta Bar at its very finest. The remarkable professionalism and skill with which David and Hillary gathered pertinent information, assessed the situation, and formulated a litigation plan was, for me, rivaled only by the level of respect they showed for Ms. B’s dignity and intelligence. Rarely do attorneys get both so right. Within a couple of weeks, Ms. B was able to move her family into a new apartment, thanks not only to the $2,500 cash settlement and lease rescission David, Hillary, and Nick secured, but equally to the confidence, support, and sense of empowerment their representation gave her. What looked effortless to – and came just in time for – Ms. B was actually the result of expert investigation, efficient research, and skillful negotiation. Having David Zacks taking the lead didn’t hurt either.

Last week, Hillary received a call from Ms. B. Ms. B wanted everyone to know that she was all settled into her new place in Decatur and that it was safe, quiet and clean. What left an impression was that Hillary reported hearing a significant change in Ms. B’s voice and mood, just from their short phone conversation. She seemed upbeat and ready to start over. While my position at AVLF exposes me to far too many dire situations like Ms. B’s, it also allows me to witness – and be moved by – the better angels of our nature reaching out to help. Our profound thanks to David, Hillary and Nick and to Kilpatrick Townsend for always saying yes.

New Housing Resource and Advocacy Center Creates Solutions

2011-11-15T09:44:00.000-08:00

By: Tamara Serwer Caldas, Deputy Director, AVLF

Exactly four years ago, AVLF staff began meeting with the State Court Administrator and Chief Clerk of the State Court of Fulton County to discuss the possibility of opening a “Self-Help Center” in Fulton County to address the needs of the thousands of individuals who come to the courthouse each year without counsel. Such Centers have developed in courthouses throughout the country and have a strong record of increasing both the public’s access to and understanding of the legal system, promoting fairness and decreasing court costs. In March 2011, the Fulton County State Court opened the doors of its Self-Help Center in TG-300 of the Fulton County Courthouse. In May 2011, AVLF hired Jennifer Hubbard to provide legal advice to tenants on a walk-in basis at the Center. By the end of this year, AVLF will have given assistance to more than 300 tenant families through this clinic. Below Jennifer describes her experience in this challenging position, where she works with people who face the imminent lost of their families’ shelter or other legal situations wherein the safety or economic stability of the household is at risk.

by: Jennifer Hubbard, Housing Clinic Attorney, AVLF

We all have problems. Whatever my problems may be, I’m not worried about returning home to find my life out on the street. My personal belongings, pictures, food, furniture, clothes – they will not have been carelessly thrown on the curb and picked over by God knows who, as if I, or they, don’t matter. When I place my key in the lock, it will turn. I’m not worried about an illegal eviction.

I have a right to stay in the home I have been leasing for the last two years. I won’t be surprised to hear that the landlord with whom I signed my lease, no longer owns the property. I won’t wonder whether the rental payments I have been making faithfully have been going towards the mortgage. I won’t worry about my family having to vacate our home, because it’s been sold at foreclosure and no one bothered to say a word to me. I know my rights under the Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act enacted by President Obama.

Tomorrow morning, I will not be pleading with a stranger, who happens to be an attorney, to do something so that I can stay in my roach infested home, where the water doesn’t work, the toilet doesn’t flush, there’s mold growing on the wall, and the electricity is twice my rent; but I have no one and nothing and nowhere else to go. When I stop paying my rent, because the repairs the landlord promised me she would make for the last three months still aren’t done, I will not be facing an eviction warrant. I will not have seven days to figure out a way and a time to come to court to file my answer. I will not worry that the way I file my answer, if I file it at all, may mean the difference between me keeping my home and having to get out within two weeks. It may make the difference in whether the Judge even sees me and I get my day in court. But, I’m not worried about that because I know the law. I know my rights. I know I have to put things in writing. And I know that if the landlord tells me I don’t have to come to court, I need to show up anyway. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same for the clients sitting across from me every day in my office.

The Housing Advocacy and Resource Center was created in part to provide legal advice and counsel for tenants facing eviction. When I agreed to join the team at Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation, I envisioned clients arriving with a clear legal issue, for which there would be a clear legal answer, and they would leave with a succinct and direct resolution. I should have known better, from experience, that the role would be much more encompassing. As an attorney, I cannot fix peoples’ problems and I cannot tell them what to do. My responsibility is to provide them with the tools to help them reach their ideal result, given their circumstances. While I can often advise clients as to how a lease provision might be interpreted under the law, or whether they can file a motion, and what the potential outcome(s) will be, or defining a term such as writ of possession; providing them with additional resources, helping them to think practically and strategically, is just as much part of my role. It is easy to take for granted that terms such as mediation, mediator, consent order, are not common knowledge and/or self-explanatory. I cannot assume that someone knows appropriate attire for court, how to address the Judge, or whether they have to agree with opposing counsel if they are proceeding pro se. Counseling clients at HARC has pushed me to think outside the box, while providing me with as much education as I hope to impart to my clients. It is true, we all have problems. Some problems are greater than others. It is also true, that we can choose to be a part of the problem or the solution. I hope the continued efforts of HARC will play a significant role in creating solutions.

The Difference Volunteer Attorneys Make in the Courtroom

2011-10-17T07:59:00.000-07:00

By: Liz Whipple, Staff Attorney, Director of AVLF Safe Families Office

Each year, the Violence Policy Center in D.C. releases a study “When Men Murder Women: An Analysis of 2009 Homicide Data.” Georgia is ranked sixth in the nation for its rate of women killed by men. Sixth!

I was recently told you can’t control the actions of others, you can only control your own actions. As an attorney, never mind an attorney who does domestic violence work, this is not something I like to hear. I don’t want to join a drum circle, I don’t want to meditate, and I don’t want to let things just be.

Controlling things is precisely what I want. I want an abuser to stop hurting a loved one. I want a client to leave her abuser and never look back. I want a grown person to love their elderly parent, not terrorize them in their own home. I want my clients’ young children to emerge emotionally unscathed from a home filled with strife. I want the judge to grant every protective order I bring in front of her. Bottomline – I want to win.

Sometimes, some of these things happen. Occasionally, I take the credit. Much of the time, however, I am brought back to that much-resisted reality: I can only do as much as I can do. Realistically, sometimes that’s enough, sometimes it isn’t. Even when it is “enough”, the small part I’ve played in someone’s life is exactly that – a small part. I have to be happy with that, and let them deal with the entirely, hopefully equipped with a tool that can make dealing with that entirely a bit easier.

Losing a protective order case is a hard thing to accept when you believe your client needs an order to stay safe. There’s simply no getting around it. But volunteer attorneys provide so much to their clients, even if the petition itself is denied. The simple presence of someone there to advocate for you can strengthen a victim’s resolution to stay safe from their abuser. While it’s always incredible to have a person share in your victory, suffering a loss with someone is an entirely different experience, and is far more likely to strengthen one’s resolve to stay safe.

I am in Protective Order Court every Monday and Friday. I see the difference attorneys make in that courtroom, and it affirms my belief that we need to provide representation now more than ever. Attorneys don’t win every case. Each case they don’t win is more of a reason their presence is so important. Pro se clients are alone and facing an intimidating process, and attorneys can make a world of difference to a case. Coming to court alone can often be a barrier to a client pursuing a protective order – who wouldn’t be afraid of facing their abuser alone, in a setting as intimidating as a courtroom, with the prospect of telling intimate details of your life to a room full of people. Things we take for granted are often beyond the abilities of a pro se client – negotiating consent orders, presenting any evidence, even telling a coherent story.

The harsher the numbers get, the tougher an order becomes to obtain, the greater our obligation is to make sure victims have voices in our courts. Attorneys, especially volunteer attorneys, simply have to be there. I may vent, I may (occasionally) cry, but I am going to be there. Thanks to those of you who are there with me.

The Value of Volunteering

2011-10-17T07:50:00.000-07:00

By: Steven Cayton, Esq.

I graduated law school in 2009 and went to work for an attorney I had interned with both summers of law school. I quickly discovered that there is still so very much I needed to learn and more I wanted to do. I enjoyed the consumer defense work I was doing, who doesn’t enjoy suing abusive debt collectors, but I wanted to do additional work to help those in need. In my endeavor to branch out I started taking numerous CLEs, including those outside of my practice area and that was how I found out about AVLF. I started with the Guardian ad Litem program in the fall of 2010 and learned how rewarding these cases can be. Its a wonderful feeling knowing that you can be a neutral participant whose only there to represent the best interest of the children in the case. I was lucky to get a case that was fairly straightforward and where both parents were reasonable to deal with.

After working the GAL program I knew I wanted to do more and did the training for the domestic violence program at AVLF. These cases are about getting the protection of the courts for the victims of domestic violence through obtaining a Temporary Protective Order. My first case quickly taught me the importance of having trained attorneys to help these victims. Since taking that first case I have averaged one or two TPO cases a month and they are incredibly rewarding, but can also have an element of frustration. I have spoken with a number of domestic violence clients who exhibit the classic signs of this crime including rationalizing the behavior of their abuser. Many tell me how the person is really good at their heart, was just having a rough time, only gets this way when they are intoxicated, etc. It is a bit heartbreaking when the client on the other end of the phone is trying to tell you why they don’t need your service because they have worked things out with their abuser. In one case I flat out told the client based on her facts that I was sure she would end up dead. Cases that severe aren’t that common and are easily outweighed by the rewards of a client who does follow through and the look on your case when you are successful in getting a TPO.

They say you learn the most from failure. In one particular case of mine I found the adage true but also that it was the most rewarding case. To put the case in perspective you have to keep in mind that the lifespan of most of these cases, from assignment to hearing, is 1-3 weeks. This particular “favorite” TPO case of mine took three months. The short version is that the respondent was actively avoiding service. Have any of you ever called a party’s attorney and have the lawyer on the other end of the phone tell you he isn’t my client? Needless to say this went on for a bit. Finally the respondent started a new job and we found out when and where and his second day on the job he was served with the ex parte 30 day temporary protective order for domestic violence. We ended up being unsuccessful in court, largely because of the delay from the last time of abuse until we were finally able to get the hearing. Why then do I call this one of my favorite cases? The main reason is because my client was so happy to have gotten a day in court in which the one who hurt and harassed my client. My client’s story was told, and my client felt vindicated by that. The second reason I consider this one of my favorite cases is because it was simply such a tremendous learning experience. TPO hearings are like mini trials. You give a brief opening and closing, direct and cross examine witness, enter evidence, and get a ruling that is essentially like a verdict. The best part is that it happens usually within 30-60 minutes. That’s a lot of experience for a new lawyer to gain in an hour.

Volunteering with AVLF has many benefits. From the learning experience to the emotional rewards of helping those in need through one of AVLF’s many programs it really is food for the soul. The staff members at AVLF - Liz, Toni, Amanda, Lila and others - keep telling me thank you for the volunteering that I have done. In reality it is I who should be thanking them, and not just for all the times they answer my numerous questions. They and AVLF have provided me with experiences that I value more than money, and that is why I do my pro bono work through AVLF.

AVLF Welcomes Skadden Fellow, Lindsey Siegel

2011-10-04T05:40:00.000-07:00

By: Lindsey Siegel, Staff Attorney, Skadden Fellow, AVLF Domestic Violence Project

Two summers ago, when I was a law student intern with the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation’s Safe Families Office, I worked with Silvia, a Spanish-speaking woman who came to the office for a protection order. Silvia’s husband had broken her arm the night before and she didn’t feel safe staying at her house. Nor did she have any family or friends with whom she could stay. With the help of the courthouse interpreter, I helped her fill out the petition and secure a coveted space at a local domestic violence shelter. After the judge signed the protection order, though, Silvia wanted to go home to get some clothes and personal items. I told her I was afraid for her safety, but she insisted, so I waited for her to return so we could drive to the shelter’s drop-off point. When she didn’t return after several hours, I figured she lost her chance at leaving, and I couldn’t stop worrying about her. Then, two weeks later I was attending the 12-month protection order hearings and I spotted Silvia in the courtroom. She wasn’t alone, though—she had with her not only an advocate, but also a pro bono attorney. After her hearing (where she did obtain her 12-month protection order), I went up to her in the hallway to find out how she was doing. As it turns out, she had found space at a different shelter soon after she came to our office, and the advocates there had connected her with the attorney for her case. I couldn’t believe how resourceful Silvia had been all along her journey escape her abusive husband—all the while being new to the area and having a language barrier. I was so impressed, and the experience reminded me why I enjoy working with such strong women.

When I heard a few months later about how recent law graduates can obtain Skadden fellowships to design new public interest projects, I immediately thought of AVLF and the Safe Families Office. I knew that it was the goal of the office to expand and provide more holistic legal services to survivors, and a fellowship seemed like the perfect opportunity to do so. In creating a project to address some of the most pressing needs, we looked to a study AVLF conducted in 2009 with domestic violence service providers in Atlanta. There, housing and employment arose as two of the areas with biggest gaps in legal services.

Unfortunately, many women are not as lucky as Silvia, and instead must choose between staying with abusers or homelessness. Many times, survivors of abuse find it difficult to maintain their housing and their employment while they try to escape the violence. It is no surprise then that domestic violence is a leading cause of homelessness in the U.S. In Atlanta in particular, between 22% and 57% of homeless women have reported that domestic violence was the direct cause of their homelessness. For low-income women, most of whom rent, the problem is exacerbated by the fact that housing managers and landlords will sometimes evict the entire family after an abuser is violent or will impose high penalties if a survivor wants to terminate her lease early to seek safety. An employer with an abused employee can also create barriers to a survivor maintaining the economic self-sufficiency needed to escape the abuse. Employees facing violence at home often need to miss days of work to hide the signs of abuse, placate abusers, or attend court hearings, and many lose their jobs as a result. Further, a survivor’s job may be in jeopardy when her partner or husband shows up or calls her office repeatedly.

