Tamara's EPIC Speech, The EPIC Inspiration Awards, Emory University School of Law, February 5, 2013
Thank you Marty – your words honor me and energize me, as
they so often do. You are my friend, my
colleague, my mentor and among the most generous and gracious people I have
ever known. Looking around this room, I
think are precious few who would disagree! I am proud to count myself among the many who
have worked closely with you, shared bouts of laughter and quiet tears with you,
learned from you and joined you in the cause of access to justice for all
people. I appreciate you every day and I
look forward to many many more days working side by side as leaders of the
Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation pursuing our mission and expanding our
reach.
And thank you to the students and Board of EPIC for giving me
this honor, to Dan Bloom for leading us through the evening with humor and style
and to Sue McAvoy for the extraordinary effort put this evening together. It feels great to be recognized and even
better to know that the proceeds of this event support law students who want to
explore public interest careers through summer fellowships.
This evening I have a daunting task - the task is daunting
because I am receiving an inspiration award for my devotion to those most in
need. And yet this room is filled with
so many of the people who have been and continue to be my inspiration and with
still others whose devotion to me as a human being, a woman, a wife, a mother,
a daughter, a friend, a lawyer, has allowed me to continue fighting even when I
have felt defeated, exhausted and simply unequal to the task. And so I begin with a profound sense of
gratitude for the inspiration and devotion all around me. I cannot imagine a more supportive community
than the one in which I have the good fortune to live and work. It takes a village to raise a public interest
lawyer. Thank you.
I was going to end my remarks by paying tribute to my
parents, my children and my husband because I feared I would get too emotional
if I started with those I love most, but I have to start at my core and so, at
some risk, I will. My mother and father
are here from San Antonio , Texas and it’s my Dad’s birthday this evening! Mom and Dad: you raised me to trust in my own
voice, follow my heart, and to treat all people with respect and dignity. You really
believe in me and have provided me with the most fertile ground from which to
flourish and pursue the path I choose in life.
Shoshana -9 and Marco – 6 are
also here – You guys are my delight, my joy and my pride. Keep asking questions, learning, laughing,
dancing, reading and loving. Keep your
beautiful young hearts open to new ideas and new people and find a way to make
your world a kinder, more inclusive, more just place. Jose – you are my partner in every dimension
of our lives. It is not easy to raise
children and work as hard as we do day in and day out – your love, patience and
support of our family make it possible.
I admire you and I love you.
Like many of you, I went to law school with the idea that I
could (and would) use my talent, privilege and education to make the world a
better and more fair place and to stand up for people whose voices had been silenced or who felt powerless to defend themselves. Where does that idea come from? Why do so many of us, especially in this
profession think that that matters? Why
do you? In more cynical moments, I think
it is pure hubris, but even then I know that’s not all. An article earlier this
month in the Atlantic Monthly gave me some insight – perhaps, as the article
suggests, it is about choosing to live a meaningful life. In the words of Martin E. P. Seligman, one of
the leading psychological scientists alive today, in the meaningful life "you use your highest strengths and
talents to belong to and serve something you believe is larger than the
self." There are many, many
ways to do that and it is the work of a lifetime to figure out what that means
in one’s own life. For many lawyers, it
is about opening the doors of justice so that people have a fair chance
regardless of their income, status, race or language.
During my second year of law school, I had the privilege of
seeing Steve Bright give a keynote speech about the inequities in the criminal
justice system in Georgia & Alabama.
I was, in a word, taken. It was
not only the content of the speech but the conviction and passion of the
speaker – I was deeply inspired by the idea of working so hard for something
that really mattered, to serve people and promote values well beyond my self
interest. As in Marge Piercy’s beautiful
poem (which my sister sent me when I was struggling in law school): “To Be of
Use.” It would be another 4 years before
an unexpected opportunity to work at the Southern Center for Human Rights would
lure me to Atlanta so that I could work side by side with Steve and some of the
most talented lawyers, paralegals and law students in the nation. And 15 years later, here I remain. Those early years as a lawyer in this town
were difficult years – but my life was rich with meaning from dawn to dusk.
My clients at the Southern Center, HIV+ inmates in local
jails, mentally ill men in the state prison, the women in Alabama’s Tutwiler
prison, people crammed into tiny dilapidated jails throughout Alabama demanded
that I put myself aside – their fundamental needs, human dignity and even lives
were at stake. When my confidence
faltered, as it too often did despite an outer shell of confidence, I turned
often to my family for support, which I received unconditionally with every
phone call and visit home. My father has
shared pearls of wisdom along the way that have moved me forward when I was
stuck. It was during these early years
as a lawyer that my father gave me a simple reminder: this is about your clients, not about you. It is when I let my clients themselves inspire
me that I did my best work. It is when