To address some of these barriers, the fellowship project we’ve created will provide housing- and employment-based legal services to survivors of domestic violence. Through the project, I aim to enforce the rights that survivors have, and if necessary, create new precedent where gaps in the law exist. It seems only apt, then, that we launch the fellowship project during Domestic Violence Awareness Month, a time where advocates bring this all-too-pervasive problem to light and discuss solutions to eradicating it. Two years after that summer internship, I’m thrilled to be a new member of the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation staff and I’m eager to take AVLF’s work in new directions with this fellowship project. I hope to reach clients who are facing barriers, but who otherwise may not have found people to advocate for their rights. Most of all, I’m excited to rejoin this movement and put my newfound legal education to work for those escaping abuse.

A Look at AVLF’s Eviction Defense Program

2011-08-30T20:24:00.000-07:00

By: Dionne Hines Morse, Paralegal, AVLF Saturday Lawyer Program Coordinator

Like so many tenants who contact AVLF, he expressed hopelessness and frustration with his living situation. Mr. Carlton had originally called our office for relief from the deplorable conditions in which he lived. He explained that he, his fiancée, and his two children began renting an apartment unit in January 2011. Since move-in, the client noticed the unit would flood each time it would rain, excessive mold and mildew throughout the apartment, and a large hole behind the stove, which enabled rats to enter the unit. To make matters worse, the children began experiencing respiratory problems that their pediatrician attributed to the mold spores in the unit.

Mr. Carlton had complained to his landlord about the unlivable conditions on numerous occasions to no avail. Like many of our low-income clients, Mr. Carlton expressed that he felt stuck, with no positive outcome in sight. As the apartment is in close proximity to his job and his children’s school, he was willing to remain in the property, if the landlord would be willing to make the needed repairs. However, he could not afford to continue to put his family’s health at risk, and give money to a landlord who had made no effort to make amends, other than to lean a tin baking sheet against the hole in the wall in an attempt to contain the rodent infestation. Like many of our clients, Mr. Carlton was faced with a difficult decision.

After several months of not getting a response to his repair requests, Mr. Carlton decided to make preparations to relocate his family. The landlord was given notification of Mr. Carlton’s intent to move and started the eviction proceedings out of retaliation. Once Mr. Carlton received the dispossessory warrant, he called our office again to discuss how best to respond to a Proceeding Against Tenant Holding Over. With my help, Mr. Carlton filed an Answer and Counterclaim regarding the lack of repair that had diminished the value of the unit. Armed with photos of rodents that had entered the unit, and mold and property damage caused by reoccurring leaks, Mr. Carlton said that for the first time he felt confident in his ability to stand up to his landlord with the help of an attorney by his side.

Fortunately for Mr. Carlton and all our clients who have a small window in which to file an answer and stand trial (an Answer must be filed within seven days of being served an eviction warrant, and that trial must be held not more than 14 days after filing of an answer), volunteer attorneys from the law firms of Troutman Sanders, King & Spalding, Carlton Fields, and Seyfarth Shaw have all committed to taking eviction defense cases on a regular basis. With support from AVLF staff attorneys, including training, and the provision of recommended actions and relevant case law, our volunteers secure a favorable outcome for our clients nearly 100% of the time. More often than not, these cases settle in mediation, without ever going before a judge. As for Mr. Carlton, the volunteer attorney was able to get the landlord to agree to let Mr. Carlton out of his lease without any further rent payments, and a neutral reference moving forward, as negative credit remarks that could impede their ability to rent in the future are also a common concern of our client population.

Because we witness the often unfavorable outcome of unrepresented tenants in landlord tenant court, it is without a doubt that we recognize the invaluable impact made through the efforts of our Eviction Defense volunteers. A lawyer’s presence can mean the difference between a family having the right to remain in their home or being ordered to move in one week’s time. In just a matter of hours, our volunteer attorneys change our clients’ lives. As Mr. Carlton excitedly reported to me moments after his hearing, “I don’t know how you all did it, but you really looked out for me and my family, and I just want to say ‘thank you’.”

AVLF by Any Other Name

2011-07-07T08:12:00.000-07:00

by: Martin Ellin, AVLF, Executive Director

We have been the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation for 32 years, and we are not going to change a name that is widely known and respected. But our name does not fully convey who we are, and if we were starting again, perhaps we should attempt to be more descriptive…

We are the Atlanta Domestic Violence Prevention Foundation (ADVPF), established to give victims of intimate partner violence access to the civil legal representation that has the most impact on a survivor’s ability to make a permanent break from her abuser. We exist because such help is not otherwise easily and at no cost available to victims, and therefore in 2009 we opened our DV Project’s Safe Families Office, the only courthouse-based free legal support program of its kind in Georgia. The Safe Families Office serves survivors of domestic violence, dating violence and stalking, and since its opening in early 2009 more than 4,500 women have visited the Office. In that time, volunteer attorneys recruited, trained and supervised by the Atlanta Domestic Violence Prevention Foundation have secured not only critical Twelve-Month protective orders but also financial awards for their victim-clients in the amount of $147, 109.27. Because our partner, the Fulton County Superior Court, has dedicated distinct space with protective support from Fulton County Sheriffs, because our Safe Families Office colleague Partnership Against Domestic Violence (PADV) staffs the Office to offer safety planning to victims , and because ADVPF coordinates the provision of quality, free legal support, the American Bar Association Commission on Domestic Violence last year designated the Safe Families Office as a national model for the delivery of these services.

We are the Atlanta Tenant Support Center (ATSC), founded to coordinate the delivery of legal services to those who need help to encourage or if necessary force their landlord to honor the provisions of any lease and/or the jurisdiction’s Housing Code. In Fulton County alone last year, there were more than 51,000 dispossessory warrants sworn out by landlords: more than 18,000 of them were answered by tenants seeking to contest the landlord’s effort to expel them from their home. Perhaps because the legal process demands that the tenant’s answer be filed within seven days of being serves an eviction warrant, and that trial be held not more than 14 days after the filing of an answer- and certainly because poor tenants cannot pay for legal assistance, and there are far too few free legal service providers for this population- far less than 1 out of every 100 tenants is represented by counsel at the contested hearing. The ATSC attacks the problem in three major ways:

1) The Housing Advocacy Resource Center places an attorney in the Fulton County Self-Help Center four days each week. That attorney counsels low-income tenants as they consider how best to respond to a Proceeding Against Tenant Holding Over, or discusses with tenants how to prepare as well as possible for an upcoming mediation or trial. Having a lawyer to whom to speak is a tremendous benefit to a tenant uncertain about the legal process and the law that will determine their right to remain in the premises, their ability to force a landlord to make demanded repair, their obligation to continue to pay full rent to a defaulting landlord etc.

2) The Eviction Defense Program offers direct representation by an ATSC-trained private attorney at the contested trial on the merits of the landlord’s claim and any tenant set-off or counterclaim.

3) The federal Protecting Tenants in Foreclosure Act offers real assistance to tenants being illegally pushed to leave their home by a foreclosing entity. ATSC lawyers not only have been working to educate the Courts and the tenant population about their legal rights in these circumstances vis a vis the old owner/landlord and the new owner/landlord, they have also partnered with a local law school to craft and promote legislation to confirm and to expand the rights of tenants in this state pursuant to that Act.

4) Many tenants are frustrated by their landlord’s refusal to make repair to their home or to otherwise honor an existing lease. These tenants have not received a dispossessory warrant, but need legal assistance nonetheless to force compliance with the law. Other tenants are constructively evicted by their landlord’s termination of utilities or changing of locks, and need help to address these illegal activities and to return them to their homes and their status. For these tenants who have a legal claim that may be furthered by meeting with a lawyer, we offer our Saturday Lawyer Program, where volunteer attorneys from private firms meet with clients to assess their concerns, to offer brief advice and counsel and, as necessary and appropriate, agree to serve as counsel for the full, direct representation of the claim.

We are the Atlanta Children’s Law programs (ACLP). Children whose parents are engaged in high conflict custody litigation, or whose lives are in limbo while their parents are in addiction treatment programs, need an advocate focused on the child's best interests. ACLP coordinates the provision of legal support to these children through two specific programs:

1) The Guardian ad Litem Program: ACLP recruits volunteer attorneys to serve as Guardians of the children of low-income divorcing parents who are engaged in high conflict custody disputes in the Fulton County Superior Court Family Division: Guardians ad Litem represent the best interests of the child in the litigation. The ACLP-trained volunteer Guardian conducts an extensive investigation of the child's interests and needs, and based on that inquiry and assessment makes recommendations to the parents prior to trial, encouraging the parents to mediate their differences. The volunteer Guardian often participates in the mediation of the case, and when the matter can be resolved informally, the child is spared the increased hostility between the parents that often results from a trial in court. If the case does go to trial before a judge, the volunteer Guardian provides the court with a full report of the child's needs and makes a recommendation concerning the parents' abilities to meet the child's needs. Therefore, the judges are better able to make decisions of custody and parenting plans that provide the child with the most stable and nurturing home available.

2) The One Child One Lawyer Program- Statistics suggest that as much as 80% of the time that abused or deprived children are removed from their home by the Department of Family and Children’s Services, the parents are involved in drug use. In Fulton County, these parents may be subject to a termination of their parental rights, but in certain circumstances may retain those rights if they participate in and successfully complete the County’s Juvenile Court’s Drug Treatment Program. While the parents are in the program, the children are the responsibility of DFACS, subject to the supervision of the Juvenile Court, and each child must have counsel during the process whose only responsibility is to the best interest of that child.

The Program Director and Program staff conduct an initial assessment of the child and the child's legal position and make a recommendation regarding the acceptance of the case into the Family Drug Court Program. The volunteer attorney representing the child then works with Program staff to conduct a more thorough assessment of the child and the child's safety, well being, and permanency plan. Fulton County's Family Drug Court operates on a collaborative basis, and as a member of the Family Drug Court team, the Program Director works with DFCS, other service providers, CASA, and the lawyers for the parents to ensure that the families are receiving a comprehensive array of supports and services. Furthermore, the volunteer attorneys representing the children attend IEPs and citizen panel reviews to advocate for their child clients.

The Program Director, an experienced child welfare attorney, is always present at Family Drug Court staffings and hearings, and the volunteer attorneys are present at the permanency hearings, disposition hearings, and any hearings considering the extension of custody or modification of custody. Based on the comprehensive assessment described above, the attorneys advocate for the child’s position and best interests. If the child's parent does not successfully complete the Family Drug Court program and it is apparent that reunification will not be achieved in a timely manner, the One Child, One Lawyer Program continues to represent the child as the court considers the alternate permanency options for that child.
The One Child, One Lawyer Program represents the child client until the child attains permanency. Attorneys maintain on-going regular contact with the child to monitor the child's well-being and to ensure that the attorney is able to advocate for the child's safety and well-being and to ensure that the child attains timely permanency.

We are the Atlanta Consumer and Wage Claim Foundation (ACWCF). …We are the Atlanta Probate Information Foundation….We are the Atlanta Wills and Advance Directives for Seniors and Emergency Service Personnel Project….

Well, you get the idea. The Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation is all of these, and more. And come to think of it, a name that speaks to only one aspect of the Foundation’s work may well be too limiting. So we will keep the all-encompassing moniker, for now, and continue to coordinate the provision of the breadth of free civil legal services to the poor of our community through the volunteer efforts of private lawyers just like you.

Please visit our website for additional information on AVLF's programs and services.

Associates Demonstrate Passion for Pro-Bono Service

2011-07-07T08:04:00.000-07:00

By: Brian Smith, Associate, Arnall Golden Gregory

I recall a distraught young lady walking into the office provided to me by The Atlanta Volunteer Lawyer Foundations’ pro-bono Saturday Morning Lawyers Program. Like the three other Associate volunteers in attendance that day, I was there to evaluate the pre-screened legal case of the young woman about to walk through the door.

A young, live-at-home college student soon emerged – only 18 years old. She explained to me that she had been constantly harassed by creditors attempting to collect upon a $5,000.00 bill which resulted from her mother’s unauthorized use of her credit card. She feared prosecution of her single mother, and losing her home. She did, however, feel strongly about working out a repayment plan with her creditor, and she, like so many others with nowhere else to turn, called upon AVLF for help. I accepted her case and, nearly two weeks later, was able to secure a zero percent interest re-payment plan on an aging credit card balance. I found myself wishing that my credit cards had such reasonable rates. When I informed the young lady of the settlement result that I had obtained in her favor, she gave me one of the most gratifying “thank-you’s” I’d ever received. She told me that I had saved her credit, and possibly her home.

My story is fairly typical. Settlements like this are obtained every week due to the efforts of countless AVLF attorney volunteers. And it’s no secret that Associates are the lifeblood of AVLF’s Saturday Morning Lawyers Program’s positive impact. Through the generosity of their respective law firms, and their individual conviction to equal access to justice, Associates at firms all around Atlanta routinely give selflessly of their time and talents. Their service enables AVLF to serve.

Because Associates play such an integral role in its day-to-day operations, AVLF has decided to launch an exciting new initiative to honor the valuable contributions of Associate attorneys from various Atlanta-area firms who have demonstrated a passion for pro-bono service, and a desire to lead.

AVLF is excited to announce the establishment of a Junior Board. The Junior Board will consist of 16 attorneys who have emerged as pro-bono leaders in Atlanta’s legal community. Each of them could likely share a story similar to my own.

The Junior Board’s purpose will be two-fold: to increase awareness among Associates of the pro-bono projects of AVLF, and to assist AVLF with its fund-raising efforts. The Junior Board will work to recruit even more talented Atlanta-area attorneys to help feed Atlanta’s under-served, and seemingly insatiable, need for quality legal representation.

The Junior Board’s first major fund raising effort will be to recruit more Associates to attend AVLF’s annual Wine Tasting event. The Wine Tasting has been a major source of AVLF operational funding, and we hope to make this year’s event better (and younger) than ever. We’ve already begun our work to this end.

Pro-bono, public service is a mandate of all Georgia lawyers, and a habit best instilled young. AVLF, its Board of Directors, Marty Ellin, as Executive Director of AVLF, and myself, as the first President of the Junior Board, thank you, in advance, for your support of this new Associate-driven initiative to expand the services and broaden the reach of the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation.

Please visit our website (www.avlf.org) or call (404.521.0790) for more information on AVLF's programs, services, and volunteer opportunities.

At The Right Place at the Right Time

2011-06-07T08:39:00.000-07:00

By: Martin Ellin, Executive Director, AVLF

Like so many who enter the Courthouse, she seemed forlorn and lost. But Ms. Jackson was searching for more than just the right room, and in her experience is another lesson in the value of the presence of helpful lawyers in the Courthouse.
Ms. Jackson is the mother of a 20 year old daughter with special needs. An Alabama judge had granted Ms. Jackson adult guardianship of her daughter, but her child had run to Atlanta where Ms. Jackson feared that the daughter was involved in the sex slave trade. Ms. Jackson had successfully petitioned the court in her home county in Alabama for an Order directing the sheriff to seize the child and to hand her over to the custody of her mother. Arriving here her finest clothes, Ms. Jackson was stunned to learn that the Atlanta Sheriff’s office would not simply ride out to the address where she believes her daughter is being held, possibly against her will, to retrieve her child. Unsophisticated about the legal process and unsure what to do next, she dissolved in tears and waited in the hallway, hoping for help and direction.

AVLF and its volunteer lawyers are now involved in four Fulton County Courthouse-based pro bono legal service programs. (One, the extremely exciting new Self-Help Center, will be the focus of next month’s blog.) Yesterday, Ms. Jackson was sent to one of those programs, the Safe Families Office, a partnership among AVLF, the Partnership Against Domestic Violence and the Superior Court of Fulton County Family Division that provides legal support and safety planning to victims of intimate partner violence and stalking. While Ms. Jackson’s matter did not involve her own abuse, she was sent there because the courthouse employee who referred her knew that someone with legal training needed to guide Ms. Jackson in some positive direction, and knew of no other resource to recommend to her.

The Safe Families Office attorneys are used to problem solving unusual concerns and make it their business to try to help each of the 2,500 annual visitors to that Office as possible. One of the attorneys present reviewed Ms. Jackson’s papers, discussed the status with her and called the Probate Court: the law clerk there discussed the process for the issuance of an Order to Attach, and Ms. Jackson was escorted to the second floor for assistance from that Court. (FYI, the Probate Court hosts another AVLF program, the Probate Information Center, where lawyers from the Atlanta Bar Association Estate Planning and Probate Section offer free thirty minute consultations every other week to those with questions about recently deceased relatives who have been screened by that Court.)

When the legally untrained walk into the Courthouse, many are immediately on the defensive- there may be no outright hostility to their presence, but there is also no real invitation. Almost every time I am in the Courthouse, because I am wearing a suit and tie and perhaps because I do not look intimidated, I am asked “Are you a lawyer? Could you help me?” We attorneys have so much information that is not generally known by people outside the fraternity, especially including the way the court’s systems work, and when time permits it is my and likely your pleasure to try to give people a push in the right direction. But how much better for all involved that there be specific places where lawyers work in the Courthouse for the very purpose of sharing helpful information!

It is not possible to overstate the value of the presence of lawyers in the Courthouse, those not there in the interest of their particular client but stationed in the building to address the range of the community’s questions about an array of specific substantive areas, those who can help Ms. Jackson go from weeping in the hallway to promoting the welfare of her child in a matter of moments. When the opportunity for you to volunteer in that capacity arises, please answer the call. You are a lawyer, and you can help.

Party With A Purpose!

2011-06-07T08:36:00.000-07:00

By: Martin Ellin, Executive Director, AVLF

AVLF’s Summer Associate Party will take place from 5:30-7:30 pm on June 7, 2011, generously hosted by the law firm of Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker. Law firms and public interest entities from throughout the Atlanta legal community send their summer associates to a two hour meet and greet: it is most certainly a party, but as explained below, one with an important purpose.

When I began work at AVLF, I knew that encouraging the private attorneys of Atlanta to learn more about the meaningful pro bono opportunities provided by the Foundation was crucial. Helping the legal community to reflect on the legal issues faced by the city’s poor, and to consider what the presence of a lawyer can do to address some of those concerns, was (and remains) an important part of our mandate.

I assumed that the best time to approach private lawyers was somewhere in the range of their third year of practice. I reasoned that by then, most attorneys had found some degree of confidence in their abilities and their place in the legal process, and might be more comfortable being recruited to volunteer their services. I was wrong- it was later in the process than we should have been approaching possible volunteers. By the third year, many lawyers were wildly busy, were set in their practices and had not grown into their craft with an appreciation for the need to arrange schedules to be sure to leave time for pro bono legal work. And those who did volunteer work were frequently giving their time to worthwhile endeavors outside the legal field.

So we adjusted our sights and decided the best time to intersect the lives of possible volunteers was just as they joined firms. That way, AVLF could help frame the perspectives and expectations of the young lawyers as they launched their careers, encouraging them to make sure that volunteer legal work was considered an important component of the job description. Again, I was wrong- it was still later in the process than we should have been approaching possible volunteers. Simply put, we in the legal community should not allow very new lawyers to anticipate and even begin their new profession without a rich understanding of how important they can be to those with unmet civil legal needs.

Mindful of this, we now begin to interact with those who will be our pro bono volunteers while they are in law school. We do so by making presentations to law school classes, by hosting internships and externships, by supporting Public Interest chapters at the law schools and, to the point of the title of this blog, by taking time at the Summer Associates Party to talk to the law students about AVLF and our sister organizations in Atlanta, and about the roles they as volunteer lawyers will play soon in the delivery of free legal service to our larger community.

As noted, the party is largely a social event, but we stop the proceedings at some point to address the group, and speakers always include a representative from the host law firm and an AVLF attorney. On occasion we also have guest speakers: the message from two of those who spoke to the Summer Associates party attendees in previous years are of particular note.

Shirley Franklin, then-Mayor of Atlanta, attended the Summer Associates Party and asked the associates to return to Atlanta for every reason, including the support of the working poor, when they finished law school. “We need you- we need your minds, we need your knowledge and we need your energy in this City,” she told the law students. “Come to Atlanta to make your mark on this society.” The next year, another speaker the next year took a different tack: “When you receive your Bar card, with due respect, at first you will be not much more than a very high priced mouthpiece. You can’t really call yourselves lawyers until you assist someone in need at no cost who could not otherwise access an attorney. Then, and only then, will you demonstrate that you fully understand that ours is a service profession, and that making “equal access to justice” more than a slogan demands your participation in pro bono service.”

You might think the students would have responded differently to the distinct approaches. But the Mayor’s exhortations and the Bar leader’s challenge seemed to generate equally enthusiastic responses. We hope that every firm in the city will make a point to send all summer associates to the AVLF Summer Associate Party- we promise fun, food and camaraderie- and a liberal dose of invitation to join in the work of the most noble part of the legal profession.

The Reward Of Serving As A Saturday Lawyer Through AVLF

2011-05-09T07:19:00.000-07:00

By: Jeffrey Blake, Partner, Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP

My practice as an intellectual property attorney provides the opportunity to work on a variety of legal matters, but few opportunities are as rewarding as working in the Saturday Lawyer Program sponsored by the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation (AVLF). Atlanta’s legal community has a rich tradition of participation in pro bono matters, and AVLF is at the center of that tradition. The AVLF Saturday staff -- Michael Lucas, Tamara Caldas, Dionne Hines Morse, Tamara McClendon-Coleman, and JoQuita Etchison – all devote countless hours to AVLF’s various pro bono projects and helping those in need.

One of the AVLF’s most successful projects is the Saturday Lawyer Program, which is jointly sponsored by the Atlanta Legal Aid Society. I recently served as a volunteer Saturday Lawyer for a second time, and I’m a better lawyer for the experience. The AVLF staff members do a great job establishing a relationship with new clients and pre-screening them to determine the nature of their legal problems. Volunteer attorneys arrive on Saturday morning to a helpful training session and a chance to review the file of information gathered by the AVLF staff during pre-screening. Each volunteer attorney then meets with one or two clients with legal issues ranging from security deposit disputes to unpaid wages to illegal evictions. . These meetings offer clients a chance to tell their story, which often is the thing clients need most, and allow the volunteer attorney to explain the available legal options and potential next steps in enforcing the clients’ legal rights.

Once the legal options are discussed, a volunteer attorney determines if it makes sense for him or her to continue working with a client to pursue a matter on a pro bono basis. AVLF does not push volunteer attorneys to take the cases beyond their Saturday commitment, but most attorneys establish a rapport with a client that makes them want to take the case.

On the Saturday I volunteered, I was assigned to meet with Mr. C about his dispute with his landlord over the condition of his leased apartment. Mr. C and a roommate leased a two-bedroom apartment only to find the apartment in disrepair from the time they moved in and through the lease. Mr. C and his roommate reported numerous problems to the landlord, including backups in the sewage, excessive mold in the apartment, and non-functioning heating and air conditioning units. The landlord made very little effort to fix these problems, and Mr. C was forced to live in substandard conditions for much of the term of the lease. To make matters worse, Mr. C’s roommate moved out of the apartment during the middle of the lease.

Mr. C and the landlord became involved in a dispute over the condition of the property and the payment of the rent for the remainder of the lease. Mr. C located a new place to live and sought to terminate the existing lease. The landlord sought all of the remaining rent from Mr. C as a joint and severally liable tenant. Eventually, the landlord started eviction proceedings.

Mr. C, who is indigent, sought help from AVLF and the Saturday Lawyer Program. He was quite upset by the situation, but the AVLF staff reassured him that we would protect his legal rights. AVLF helped Mr. C collect the proper documents relating to his lease, and, after meeting with him on Saturday, I agreed to represent him in the eviction proceedings with his landlord. We were able to get the case into the Fulton County court’s mediation program, and, as a result of the mediation, the landlord agreed to let Mr. C out of his lease without any further rent payments. Mr. C was extremely happy with the outcome, and I was extremely happy to help someone who couldn’t otherwise afford a lawyer.

All of this was made possible by the Saturday Lawyer Program and the great staff at AVLF. The program is well-run and has any number of resources to help resolve the legal issues that arise. It helps build your client relationship skills and hone your skills at uncovering facts that will support your client’s ability to improve his/her position. Further, many cases offer the opportunity for attorneys to gain additional experience in a courtroom or in mediation. And, above all, my experience put a smile on both my client’s face and mine.

Everyone should take the opportunity to get involved in the Saturday Lawyer Program!

To learn more about the Saturday Lawyer Program, or to discuss volunteer opportunities, please contact Dionne Hines Morse at dmorse@avlf.org.

The Opportunity to be an Advocate and Counselor through the Saturday Lawyer Program

2011-05-09T06:58:00.000-07:00

by: Jonathan D. Olinger, Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP

I have always known that I wanted my legal career to include a robust pro bono practice. I knew that it would provide me with exposure to a variety of legal issues and opportunities that I would not have if I focused only on my intellectual property practice. Further, I view pro bono work as an opportunity to gain quality advocacy experience at a young age.

My firm, Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP, has maintained a long-standing relationship with the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation (AVLF) and its Saturday Lawyer Program. My colleagues had nothing but positive things to say about the program and told me that it would be a great way to get the pro bono work that I have been looking for.

Prior to my scheduled Saturday, Michael Lucas, an attorney at AVLF, provided me with a brief summary of the Saturday Lawyer Program and a handbook describing the primary types of disputes handled by the program. These resources were a great help, because I was initially apprehensive about advocating for a client in an area of law in which I have little or no experience. The materials were thorough and straightforward, and provided me with a great wealth of information about the legal issues I would be asked to handle.

When I arrived, I was informed that I would be interviewing, and possibly representing, a couple that had a landlord/tenant dispute. I read over the file and it immediately became apparent that these individuals were in need of legal representation. Upon moving into their rental home, my clients immediately noticed that the house they were renting was in need of several repairs, including substantial repairs to the home’s plumbing system. The plumbing problems were so bad that my clients were unable to wash their clothes or use the home’s only bathroom.

I anticipated that my primary task in working with them would be to provide them with information about their right to demand immediate repairs, their ability to reduce their rental payments to compensate for any repairs they made themselves, and the possibility of asserting a defense of constructive eviction should they choose to vacate the home. I was also prepared to volunteer to be an advocate for them and to negotiate a mutually agreeable outcome with their landlord.

Once the interview began, however, I realized that my role that day and throughout my representation of these clients would be far more focused on counseling than advocacy. My clients felt that they had been wronged. They strongly believed that all of the repairs that they requested were necessary repairs and that they had been reasonable in all of their requests. In their mind, all that they were asking for was a home that was secure and safe, but their landlord had been unresponsive. I could tell that as much as they needed someone to advise them of their legal rights, they also just needed someone to listen to their story, understand their plight, and acknowledge that they had been treated unfairly. The majority of our session was spent with me listening to them recount their story and express their frustrations.

When they had finished explaining their situation, I felt that the first thing that I had to say to them was “I’m sorry that you have been treated this way.” Even though I was not their landlord or any other person who had been involved in this dispute, I could instantly see that a simple gesture that acknowledged their feelings helped them feel vindicated and started the process of allowing them to move forward. Thanks to the resources provided to me prior to that Saturday and the fantastic assistance of the AVLF staff on-hand that day, I felt well-equipped to then counsel my clients on the legal issues presented and explain to them the next steps. Whether or not the law was going to ultimately be in their favor, I could sense that having someone who was going to listen to their positions and advocate for them was a huge relief. Since that time, I have had the opportunity to work with my clients and the landlord to find an amicable resolution and lay this matter to rest.

As a young lawyer working at a large firm, the opportunities for one-on-one client counseling can be limited. The AVLF Saturday Lawyer Program provided me with an excellent opportunity to have one-on-one counseling experience with clients who were in an emotionally vulnerable place and had limited experience with the law. While I was expecting to refine my advocacy skills through the experience, it was a welcome surprise to be able to also exercise my counseling skills as well.

AVLF’s Saturday Lawyer program is such a well-organized and rewarding program, and I highly recommend it.

To learn more about the Saturday Lawyer Program, or to discuss volunteer opportunities, please contact Dionne Hines Morse at dmorse@avlf.org.

Volunteer Recounts Experience with AVLF's One Child One Lawyer Program

2011-04-15T11:34:00.000-07:00

By: Vickie Carlton-Sadler, Attorney at Gonzalez Saggio & Harlan LLP and AVLF Board Member

When I volunteered to represent baby Joshua through Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation's One Child One Lawyer Program
("OCOL"), I expected to lend my legal acumen to assist my infant client, the court, and supporting agencies navigate towards a permanent home placement for Joshua that would be in his best interest. I had it all figured out, or so I believed. But the truth of the matter is, I wasn't at all prepared for the challenges facing this small bundle of joy, nor was I prepared for such a rewarding experience.

Joshua was a mere six months old when we first met. He was already separated from his biological mother. Joshua was born to a mother with a criminal history, mental health issues, and a history of drug abuse. When he was born, he tested positive for drugs and suffered moderate health issues as a result. The Department of Family and Children Services ("DFAC") immediately intervened to evaluate Joshua's needs and to determine what was best for his future. DFAC promptly placed Joshua into a foster care home while attempting to pursue reunification with his biological mother.

As Joshua's legal advocate, I too was tasked with assessing his needs and collaborating with DFAC and other state agencies to determine Joshua's future. And while I have litigated on behalf of clients who had millions of dollars at stake, I had never before represented someone whose life was literally hanging in the balance.

For nearly two years, I participated in court hearings, administrative meetings, and home visits on Joshua's behalf. During that time, Joshua visited with his mother who was attempting to turn her life around so that she could serve as the mother Joshua so desperately needed. But, our collective efforts to reunite Joshua with his biological mother were quickly dashed when it became clear that Joshua's mother was incapable of becoming a reliable and loving parent.

Fortunately for Joshua, he was placed with a foster parent who from the very beginning demonstrated a commitment to providing him with a loving home. Joshua's foster mother made it clear that she would like to become Joshua's permanent adoptive parent.

Joshua was truly surrounded by guardian angels. During my representation of him, I had the opportunity to watch him grow into a healthy and happy toddler; vibrant and full of energy. I also had the rewarding experience of witnessing Joshua bond not only with his foster mother, but also with his extended foster family.

Although Joshua's start in life was tumultuous, I am confident that as a result of his participation in the OCOL program, he will finish strong. Joshua was formally adopted by his foster mother last October, and I was gratefully invited to join him and his new family in the celebration.

Not only did I gain valuable legal experience in the juvenile court system, but I was vastly rewarded with an outpouring of gratitude and appreciation by Joshua's family for my involvement in his case. Joshua and I are both thriving.

Lawyers Who Represent Children Contribute Substantially to the Prevention of Child Abuse

2011-04-01T09:21:00.000-07:00

By: Suzanne Bertolett, Associate, Sutherland

For the past twenty months, I have had the privilege of providing legal representation to a little girl while her mother struggles to overcome drug addiction and reclaim her life. My representation is coordinated through AVLF’s One Child One Lawyer program, working with Fulton County’s Family Drug Court. As the Family Drug Court team works with my client’s mother to ensure she is provided with the treatment and resources she needs to become a drug free and stable parent, I serve as the voice for my client, making sure that her best interests remain at the forefront of any decisions made by the Court. In order to fulfill this role, I visit with my client at her home periodically to ensure she is in a safe and healthy environment. During my visits, I observe her interactions with her mother and other caregivers. Between home visits, I stay in touch with her caregivers to make sure that my client is doing well and that the caregivers are receiving the resources they need. I have established a relationship with my client’s great uncle, who has been my client’s primary caregiver while her mother has been in drug treatment. The bond between him and his great niece is touching, and there is no one I trust more with my client. I turn to this great uncle for input when I must advocate before the Court regarding my client’s interests.

My relationship with my client began in the summer of 2009, a few months before her second birthday. The child’s mother, who has a history of drug abuse, had recently been put in jail and had lost custody of my client because she had failed to comply with the drug treatment requirements established by court order. Given the strong bond between my client and her mother and the fact that there was no evidence my client’s mother had ever abused her, her mother was originally allowed to retain custody of my client as long as she entered a drug treatment program and remained drug-free. The case had originally been treated as a standard child deprivation case in Fulton County Juvenile Court. The case was transferred to Family Drug Court in the hopes that, given proper treatment and resources, my client’s mother would be able to overcome her drug addiction, get a job and provide a safe, stable home for my client. Unfortunately, as noted above, my client’s mother did not comply with the treatment plan established by the Court, was jailed, and custody of my client was transferred to the Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS). Fortunately, DFCS was able to place my client with her great aunt and uncle, in the home where she had lived since birth. I have the deepest respect for my client’s great aunt and uncle, a couple in their sixties who have provided my client with unconditional love, shelter and stability during her mother’s struggle. This couple has also provided my client’s mother with support in her fight to overcome addiction and the knowledge that she and her daughter will always have a home with them.

Once out of jail, my client’s mother began to cooperate and comply with Family Drug Court requirements and has gradually progressed toward becoming drug-free. I am proud of the progress my client’s mother has made and her efforts to become the mother that her daughter deserves. I am also deeply grateful for the support network her aunt and uncle have provided. Likewise, I am grateful to the Fulton County Drug Court team for their efforts in helping parents overcome their addictions and keeping families together.

I am delighted to report that my client’s mother has recently regained custody of my client and the two are living with their aunt and uncle. My client’s mother continues to attend drug treatment and report to Family Drug Court. We all hope that she will graduate from Family Drug Court in May, drug free and ready, with help of her family, to provide a safe and stable home to my client.

I am very proud to be a part of the One Child One Lawyer program. It is an honor to provide a voice to children in Fulton County whose parents are endeavoring to overcome their addictions and create better lives for themselves and their children.

Lawyers Preventing Child Abuse

2011-04-01T07:07:00.000-07:00

By: Lila Bradley, Director of Children's Law Programs, AVLF

April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month. AVLF’s volunteer lawyers have a unique opportunity to prevent child abuse when they represent children and children’s best interests in the Fulton County Courts. Families who are involved in our court systems are often there because they have abused or neglected a child. Families who are engaged in high conflict family disputes are often at risk of child abuse and neglect. When children and children’s interests are well-represented, the legal system can take the protective measures necessary to protect the children.

AVLF’s volunteer lawyers act as Guardians ad Litem in the Family Division of Fulton County Superior Court. Volunteer GALs are charged with representing the best interests of children whose parents or other caregivers are engaged in contested custody disputes. The GAL acts as the officer of the court to investigate and make recommendations that will keep a child safe and well. In one tragic case last year, an AVLF volunteer GAL became so concerned by the erratic and disturbing behaviors of the children’s father that she asked the court to order that the father no longer be allowed to spend unsupervised time with the children in the father’s home. Several months after the court entered the order requested by the GAL, the father was violently murdered in his home. Thankfully, the children were not in the father’s home, because the court had issued the protective order requested by the GAL. In another case, an AVLF volunteer GAL recommended that the court grant custody of a young girl to her father, because the girl’s mother was refusing to protect the girl from sexual abuse by a family member. The girl needed the advocacy of the GAL to help the court recognize that the mother was placing the child at risk of serious abuse. Empowered by the advocacy of the GAL, the girl took the next step of agreeing to testify against the abuser. Thankfully, most child custody cases do not involve child abuse. For those cases that do involve a child at risk, however, an AVLF volunteer GAL can provide invaluable protection for the child.

On a more positive note, lawyers representing children’s best interests can help to prevent child abuse by recognizing the risk factors and then urging—or asking the court to order—the parents to seek help. Parents who were raised with abuse or neglect often do not understand how to care for their own children or they may have unrealistic expectations for their child’s behavior and abilities. GALs frequently suggest that parents take parenting classes, and a parent’s willingness to work towards improving their parenting skills can be a critical factor in a court’s decision on custody and parenting time. Parents who abuse alcohol or drugs are significantly more likely to abuse or neglect a child. A GAL who identifies a potential substance abuse problem can request that parents submit to a professional evaluation, which can lead to a parent recognizing and addressing addiction. GALs often refer parents to counseling to help parents overcome stress and anxiety. In one recent case, family counseling recommended by the GAL helped a depressed mother recognize that she had emotionally disconnected from her children. The troubled mother was neglecting her children’s well-being. After she began to recover from her depression, the mother was able to strengthen her bonds with her children and provide them with the structure and nurture that they so desperately needed from her.

Volunteer lawyers representing children in AVLF’s One Child, One Lawyer Program are assigned to clients who have already been neglected by their parents. AVLF volunteers represent neglected children after Georgia’s Department of Family and Children Services has already intervened into the family due to parental neglect. AVLF and its volunteer lawyers advocate for children whose cases are part of the Fulton County Juvenile Court’s Family Drug Court Program. The parents commit to take affirmative steps to address the underlying cause of the neglect—parental substance abuse. The parent agrees to participate in the Family Drug Court Program, which provides a high degree of accountability and oversight for the parent’s recovery along with a high level of support for the family. AVLF volunteer lawyers advocate for the children’s care and well-being while the parents are striving towards recovery. Through their legal representation, AVLF volunteer lawyers help to ensure that the children receive proper education, medical care, and emotional support during the difficult time in their lives, but perhaps even more important, the volunteer lawyers advocate for the children’s desire to be reunited with safe and stable families. The parents attend drug treatment, and they submit to random and frequent drug screens. The court oversees the parents’ recovery and the care of the children. The children visit with their parents and receive counseling to help them deal with the anguish of being separated from their parents.

The volunteer lawyer helps to assure that the children are returned to their home as soon as the court can be reasonably certain that parent is able to properly care for the child. Recently, an AVLF volunteer lawyer advocated that her young client be returned to the custody of his mother while she was in the last few months of residential drug treatment. The mother had not parented her older children due to her addiction. She was determined to stay clean and parent her youngest child, and with the support of the Family Drug Court Program, she was able to attain stable sobriety for the first time in 20 years. The child’s volunteer lawyer argued that the mother had demonstrated a strong commitment to her child and a commitment to recovery. The mother is now fully employed, living in safe and stable housing, and caring for her child beautifully well.

Lawyers who represent children contribute substantially to the prevention of child abuse in our community. The work of representing a child and advocating for a child’s best interest is not easy work. Volunteer lawyers who step up and accept a child’s case make a tremendous commitment to the child, the court, and the community. The cases take many hours and significant emotional energy. The work is not thankless, however. The judges and the court staff express consistent appreciation for the pro bono efforts of AVLF’s volunteers. More important, however, is the knowledge that we have helped a child.

AVLF Named a Best Nonprofit to Work For

2011-02-27T19:32:00.000-08:00

OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS ANNOUNCES ATLANTA VOLUNTEER LAWYERS FOUNDATION ("AVLF") AS AN AWARD WINNER OF

4th ANNUAL BEST NONPROFITS TO WORK FOR

The People Have Chosen!

Atlanta, Georgia / January 27, 2011-- Opportunity Knocks announced today that AVLF is a winner of the 4th Annual Peoples Choice Best Nonprofit to Work For Awards. Winners were selected by Opportunity Knocks from nominations held October 12, 2010 through December 15, 2010 based on employee submissions of a brief essay on why they consider their organization a great place to work.

"We are honored that Opportunity Knocks has selected AVLF for this award," states Tamara Caldas, Deputy Director of the Foundation. "One of the driving values at AVLF is that we believe that all people should be treated with dignity. We infuse that belief not only through our work with low-income clients and legal volunteers, but also in the way we relate to one another as colleagues and friends. What this means in practice is that we all work hard while we are at work, but we also honor each other's need for time with family and friends and for personal growth. It also means that we share our personal stories and values with one another so that we understand each others' motivations and challenges - and we always find time to laugh. Finally, what makes AVLF such an amazing place to work is the model of commitment, compassion and generosity of spirit that we find in our Executive Director, Marty Ellin."

Nominators could take into consideration factors that are important to them such as, quality of work/life balance, their organizations' adherence to its mission, comradery of employees, unique benefits, training programs and career paths.

A total of fifteen (15) winners were awarded based on three categories of operating budget size. (Visit www.opportunityknocks.org for a complete list of winners)

Look for the award logo on their site to know that they are truly are a great place to work!

"Opportunity Knocks continues to see the need to provide nonprofit professionals a platform to give recognition and appreciation to the organizations providing quality work environments for the people in jobs that change the world. The 4th Annual Peoples Choice Best Nonprofit to Work For Awards demonstrates how nonprofit organizations can not only make a difference in the community but also have an incredibly positive impact on the lives of the people that work for them. Congratulations to the winners and thanks to all that took the time to submit their nomination." -Karen Beavor, President and CEO of Opportunity Knocks.

About Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation:The Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation develops and coordinates programs that provide legal representation, education and advocacy for at-risk, low income individuals by tapping the enthusiasm and commitment of volunteer legal professionals to address the unmet civil legal needs in the Atlanta legal community.

AVLF was created by the leaders of the Atlanta Bar Association, the Gate City Bar Association and the Atlanta Legal Aid Society to coordinate the provision of free civil legal services to low-income citizens of Atlanta through private lawyers. For more than 30 years, AVLF has created programs to respond to the unmet legal problems of the poor by training and mentoring private volunteer lawyers to offer a range of legal services to intimate partners of domestic violence, abused and deprived children, students with special education needs and low-income individuals with eviction, debt collection and unpaid wage concerns and other serious civil legal problems.

Contact: Monique Henderson, Director of Communications and Development, AVLF, 404-521-3319 or mhenderson@avlf.org

About Opportunity Knocks: Opportunity Knocks is the national nonprofit Job Board, HR Resource and Career Development website exclusively on the nonprofit community. For Nonprofit professionals, www.OpportunityKnocks.org is the premier destination to find nonprofit jobs and access valuable resources for developing successful careers in the nonprofit community. For Employers, www.OpportunityKnocks.org
Contact: Lynne Norton, Director of Strategic Partnerships, Opportunity Knocks, 678-916-3066 or lnorton@opportunityknocks.org

Tamara Caldas Named New Deputy Director

2011-02-27T19:27:00.000-08:00

By: Martin Ellin, Executive Director, AVLF

With real pleasure, I announce that Tamara Caldas will become the new Deputy Director of the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation.

Tamara is a graduate of Princeton University, the University of Texas School of Law, and the Lyndon Baines Johnson School of Public Affairs. After graduating with a law degree and masters degree from UT, she clerked for the Honorable Martha Craig Daughtrey of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. She then became a senior litigator at the Southern Center for Human Rights from 1998 - 2004, after which she worked at the law firm of Claiborne, Outman & Surmay, LLP, which specializes in adoption and reproductive technology.

Tamara has worked with the Foundation in a number of capacities since her hire in September 2005, including serving as Foundation's Managing Attorney since 2007. As but a few examples of the work she has performed for AVLF's clients and with AVLF's Partners, Tamara headed and designed the recent revitalization of the Saturday Lawyer Program, helped with the design of legislation for Georgia and other community responses to the federal PTFA legislation, and promoted the development Fulton Court's Self-Help Center. As importantly, internally, she was a driving force behind the successful completion of the AVLF Strategic Plan, coordinates the implementation of that plan, is heading the development of a Communications Plan and has become the staff technology leader, especially promoting an enhancement of the Foundation's database.

Tamara is a talented, relentless litigator, is a skilled negotiator and is a trained mediator. She is a deeply effective community advocate, whether the "community" is made up of clients, lawyers and/or court personnel, and is an entertaining and compelling spokesperson for AVLF and its clients. In every circumstance, Tamara shows leadership, passion and vision: in every setting, she presents the dignity and integrity that is critical to realizing the Foundation's mission.

We are proud of what Tamara has accomplished, and we are confident that assuming the position of Deputy Director of the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation will allow her to promote equal access to justice even more effectively.

Congratulations, Tamara!

Former DV Project Director Recounts Her Four Years with AVLF

2011-02-07T06:44:00.000-08:00

By: Jenni Stolarski, former Director of AVLF's Domestic Violence Project is now Chief Assistant Solicitor General, DeKalb County Solicitor's Office

January 20, 2011

Dear Colleagues,

Four years ago, AVLF gave me the opportunity to direct the DV Project. At the time, the DV Project was operating out of the One Stop Office, which posed significant challenges to the integrity and safety of client appointments. The Project relied largely on referrals from partner agencies, which resulted in approximately 16 cases being placed during a quarter with pro bono attorneys.

Growing the Project required fundamentally changing the way we did our work, starting with the location in which we did our work. It was not an easy or quick process. I thank Marty Ellin and Dawn Smith for taking that leap of faith and supporting my vision. As a result, in the past four years, the DV Project has experienced exponential growth. Here are some of the more notable highlights:

• In February 2009, we successfully launched the Safe Families Office. A collaborative effort among AVLF, PADV and the Fulton County Superior Court, the Safe Families Office offers legal and safety planning assistance to over 3,000 survivors of intimate partner and family violence each year. AVLF has taken the lead in this endeavor and has assured the continued success of the Safe Families Office. Our model has gained attention on both the local and national levels. Notably, during her July 2010 site visit, the Chief Counsel for the American Bar Association Commission on Domestic Violence described our work at the Safe Families Office as a “model best practices program.” But the highest praise has come from the clients we have served. Time and time again, those victimized have thanked us for helping them to reclaim their lives, their safety, and their sense of self-worth. While our legal work largely involves the civil temporary protective order process, you need only spend some time at the Safe Families Office to understand that our real work is about empowering survivors.

• We have carried our message to the community through various mediums, including articles in the Fulton Daily Report, blogs for our newly revamped website, a public service announcement on the Fulton County Government Access Channel, an appearance on “Victim’s View” (a program hosted by the Fulton County Solicitor-General’s Office), through participation in local and state committees, through numerous community outreach events, and through numerous trainings in the legal community.

• In conducting bi-partisan voter rights clinics at shelters in 2008, we identified a serious problem in Georgia’s Voter Registration requirements, which effectively disenfranchised residents of domestic violence shelters. We used our influence to bring attention to the problem at the state level and lent advice on ways to correct it. As a result, Georgia passed a Voter Address Confidentiality law, which not only creates a safer way for survivors of abuse to exercise their right to vote, but signifies institutional consideration of a population that is so often invisible.

• We have increased our volunteer base and thus our capacity to represent clients. AGG continues to lead the charge, but DLA Piper, Kilpatrick Stockton, Alston + Bird, and Sutherland have followed suit. All have committed to an annual calendar where they commit to taking cases on a regular, rotating basis. In addition to our participating firms, we have a bank of over 200 volunteers who take cases from our electronic newsletter. We now place four times the amount of cases per year with attorneys for direct representation than we did four years ago.

• We have grown our Project Staff to include a dedicated paralegal and staff attorney, without whom the Project could not function. Toni Roberts represents the very best that AVLF has to offer both to our client base and our volunteer base. Her talent, professionalism, and unwavering commitment to excellence are unmatched. Liz Whipple is sharp and enthusiastic. In a relatively short time, she has not only gotten up to speed, but proven herself to be an invaluable member of the team. Additionally, beginning in the Fall of 2011, the DV Project will host a Skadden Fellow, an exciting first for AVLF.

• We have strengthened existing partnerships and grown new ones. We have formalized partnerships with PADV, the Fulton County Superior Court, United 4 Safety, and the member agencies of the Fulton County Domestic Violence Taskforce. Our partners have come to rely upon us as thought leaders in this field and call upon us for assistance and advice.

AVLF is a special place. I remain passionate about its mission and its ability to make a profound impact on individuals and on systems. I thank you for the opportunity to have been a part of your team and hope that I have honored the trust you placed in me. And so, it is with deeply mixed emotions that I prepare to begin a new chapter. I look forward to supporting the continued success of the DV Project and AVLF.

Yours in Service,

Jenni Stolarski

The Face of Unexpected Homelessness

2010-12-13T14:53:00.000-08:00

By: Monique Henderson, Director of Development and Communications, AVLF

Even though it was twenty years ago, I remember it like it was yesterday. I was thirteen and had just started my freshman year of high school. School had only been in session for a few weeks, when I ran for, and won a seat on our class student council as a “Senator”. Like most 9th graders, I was nervous and anxious about starting a new school. My trepidation wasn’t just centered around this being a new venture, but how would a middle class girl like me fit in with all the kids from the other feeder middle schools, as well as the large majority of students who came from very wealthy households?. With nearly 1,500 students, my high school was twice as large as the middle school I had just graduated from. And I had heard all through 8th and 9th grade how wealthy the kids at this school were. The juniors and senior didn’t just have their own cars; they drove BMWs and Mercedes Benzs, and lived in sprawling homes with pools and tennis courts in their back yards!

However, despite my fears, I managed well. Six weeks into the school year, I was on the honor roll, had already joined the French Club, art club, swim team, and won a seat on the student council with some of the most popular kids in our school. I easily made a ton of new friends, loved my classes and was generally looking forward to this new endeavor called high school. Life was good!

The afternoon that I found out that I was elected a “Senator”, I couldn’t wait to get home so I could call my mom at work to share the good news. When the last bell of the day rang at 2:30, I made a bee-line to my bus. I was giddy with excitement and busting at the seams with joy the entire bus ride to our neighborhood. “Congratulations, Monique” my friends shouted as they exited the bus’ double doors as we arrived at their stops. “See you tomorrow!” When we finally arrived at my drop, I bounced out of my seat, made my way down the narrow aisle, burst through the doors of the bus, and began to run the two blocks through our subdivision to our three bedroom, two story home.

As I approached our house, I began to slow my pace. I squinted my eyes. It looked like someone was moving or having a yard sale; there were massive piles of furniture and clothes, and toys strewn on the lawn, curb, and sidewalk. But there was no one around. Why would someone decide to have a yard sale in the middle of the school day, I wondered?. I’m five houses away now. Something is wrong. My heart begins to race. While it’s still in the distance, the pile appears as if it’s right in front of our house. What in the world is going on? As I near the pile of things, I begin to recognize the white dresser and nightstand from my bedroom. Are we moving? Mom didn’t say anything about us moving, I think to myself. I stop in my tracks, confused by the sight. Other kids whirl past me on their way home from the bus stop. “Look at all that stuff,” one boy exclaims. “I think someone got evicted,” his friend answers as they walk past me. Evicted? What did that mean? I’d never heard that term before. I sprinted the short distance to the pile of things awaiting me on the sidewalk. My stomach was in knots, my heart was pounding, my head was throbbing from the intense Florida sun beaming down on me like the reality of the situation I was facing. I stood over the things. I knew then for certain that they belonged to us. My dolls, clothes, and bedroom furniture. Our couch, ottoman, dining room table and television sets. My mom’s bed, her shoes, and suits. My brother’s remote control trucks and little green army men were strewn all over the front lawn and sidewalk. Everything we owned was sitting in front of our house for public display. “Are ya’ll moving?” I heard a neighborhood kid ask me from behind. I wiped the tears that were welling up in my eyes. “Yes,” I lied without turning around. “Cause Shelly Rosen said ya’ll got evicted.” “No!” I said empathically. “I gotta go.” I made my way to the front door of our house and inserted my key into the doorknob. It would not turn. I wrestled with the key, shoving it in and out of the keyhole, praying it to unlock the door. No such luck. “I think ya’ll got evicted,” the girl said, still watching in awe from the sidewalk. “They probably changed the lock on ya’ll.” I wish she would shut-up. My mind is racing. I gotta call my mom. I head to a neighbor’s house four doors down and knock on the door. A middle age woman who sells candy to the neighborhood children comes to the door. “I’m locked out. Can I use your phone to call my mom?” I ask quietly. “Sure, you okay?” she inquires.

After reaching my mother at work, she rushes home. The next few hours are a whirlwind. Phone calls to a U-Haul facility to get a truck. Phone calls to my family in our native town of Washington, DC. Phone calls to my mother’s brother, our only relative in Florida who also lives just minutes away. Night falls and my brother, Michael, now home from middle school, and I take turns guarding our things on the sidewalk while my mom, still on the neighbor’s phone, reaches out to friends and family members to figure out our plan of action. We can already tell that some of our things are missing. Some of my mom’s jewelry, a VHS player, toys, and a new coat I just got for my birthday. Did the people who moved it out of the house take it? Or was it one of our neighbors? I don’t have the heart—or interest—in sharing the good news of my election to the student council with my family. It seems so insignificant now that my life seems to have been turned upside down. As I patrol the sidewalk, I think to myself what started out as the best day of my life, slowly begins to turn into the worst day of my life.

By 10pm that night, the majority of our household items were in a storage facility and we were checking into a motel. My brother and I, seeing my mom was distraught, didn’t have the heart to ask her how we ended up here, what happened. “We will probably be here a few days,” she tells us as we bunker down for the night. We don’t sleep that night. I feel nauseous and I want to cry, but I don’t want to upset my younger brother or my mother so I hold it in. The three of us spend the next nine days in this one room, dilapidated motel. We eat out for dinner every night because there is nowhere for my mom to cook. There are no school buses serving this motel, so my brother and I walk the 1 ½ miles to and from school each day for two weeks.

On our last day at the motel, my mom tells us that my uncle was able to get us in at an apartment near the beach. He has a friend that is the apartment manager and a unit just opened up. Michael and I were ecstatic! Not just because we were finally moving from this motel, but we would get our own rooms again…and we’d be near the beach. “That area is out of the district. Are we changing schools?” my brother asked my mother. “No, you’ll continue to go to the same school. I’m going to bring you to school in the morning and you will catch the city bus home in the afternoon. This is just a temporary move.” After getting the address and directions to the apartment from my uncle, we quickly pack our clothes and hop into the car.

As we near our new home, our excitement begins to fade. We soon realize the apartment, although near the beach, is in a seedy section of town. My brother and I sit bug -eyed in the back seat while we drive by police cars, ladies of the night, and men standing on the corner drinking liquor out of a paper bag. Having always lived in upper middle class neighborhoods, we were shocked to witness this side of life firsthand. The apartment itself is an old, one level, garden style brick building with glass doors and approximately seven units. We wait in the car as my mother retrieves our key from the apartment manager’s office. When she returns, we grab our suitcases and follow her tour new home. As she opens the door and we enter the unit, I’m shocked to see the apartment is only the size of a master bedroom. It’s an efficiency with a futon bed, a kitchenette, and an extremely small bathroom. I begin to cry hysterically. Where’s my bedroom? What is this place? My mother begins to explain that although we were not victims of abuse, this was a temporary shelter for women and their children who were fleeing domestic violence situations and that my uncle was friends with the woman who ran the apartments. She agreed to let us stay there for six months until we could move into our own place.

While some families face harsher realities, the next few months were very difficult for us. For the first three weeks, each night when we would go to sleep, we could hear the clawing of a rat scrambling around the small apartment. I was then, and am now, terrified of these pests. All I could think about was the horror movie I watched when I was 11 where the rats were eating people in London as they slept. I was certain this rat, which I had the unfortunate luck of seeing a few times as he scurried across the floor, was going to nibble my toes off during the night if I fell asleep. Needless to say, I was extremely sleep deprived for many a night. (Eventually, my brother found the hole that the rat was using to enter the apartment and we were able to seal it off.) During our second month at the apartment, the husband of another tenant who fled with their young daughter because of domestic violence, showed up with a rifle “to kill her”. Apparently, he tracked her down through family members who divulged her safe place location. On this particular afternoon, he shouted obscenities as he banged repeatedly on the front door of her unit with the weapon, threatening to break the door if she didn’t open up. Michael and I hid in the tiny bathroom of our unit until someone managed to call the police and he was arrested. I spent the next few months terrified that this man, or some random neighborhood person, would break the glass on our front door and kill us.

Back at school, my friends would constantly ask me if they could come over to our house to visit and hang out. It pained me to have to make up a million reasons as to why this was not a good day to have company over. I have swim practice after school, I would say. I have a project to work on. I’m going out of town to visit family. I’m going over another friend’s house. I never shared with any of them, not even my best friend of three years, the sad truth of where we were living. How could kids who had pools in their back yards, drove Mercedes Benz, ate lunch off campus every day understand what my family was going through…if I couldn’t understand it myself!

Shortly after Christmas my mother announced that we were moving back to the other side of town. I learned to hold my optimism and excitement until I knew exactly what situation we were moving into. As it turns out, by picking up two extra jobs while we were living at the safe house, she was able to save up enough money to get a condo a half mile away from my high school. We lived there for the next two years until my mother purchased a newly built ranch style home a few miles away.

A year later, as I was packing for college, I finally found out the details that led my family to become homeless overnight. My mother was renting the home we lived in from a gentleman who ended up having the property foreclosed on him. The bank, not knowing, and probably not caring, that we were renting the house, had our things removed from the property and the locks changed. Unfortunately, there was no Protecting Tenantsat Foreclosure Act (PTFA) back then to look after the rights of tenants like our family. Likewise, my mother, although college educated, was not savvy in the law and had no idea of her rights, if any, under Florida law. Nor was she aware of any organizations like AVLF that advocated on behalf of those families facing eviction, foreclosure, or landlord-tenant disputes.

I share this deeply personal story for two reasons. First, I think it’s important to humanize the statistics and stories you hear on the news of families being evicted from their home. Every Tuesday and Thursday at Fulton County Magistrate Court, as many as 300 families face the same uncertain future my family faced twenty years ago in Florida. Not all of them are guilty of not having paid their rent. Many of them have been illegally evicted or have outstanding landlord-tenant disputes, but just aren’t aware of their rights and may be unable to accurately articulate their case during mediation or before a judge. And, before they know it, they’ve been handed an Order to evacuate their homes within seven days. Last Tuesday I observed a dispossessory calendar at the Fulton County Courthouse. Hundreds of tenants, mostly women, many with small children in tow, were waiting to have their chance before the Judge. “I lost my job,” one would say. “They didn’t fix the heat,” another would say. Despite their pleadings, the majority were eventually told they would have to move out of their home just a few days before Christmas. I was saddened and overwhelmed as I looked into the eyes of these families.

Second, while my family’s bout with homelessness and our stay in the shelter was but one short chapter in my life, it left a profound impact on me and has a lot to do with who I am today, and why I’ve chosen this career tract. I’ve worked for nonprofit organizations for fifteen years; I value and have a deep appreciation for the work organizations such as AVLF do in the community. This year alone, more than thirty pro bono lawyers in our eviction defense program worked to protect Fulton County tenants facing imminent eviction from their homes. As a Development and Communications Manager, I also understand how much we rely on contributions from our constituents and stakeholders. Without volunteer attorneys and the donations of time and money we receive from these pro bono heroes and the firms and departments in which we work, we are compromised in our ability to protect those who face immiment eviction from their homes. The emotional shock of the world turning upside down in an afternoon is not unique to me, and we hope that you will volunteer your time, and make a donation to the Foundation, and in so doing help the next child avoid the trauma of losing her home.

All Hands on Deck

2010-12-13T14:45:00.000-08:00

By: Toni Roberts, Paralegal, AVLF Domestic Violence Project

Remember the good old days when you could pull into a full service gas station and get everything you need to solve your car problems? A friendly attendant would meet you at the pump to assess your needs, then fill your tank, wash your windows, and check your tire pressure. If after chatting with you further services were needed, you could even pull into its bays and get an oil change or tune-up, and an evaluation as to any additional ways in which they might service your car.

Though full service gas stations are scarce these days, the comprehensive approach to addressing the needs of customers that it represents is very much alive and well. At AVLF, we recognize that when clients call or visit our offices seeking assistance with one problem, it is an opportunity for us to make a more sweeping impact than he/she may expect. Vital to the success of such an organizational concept is the ability to develop and maintain team concepts.

We have worked especially hard to implement this model in our Domestic Violence Project’s work at the Safe Families Office. Located in the Fulton County Courthouse, the Safe Families Office is a dedicated space out of which we, together with our partners, Partnership Against Domestic Violence (PADV) and the Fulton County Family Division, provide legal and safety planning assistance to survivors of intimate partner violence and stalking.

When someone visits the Safe Families Office requesting assistance with the filing of Temporary Protective Order, often many other issues are at hand. With the needs of the community steadily increasing and resources equally decreasing, it is impossible for the attorney handling the case to singularly address all of what may be uncovered. This creates the preferred circumstance wherein many advocates can participate in the process of providing solutions. Each such advocate is a key player.

For instance, our front line workers are those that do intake. When a survivor comes in, one of us will meet them at the door. Keep in mind that this is usually a very intense and stressful time for them. The incident of abuse is fresh, as many times are their bruises. They’ve reached a breaking point, still find it difficult to make public a very ugly truth that has likely been a long kept secret. And this is the time when life-changing decisions about the future will be made. What they need is a calm, friendly supporter who will be patient and reassuring. Trained to listen for certain indicators, the intake worker can also provide resources specific to the survivor’s additional needs. Just knowing that there are actually viable options for their safety and that of their children provides the survivor with a level of comfort that makes taking this step easier.

Sometimes, depending on the severity of the circumstances, going through with the filing of a temporary protective order is not the most ideal solution. This is the perfect time to call on another line of defense, PADV. Specializing in safety planning, operating local shelters, providing counseling opportunities, and hosting support groups, among other things, PADV staff and volunteers are well primed to usher survivors through the emergency planning process wherein they establish a safe exit strategy and can begin planning for their future.

Beyond receiving assistance with the pleadings, paralegals can also be very useful in getting the case ready for hearing. Sometimes that means assisting the Petitioner in obtaining phone records, police reports, photographs of injuries, or assessments of property damage. Sometimes it means contacting other agencies that can provide assistance with related matters, i.e. the Magistrate Warrant Office, for help in swearing out warrants for the abuser’s arrest on a criminal charge; or the Family Law Information Center, for assistance with the legitimation process; or United For Safety, same sex victims of domestic violence. Sometimes it means diligently pursuing alternate options to ensure that service of process is achieved.

But it also means paying special attention to situations that call for action through one of our other programs. There are numerous times when survivors of domestic violence also need a divorce, or assistance with an advanced directive, or help getting out of a lease entered into with the abuser. AVLF has programs and trained staff members that work specifically in each of these areas, allowing for an easy referral to be made on behalf of the victim. The thought of having to seek out help with these issues separately, in addition to all of the others that are looming, is enough to discourage anyone already in the throes of domestic violence from even attempting to do so. Their anxiety levels diminish greatly as they are apprised of access to what is essentially one-stop shopping.

More than any of that, being in the position to have more frequent contact with the client than, perhaps, the attorney, the paralegal/staff member assisting in the preparation of the case has the unique opportunity to become a real confidante. Oftentimes during this process, survivors are divulging extremely sensitive information for the very first time. They are exposing family secrets, sharing stories of heinous crimes, admitting embarrassing details, and shining a light on a life that they wished they hadn’t lived. All of this while processing feelings of guilt and shame. Having a consistent go-to person who listens, who doesn’t judge, who can explain the process, who essentially restores hope is, in my mind, an absolute priceless gift.

I have had the good fortune to walk through this process with so many strong, brave, determined survivors that have been willing to forsake everything material in order to take control of their lives back from their abusers. One of my favorites is Ms. Hall. She is an 89 year old woman who was being abused by her sons, both substance abusers. She had been cursed at, pushed down on the ground, hit, and even beaten with her own walking cane by them. She was so fearful that she locked herself in her bedroom every night. Mentally and physically exhausted by the time she came in, she told me that they could kill her without even touching her because her heart was so weak.

I’m pretty sure I talked to Ms. Hall every day during this process. I’d have to arrange for taxicabs to get her back and forth from the courthouse. As an elderly woman not familiar with the process, I had to explain exactly how things would work…several times. I had to get her water when she became fatigued. Very traditional in her thinking, I had to reassure her often that, although it pained her to have to do this, that she has a right to act in her own best interest for a change. I took several calls from her in tears when her family members criticized her for doing it. And, do you know what she told me? “You’re the only one who understands.” By this time, I’d become very protective of her, as well as her biggest fan.

You should know that everything with Ms. Hall turned out wonderfully. Not only were we able to assist her with her TPO, but we found out that she didn’t have a will and our advanced directives team went to her house and helped her with that, as well. Her comment to our staff was, “Thank God I found you all. Now I sleep all night long and get much-needed rest.”

Ms. Hall is now my best bud. In spite of her journey, she finds joy in her present circumstances. I talk to her on the phone pretty regularly; she keeps me on my toes – like most grandmothers do -- as well as in stitches. Last week I was informed that I was to report to her house at 4pm on Christmas Eve for dinner with her family. I consider it a privilege to have walked with her through some really dark days into the light of peace. And I feel confident that each one of us who worked with her through this process holds equal value to her and helped to truly change her life.

There are thousands more Ms. Halls out there that still need your help and mine. And as was the case at your favorite filling station of old, each stage of advocacy and input exercised in meeting their needs requires time, skill and commitment equally significant to the process. Without the level of teamwork in place that we and our volunteers provide, those seeking our assistance would not be positioned to receive the extent of wrap-around services that, through our collaborations, we are privileged to provide at the Safe Families Office.

Thank You for a Terrific Year!

2010-12-03T12:29:00.000-08:00

December 3, 2010

Dear Friend of the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation:

AVLF looks quite different from the Foundation you may have known, worked with and supported even just a few years ago. Led by a solid and successful Strategic Plan, we are representing more clients, recruiting, training and involving more volunteer attorneys, and working more expansively in more courts than ever before.

It has been quite a year. In the past twelve months the Saturday Lawyer Program, now 40 years old, enjoyed a rebirth. Instead of simply being handed a file and asked to represent a stranger based on a telephone interview conducted by AVLF or Atlanta Legal Aid staff, volunteer attorneys now meet with potential clients to confirm that they believe there is a cognizable legal issue that should receive the assistance of pro bono counsel: the volunteer attorney then may decide to represent that client. This year, the Guardian ad Litem Program evolved to focus much more clearly on the placement of Guardians only in cases where the parties in dispute meet AVLF income guidelines. Our One Child One Lawyer Program matured, representing more than thirty children whose parents, having achieved stability and sobriety, graduated from the program allowing for reunification of mothers and children. As well, in 2010 the OCOL Program celebrated 8 adoptions of client children whose parents were unable to be successful in drug treatment into new "forever families."

The Chief Counsel for the American Bar Association Commission on Domestic Violence described the Domestic Violence Program's Safe Families Office as a "model best practices program." That Office, located in Courtroom 6G of the Fulton County Courthouse, saw more than 2900 victims of intimate partner violence. AVLF's Wills Program trained 156 lawyers in the art of will-drafting, coordinated eight outings to local Senior Centers and oversaw the drafting of 130 Wills in 2010. Lawyers of the Atlanta Bar Association's Estate Planning & Probate Section continued its outstanding work in the Probate Information Center, offering free 30 minuteconsultations scheduled by the Probate Court itself to those with probate questions. The new substantive issue that grew most dramatically in 2010 was the Protection of Tenants in Foreclosure, and AVLF attorneys worked with volunteers from the private Bar, partners in the public interest community and law students studying the foreclosure issue to secure legal protections for this vulnerable population and to plan for legislative advocacy in the coming years. While this work was expanding, more than 30 pro bono lawyers maintained our Eviction Defense Program's work protecting tenants facing imminent eviction from their homes.

Our signature fundraising event, the AVLF Winetasting, hosted in 2010 by Seyfarth Shaw at their exquisite new Atlanta offices, for the ninth consecutive year broke new ground, this year raising over $330,000. Over 500 individuals and nearly seventy law firms, accounting firms and related entities made generous donations to the cause. And please mark November 3, 2011 now- the 20^th Annual Winetasting will be spectacular.

But the most noticeable change about the Foundation is the fact that most of you noticed the changes! That is directly attributable to AVLF's very conscious expansion of our social network. Friend us on FaceBook. Read our blogs. Be Linked In to the AVLF Staff. Learn of our activities on Twitter. We want to make it easily possible for you to learn of pro bono opportunities, to keep pace with the news of the Foundation, and to help us to do everything we can to promote the possibility the clients, the legal community and the Courts will work together more effectively in the pursuit of equal access to justice.

While we have less funding than was available in 2009, in 2010 I am more convinced than ever that AVLF is a remarkable place, equipped to face the challenges and the possibilities that will surely mark 2011 as clearly as the opportunities and concerns that arose in 2010. Thank you for your interest in the work of the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation: our Board of Directors and our Staff join me in wishing you the very best throughout the holidays.

Warm regards,

Marty Ellin, Executive Director

Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation

Visit our website to learn more about AVLF's programs and services and/or to make an end of the year donation to our organization. Thank you for your support!

Finding Passion in Your Practice

2010-11-02T17:49:00.000-07:00

by: Elizabeth Whipple, Staff Attorney, AVLF Domestic Violence Project

I don’t meet many lawyers who would ever choose to describe themselves as “passionate about the law.” I know a great many, however, who wish they could.

We all agree that you should do something you love, but finding that elusive something seems to be the trick. Many lawyers, in particular, seem to think they have chosen a career that does not allow for such a passion at all. I have heard countless lamentations from friends and colleagues who wish they were doing a vague something else over the concrete, but unglamorous, practice they have now.
How, exactly, do you set about finding out what kind of law you’re passionate about? Let’s face it – law school teaches you a great deal, but what it really means to practice law is not really covered. Job descriptions cannot really convey what a position actually entails, especially if the applicant has never practiced law. It’s all just words until you are thrust into the reality of a job. If only you could get that reality check before you ever left school… Oh wait. You can.

As a third-year law student, I was fortunate enough to participate in the first class of the Domestic Violence Legal Clinic at the University of Alabama School of Law. Under the auspices of the Third-Year Practice Act and the guidance of a supervising attorney, ten other students and myself represented survivors of domestic violence in divorces and custody cases in seven rural counties of Alabama. I participated in mediation, discovery, settlements, and hearings. I spoke Spanish with Spanish-speaking clients. I was exposed to the roller coaster of judges and courthouse politics in various locales. Before the one-semester commitment near its end, all but one of the eleven students in the clinic had petitioned the dean for permission to re-enroll for a second semester.

A significant part of my job now is supervising law students from Atlanta-area law schools who represent clients in court under the Third-Year Practice Act. Our office relies on these students to represent clients, and their ability to take on and manage cases is truly impressive. These students are practicing law, and few of their law school counterparts can claim similar exposure.

For some students, practical experience during or right after law school confirms a desire to continue doing similar or related work. It is a way to test and redefine what they want to do. I can say with confidence that the hands-on clinic experience clarified my career goals. I had gone to law school with the fuzzy notion of doing something with women and children’s issues, and after two years, I had decided family law would be my focus. But it was not until I began to practice in the clinic that I really learned what the practice of family law entailed. For me, it was a natural fit. As a result, I committed myself to the pursuit of a family law job, with a strong bent towards domestic violence issues.

For some, perhaps the experience more broadly influences their career decisions. Leslie Hinrichs, a recent graduate of the University of Georgia School of Law, says, after three months volunteering with the Domestic Violence Project while awaiting bar results, “I am starting to realize the practical benefits of a career in public interest law. Specifically, I'm starting to see that public interest jobs generally provide much more interesting work and a more relaxed, pleasant work environment than working at a law firm.”

For others, a practical experience may sway students in the other direction. One Emory law student had this to say about her experience representing clients seeking Temporary Protective Orders through the Domestic Violence Project at AVLF: “The nature of the work is different than I was expecting, not in a bad way, but in a way that I'm glad I know about now, rather than at my first job. I absolutely want to be a full time public interest lawyer, but I'm realizing through my experiences both with 3rd year practice act work and also with general DV work that individual advocacy may not be for me. “

In any economy, focus, goals, experience and confidence in what you seek to do is a boon. “As a third year law student, I feel like my experience at AVLF will give me a competitive advantage over other students who do not have similar field placement experience. I now know I will be able to competently represent clients in the courtroom, and that confidence will prove to be an enormous asset,” says Catie Fulton, 3rd-year law student at Emory. Catie is not alone.

The bottom line is that there is no substitute for real, practical experience, not just in finding a job, but also in enjoying that job once you have it. Whether that experience comes through a clinic, an externship/field placement, or a volunteer opportunity, direct contact with clients, courts and attorneys, practical experience is invaluable early in a lawyer’s career. I can say from my own experience and the feedback of people I have worked with that such experience can also plant the seed of desire to commit to public interest work, be it full-time or as a dedicated volunteer. And while nothing can guarantee you’ll find that sought-after passion, the insights gained certainly up your chances.

The Heart and Soul of What We Do!

2010-11-02T12:17:00.000-07:00

By: Tamara Caldas, Managing Attorney, AVLF

Last week I answered a phone call from a woman in North Georgia who had just lost an eviction hearing and was ordered to leave her home in seven days. If she remained in the home after that time, she, her toddler, her 17 year-old, and all of their belongings would be thrown to the curb. She is a survivor of domestic violence. With help from the local legal services office, she had secured a temporary protective order that required her husband to provide some support for her and her children.

The husband’s check to her had bounced, which in turn caused her rent check to bounce. She was completely alone at the eviction hearing and hardly had an opportunity to speak in her own defense – a defense which, admittedly, would have consisted largely of a plea for sympathy: She had had every intention of paying her rent in full and on time, but her circumstances left her no choice but to rely for money on the good faith of a man who had already destroyed her sense of personal safety and human dignity by physically abusing her. The law and the legal process allowed him yet another way to damage her – losing her home.

Dispossessory law does not concern itself with why a tenant did not pay the rent, but rather that she did not. Even so, the outcome of this eviction may well have been different had this woman been represented by an attorney would have described her circumstances to the judge or negotiated for more time with opposing counsel. I took a deep breath as I swept away my feelings of dismay about how people experience our legal system. Although she lived 100 miles from AVLF’s service area, and it was not immediately clear that there was anything we could do to help her, I continued to listen and comb my head and my heart for legal options she might have.

Yes, this woman could file a motion for contempt against her husband in the court that issued the temporary protective order, but would that court have jurisdiction to stay the eviction? Even if it did, how could she convince the court to pay attention to her quickly enough to make this relief meaningful? Even if her husband were held in contempt, this did not mean he would immediately pay her the money she needed to pay the rent. She could appeal the order of eviction to buy herself some time, but the law requires that she deposit the full amount owed into the court registry in order remain in the house while the appeal is pending. But she still didn’t have the money to pay the rent and there really did not seem to be anything to appeal. I went on like this in my head even as I continued to listen to her voice getting higher and more strained. I know that sound – it is the sound of helplessness, anxiety, fear and exhaustion.

So I found myself turning from lawyer to social worker – pulling up what I had learned from our Domestic Violence project about safety planning. I asked if she felt safe, if she had anywhere else she could go. She had one friend who could take her in, but how could she get her stuff packed, moved and stored in just a few days? I found the number for the domestic violence task force in her community and asked if she had reached out for help. She had: they could take her and her daughter into a shelter, but not her teenage son. They could pay to move and store her belongings, but only if she moved into the shelter. She wouldn’t abandon her son. She finally asked if I would call the Governor to stop the eviction.

The story continues, and there may be some resources to which we can direct her through our network of partner organizations, but I’m not sure. I won’t be calling the Governor.

I tell this particular story, and not the story of a successful pro bono representation or a promising new project, because this is a largely unsung part of our jobs at AVLF as at so many non-profit organizations. We do not always have a quick answer, a legal remedy, a source of relief for people who call our phones suffering and crying out for help. Legal problems mix with financial and social problems in ways that we cannot easily untangle or solve. These phone calls and contacts with clients are part of the everyday challenge of our work. These voices are unscreened when they reach us – they are the voices of people in all of their raw emotion, and often we are the last or one of the last of dozens of places they have called for help. There are times that all we can do is be present and listen with compassion.

So, I want to acknowledge the work of the administrative assistants, paralegals and lawyers on the frontline of this work who listen with patience and active interest. Your work cannot always be measured in “outcomes,” but it is the heart and soul of what we do. Thank you for listening.

Celebrating Pro Bono Service

2010-10-10T21:49:00.000-07:00

by: Martin Ellin, Executive Director, AVLF

I went to law school in part because I wanted to be Atticus Finch. Never mind that my neighborhood was the city of Baltimore, hardly rural or particularly Southern; never mind that my neighbors were more likely to be named Jacob and Sarah than Jem and Scout. And never mind that by the time I went to law school American society had evolved enough that 20% of my class looked like Tom Robinson.

At that point of my life I had little direct focus, but as was true for the people of Harper Lee’s Maycomb, it was for me, as I entered law school, a time of vague optimism: what seemed likely to me was that wherever and whenever good lawyers were tested, there was the possibility of heroism and nobility.

And I was right.

Immediately upon entering law school I began to see the real-life embodiment of Atticus Finch’s sense of the importance of doing the hard work to promote justice. Whether it was the Judges of the 5th Circuit continuing to shape and sharpen civil rights, or lawyers on the Judiciary Committee fighting a President’s efforts to undermine the Constitution, or VISTA lawyers scrambling to find a legal toehold for migrant workers, there was validation of my belief in the profession.

Thirty five years of legal practice later, and especially from my perspective as the Executive Director of the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation, I continue to be amazed by the dimension of the concern for the welfare of our people, our legal system and our country by lawyers. The profession, continuously tested, still presents opportunities to be moved by the expressions of dignity, integrity and, yes, nobility and heroism displayed by those of commitment and courage. Those virtues are visible in a number of settings, and at AVLF is demonstrated, among other ways, through the volunteer efforts of private lawyers conducting civil pro bono work for the poor of Atlanta thousands of times each year.

The ever-expanding participation of pro bono attorneys has become both an integral and indispensable part of the delivery of legal services to poor people. The American Bar Association has announced the second annual National Celebration of Pro Bono Week, October 25–31, 2010; the celebration is designed both to highlight the important work that lawyers do to provide equal access to justice and to invite greater participation in pro bono work from the legal community. As the Bar notes: “Ongoing efforts to expand critical representation to the growing numbers of people living on the social margins depend heavily on the involvement of volunteer lawyers… More than at any other time in the history of the country, there are both the resources and the technology needed to connect low-income people with critical needs to lawyers with the skills to address them. The National Celebration of Pro Bono promises to build on efforts already made and has the potential to be the tipping point for widespread, systemic pro bono participation.” The National Celebration of Pro Bono website, www.celebrateprobono.org, is the primary resource for information, publicity materials, and news about the celebration.

In Atlanta, among other things, the Atlanta Bar Association will hold a Celebrating Service luncheon on October 22nd (see the Atlanta Bar’s web site, www.atlantabar.org for details), at which the Atlanta Bar, Atlanta Legal Aid and AVLF will give their annual Pro Bono Awards. We congratulate all award winners- in fact we congratulate all lawyers who perform pro bono legal service- and we hope that you will share in the festivities.

I am proud to work among the open-minded, the generous, the ethical and the judicious, those whose work would make “the bravest man who ever lived” proud.

“When Men Murder Women: An Analysis of 2008 Homicide Data.”

2010-10-10T21:33:00.000-07:00

by: Jenni Stolarski, Director, AVLF Domestic Violence Project

In mid-September, the Violence Policy Center issued its annual report entitled “When Men Murder Women: An Analysis of 2008 Homicide Data.” Using the most recent national data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Supplementary Homicide Report, the report details 2008 homicides involving one female victim and one male offender and ranks the states by rate of female homicides. Regrettably, Georgia ranks 10th in the nation in 2008 for females murdered by males in a single victim/single offender homicide. This ranking not only marks a change from Georgia’s ranking of 15th in last year’s annual report, it gives Georgia the dubious honor of securing a place within the top 20 for all eleven years of the study.

Although the study itself does not focus strictly on intimate partner violence, it highlights important lessons. First, it determines that the vast majority of females were murdered by someone they knew -- more often than not, an intimate partner. In Georgia, 82 females were murdered in 2008. In 76 of these homicides, the victim to offender relationship could be identified, with 95% involving a situation where the female victim knew the male offender. In 63% of those cases, the relationship was a current or former intimate partner relationship. Second, the study serves as a reminder of how lethal a combination intimate partner violence and guns are: in Georgia, where weapons could be identified, handguns were involved in more instances than any other type of weapon combined. The report concludes that “. . .women face the greatest threat from someone they know, most often a spouse or intimate acquaintance, who is armed with a gun.”

The release of the Violence Policy Center Report coincides with Domestic Violence Awareness Month, which takes place every October. In many ways, it is a call for honoring those victims who lost their lives and those survivors who continue to face the many and complex challenges involved in leaving an abusive relationship. Throughout October, domestic violence agencies in the metro-Atlanta area and the state will host candlelight vigils and other events to provide community forums for reflecting upon and discussing this issue.

But even more, this report must also be a call for action. Making a permanent break from an abuser is complex and dangerous work, often requiring some form of legal action, particularly when the parties are married or when children are at issue. Research has shown that access to civil legal representation has the most impact on a survivor’s ability to make a permanent break from her abuser.[1] However, access to legal representation continues to be the biggest unmet need for survivors in the metro-Atlanta area. Attorneys, paralegals, law students, and legal professionals have skills and knowledge that can be used to make a difference in the lives of survivors and their children.

Since the creation of its DV Project in 1990, Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation has provided legal assistance and representation to survivors of domestic violence, dating violence, stalking, and sexual assault, primarily in the areas of civil temporary protective orders and divorces. In addition to the army of solo practitioners and smaller-firm participants, our Domestic Violence Project specifically enjoys the support of several local and national law firms, including Arnall Golden Gregory; Alston & Bird; DLA Piper; Kilpatrick Stockton; and Sutherland. Working with Emory University School of Law, Georgia State University College of Law, and Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School, we also provide a field placement for law students seeking real legal experience in assisting survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking.

In February, 2009, AVLF, Partnership Against Domestic Violence (“PADV), and the Fulton County Superior Court strengthened our long-existing partnership by opening the Safe Families Office in the Fulton County Courthouse. At the Safe Families Office, free legal and safety planning assistance is available on a walk-in basis to survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking. With the full and ongoing support of the Court and its Family Division, the Safe Families Office is staffed and managed by seasoned employees of AVLF and PADV as well as numerous volunteers from both organizations. Committed to the core belief that survivors must be equipped with legal and safety planning information in order make the best and safest decisions for their individual circumstances, AVLF and PADV work alongside each other to provide coordinated services to survivors. This client-centered collaboration allows legal assistance, social services assistance, and safety planning assistance to take place in one location during one intake appointment. After intake is completed, appropriate cases are considered for placement with volunteer lawyers who are trained and mentored by AVLF staff. Since launching in 2009, over 4000 survivors have received assistance at our Safe Families Office. In a site visit this past summer, Vivian Huelgo, Chief Counsel for the American Bar Association’s Commission on Domestic Violence described our work at the Safe Families Office as “a model best practices program.”

Since opening the Safe Families Office, we have seen how client-centered, collaborative work can present survivors with real alternatives to staying in abusive relationships. We have been inspired by the courage and resilience that our clients demonstrate in the face of adversity. And we have been inspired by the scores of advocates and legal volunteers who step out of their daily practice to answer the call for help. To mark Domestic Violence Awareness Month, National Pro Bono Celebration Week, and the virtual one-year anniversary of our Safe Families Office, there will be a volunteer appreciation reception on Friday, October 29, 2010, from 2:30 – 4:30, at our Safe Families Office, located in Courtroom 6G of the Fulton County Courthouse. We invite you to attend and see for yourself the work that is being done to stop intimate partner violence in our community.

As a community, we do not have to accept our ranking. We have the ability to collaborate and work together to end intimate partner violence.

Won’t you join us?

Jenni Stolarski is the Director of AVLF’s Domestic Violence Project. For more information on AVLF’s DV Project, please visit www.avlf.org.

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[1] Farmer, A. and Tiefenthaler, J. Explaining the Recent Decline in Domestic Violence, Contemporary Economic Policy, 2003, vol. 21, issue 2, pp. 158-172.

AVLF Volunteer Honors Domestic Violence Awareness Month

2010-10-06T06:16:00.000-07:00

By: Sarah Cash, Associate Attorney, Arnall Golden Gregory, LLP- (AVLF Domestic Violence Project Volunteer)

As a Commercial Real Estate Associate in last year’s tough real estate market, I was looking for a way to satisfy my desire for high productivity and community involvement. Being familiar with the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation because my firm, Arnall Golden Gregory LLP, is an avid supporter of the organization, I began researching their various volunteer programs.

I knew that domestic violence was a growing problem and wanted to learn more about what I could do to make a difference, so I attended a training session for AVLF’s Domestic Violence Project. The Project matches pro bono attorneys with domestic violence clients who need representation in civil temporary protective order hearings in Fulton County Superior Court and mentors volunteers attorneys throughout the duration of the case. You do not have to be a litigator or have family law experience to participate. The requirements sounded straightforward but, to be honest, I was anxious about the possibility of an abuser redirecting his or her anger at me for getting involved.

When I met my first client, a young mother whose abuser choked and punched her when she tried to end the relationship, my fears quickly dissolved. After all, if this woman could stand in front of the judge and a courtroom full of people and tell her story, the very least I could do was help guide her through the process. And so I did, time and time again. Each case gave me more confidence, and each grateful hug gave me determination to help even more.

One Tuesday afternoon last month, the firm’s receptionist told me I had a visitor, a former client – we’ll call her Angela – who I helped obtain a Temporary Protection Order almost a year prior. I will never forget Angela’s case. It involved some of the most terrifying details I’d heard since I started volunteering: after years of physical and verbal abuse, her abuser held her hostage in her own home with a knife to her throat. As I hurried upstairs to meet her, I worried that she was visiting because something terrible had happened.

I was wrong. Angela looked happy and relaxed, with a huge smile on her face. As we talked, she told me that she had been doing great since the hearing. She now lived in a new apartment and was dating a new man who treated her like a lady. She was visiting me that day to say thank you and to let me know how my help had positively changed her life. I was speechless. While my clients always express sincere appreciation at the hearing, I rarely hear from them afterwards and often wonder how they’re doing. This was the first time a client had ever contacted me to let me know how their life had changed since our interaction. It was a very fulfilling moment.

As I reflect on my experiences this October, which is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, I realize that AVLF’s Domestic Violence Project taught me the real meaning of courage. Not from facing my own fears, but from watching those who were threatened, insulted and beaten confront their attackers and demand an end to the abuse. I am honored to stand next to them, and I encourage you to do the same.

For more information about AVLF’s DV Project or any of AVLF’s other volunteer programs, please visit www.avlf.org. If you are interested in volunteering with AVLF’s DV Project, please contact Toni Roberts at troberts@avlf.org.

The Better Angels of Our Nature

2010-09-01T13:02:00.000-07:00

By: Michael Lucas, Staff Attorney, AVLF

Earlier this month, the East Point Housing Authority’s poor handling of the opening of their waiting list for subsidized housing vouchers attracted national media attention and much criticism. Estimates were that a crowd of 30,000 turned out, three times what the agency had originally anticipated. It has been reported that some sixty people required medical attention and twenty were transported to the hospital. 13,000 applications were handed out, but the housing agency director stressed that none of her agency's 455 housing aid vouchers was even available at that time.

While there is plenty to say about how the waiting list was handled, it is the desperation that this unfortunate East Point event laid bare which should concern us all. In that crowd—and across our city—there is palpable desperation. According to the most recent data, the unemployment rate in Fulton County is 10.8 percent. The national average is 9.5 percent. There were 13,130 foreclosure notices published in the 13-county Atlanta-metro region in August; skyrocketing 59 percent from July. The Fulton County eviction court is overflowing; with hundreds of evictions on the calendar every Tuesday and Thursday. And that is just Fulton County.

For many, these are desperate times. And like the disgraceful profiteering that sometimes occurs after a natural disaster, there are those who seek to take advantage of others’ desperation. Through AVLF’s various programs, we see this first-hand. We are seeing a rise in employers refusing to pay already-struggling employees their due wages, knowing that they will not risk quitting in this job market. We are seeing more slumlords forcing tenants to live under intolerable conditions, knowing they do not have the resources to leave or the hope of finding and affording another place to raise their children. The results include the recent rash of untreated bed-bug and other infestations, some causing the hospitalization of children, and most ruining of our client’s already limited possessions. Lawsuits by debt collectors are on the rise, including those trying to collect on debts that are beyond the statute of limitations, or from seniors living only on social security—income which cannot legally be garnished. Predictably, calls seeking bankruptcy assistance are up as well. In all of these examples, the perpetrators appear more brazen, the victims more vulnerable.

While my position does expose me to the human toll of these desperate times, it also allows me to witness the better angels of our nature. Every Saturday, lawyers volunteer to come downtown to help low-income clients through our Saturday Lawyer Program, assisting with unpaid wage claims, landlord tenant disputes, and aggressive debt collection. Every Tuesday and Thursday, volunteer lawyers from Troutman Sanders and King & Spalding represent tenants in the Fulton County dispossessory court. Every week, volunteer lawyers represent victims of domestic violence seeking protective orders through our Safe Families office at the Fulton County courthouse. Just when the injustices begin to chip away at the faith necessary to continue this work, the generosity and compassion of these volunteers restore hope—not just to the clients who are so grateful for the respect they are shown and the assistance they are given, but also to the staff at AVLF whose privilege it is to do this work.

One particular day comes to mind. John, a client I met at the Saturday Lawyer Program, had worked for and been a tenant of what appeared to be, for all intents and purposes, a true East Point slumlord. Desperate for affordable housing for his girlfriend and young infant child, John felt compelled to work for this landlord in exchange for illegally low wages and very low rent—in a building that should be condemned. After John completed a week’s worth of painting at one of the landlord’s houses, the landlord picked up John, told him he was taking him to get dinner, and dropped him off on the other side of town—with $20 for his troubles. What John did not know is that the landlord had also already dropped his girlfriend and infant child off at a shelter and illegally evicted the family. All of John’s family’s possessions were locked inside and inaccessible.

John’s ordeal illustrates this desperation and advantage-taking all too well. But all was not lost. As a result the tireless work of AVLF volunteer Michelle Sirwen, an associate with McKenna Long & Aldridge, John obtained a judgment awarding him the value of all his lost property, damages as a result of what he was put through, the costs of all the efforts made to recover what little was left, back pay, punitive damages for the landlord’s wanton and willful conduct, attorneys fees, and a writ of immediate possession to enter three premises where his belongings were reportedly being stored. Earlier this month, John had the protection of that court order and two Fulton County sheriffs, the use of a U-Haul truck provided by AVLF and McKenna Long & Aldridge, the assistance of a professional locksmith, and two AVLF attorneys—one being yours truly—who were putting their law degrees to use as professional movers that day—all to help John recover what was left of his belongings and make an accounting of what was lost.

Though it turned out to be an emotional (some belongings, while still there, were ruined) and at times a very tense day (it included a confrontation with the landlord) of chronicling the destruction one person can cause in another’s life, it was also a day that restored our faith. The sheriffs were consummate professionals who had a real sympathy for what happened to John, staying with us—free of charge—far longer than they were scheduled. Neighbors provided bottled water and needed tools. Friends of John’s children showed up and helped us move furniture—and Michelle, the AVLF volunteer, sent pizzas and drinks for the whole group. Finally, with nowhere for John to put the furniture that was recovered, a local storage facility owner allowed us to unload before the bill was paid—which was later that evening taken care of by John’s new employer, and a man of faith who wanted to help his employee in a time of need.

At every turn, the people we needed to show some compassion and give some assistance exceeded our expectations. I dropped off the U-Haul truck that night in wonder of the malevolence some can display toward others already down on their luck, but more so of the compassion that volunteers and even strangers can have to help pull someone through desperate times. At AVLF, we simply try to provide an outlet for that compassion that comes naturally from our volunteer attorneys. That day, amidst the desperation, it was my privilege to see that compassion—and those better angels of our nature—reaching out to John.

Working for the Best Interest of Children

2010-08-11T13:10:00.000-07:00

By: Lila Bradley, Staff Attorney, AVLF

For the past five years, I have had the privilege of directing AVLF's volunteers in the legal representation of children in foster care, with cases in Fulton Juvenile Court. Since June, I have taken on the additional responsibility of directing AVLF's volunteers who serve as guardians ad litem for children in contested custody cases in the Family Division of the Fulton Superior Court. In the Juvenile Court, our volunteers act as attorneys for the children. A lawyer for a child must establish an attorney-client relationship with the child, to the extent that such a relationship is possible, given the child's immaturity. Lawyers serving as GAL are officers of the court and assist the court in reaching a decision regarding child custody, visitation, and other child-related issues. Whatever the relationship, however, lawyers for and on behalf of children do much of the same work as any lawyer in any legal matter. We gather and review documents relating to the case. We interview the witnesses and other people knowledgeable of the matter at hand. We study the underlying issues so that we can better understand the allegations, claims, and interests of the parties. We strive for a negotiated agreement, but we prepare for trial when the parties cannot reach agreement.

Working for and on behalf of children is difficult work. We wonder how we can ever know enough about the child and the family to make the right argument or recommendation to the court. We worry what will happen to the child if we get it wrong. We feel the weight of responsibility for the young life before us.

Children come into foster care—state custody—after the state proves to the court that the parents' care and treatment of their children is so deficient that it is—in the words of the law— “contrary to the welfare of the child to remain in the home.” The state child welfare agency then makes efforts—as required by law—to assist the parents in addressing their problems so that the child can return safely to the home. When making the decision to return the child to the home, the court must determine that such a change of custody is in the “best interest of the child.”

Children become the subject of contested matters in the Family Division of the Superior Court when their parents, usually in the context of a divorce or legitimation, disagree about custody, visitation, or (in many cases) everything else in the child's life. In resolving the case, the law provides that the judge must determine what is for the best interest of the child and what will best promote the child's welfare and happiness.

Children's cases in Juvenile Court are governed by the Juvenile Code found in Title 15 of the Georgia Code. Children's cases in the Superior Court are governed by the Domestic Relations law found in Title 19 of the Georgia Code. Both sections of the Code, however, call our attention to the welfare of the child and the child's best interests. Our courts strive to be child-focused, and we at AVLF are proud to be one of the resources brought into the children's cases in an effort to help the court make the decision of the best interest of the child.

The sad thing about these cases involving children, however, is that the children seldom have a best choice available to them. By the very nature of their cases, these children have families filled with discord or deprivation or both. There are times when it is difficult to maintain hope that the children will ever have the chance to grow up with the love and nurturing care that we know is essential to their well-being. Court orders do not improve a parent's poor mental health or economic crisis. Court orders do not resolve the anger that can be so damaging to children. Courts cannot create good parents out of deficient parents.

The lawyers for and on behalf of the children provide the essential service to the child of presenting all of the relevant evidence to the court, so that the court can make the best decision of the children's best interest, even when there is nothing “best” about the children's lives at that time. Children's lawyers and GALs bring the voice of the child to the court. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, children's lawyers and GALs help the child understand the court process. The lawyer tries to answer those questions from the child that have an answer, and acknowledges to the child when there is no answer for some questions.

Working for and on behalf of children is challenging, frustrating, inspiring, and rewarding. It brings tears and laughter. You will lose sleep, but you will gain the knowledge that you worked to help a child.

If you are interested in volunteering for AVLF's Lawyers for Children Program, please contact Lila Bradley via email: lbradley@avlf.org.

We've launched our new website!

2010-06-18T15:55:00.000-07:00

By: Martin Ellin, Executive Director, AVLF

The Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation is proud to launch our new web site- http://www.avlf.org/! We hope that our site will allow you to easily become familiar with the Foundation’s many pro bono programs, with the extraordinary AVLF Staff members who direct those programs, with the opportunities that are available for volunteer lawyers to become involved in meaningful pro bono legal work, and more. We want our site to be of real value to everyone that visits.

This enhanced web site is but one part of the social action adventure upon which we have embarked. We hope that you will see our Facebook Cause page, and that you will ‘friend” or at least “like” us so that AVLF’s posts will show up on your newsfeed. We will be adding video to this site, and invite you now to follow us on Twitter, as well as this Blogspot page. Our new “Marty’s Blog” page will post entries from the breadth of the AVLF Staff- we hope you read us regularly.

In the near future, we will add a contributor page to our website which lists all of our current grantors, a page that archives and makes available our previous newsletter issues, a community resource page for clients and the general public and a resource page for victims of DV. Finally, to assist our many generous financial donors, our site will be contoured to reveal monthly and planned giving options and a very special link so that Winetasting 2010 donors will be able to pay for sponsorship and tickets to our November 4th party with the click of a button.

Why add these features, and why now? The first answer is so that I may earn my children’s respect: I am tired of them leaning on me to honor a promise I made some time ago to go beyond personal visits (which all the AVLF Staff will continue to make), hand written letters (which I still intend to write frequently) and phone calls from a land line as a means of keeping in touch with the people the Foundation serves. But even more importantly, so that we may interact with our clients, public interest partners, volunteer attorneys, Court personnel and friends more quickly and more fully, and because the demand for our service is dramatic and increases so quickly that finding avenues to reach out, and to hear back, could not wait.

The Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation receives close to 30,000 telephone calls and 5,000 visits to its website each year. We give advice and direction to thousands, and are able to arrange for as many as 4,000-5,000 low-income citizens of Atlanta to receive the direct assistance of an attorney or paralegal to whom they otherwise could not have had access. We coordinate the provision of that free legal service through private attorneys who need the Foundation’s help to learn of volunteer opportunities, and the Staff’s assistance to supervise them as they offer a variety of legal support. We support each of the Courts of Fulton County- our volunteer programs work with the Superior, State, magistrate, Probate and Juvenile Courts of the County- and increasingly partner with those courts as they serve to promote access to justice for the unrepresented.

There are few places in our community that we and our volunteer attorneys do not touch. And now, our ability to touch those places electronically gives us a greater reach than ever before. Join us as we do everything that we can- with your help- to promote equal access to justice for the poor, the marginalized and the voiceless of our community. Enjoy!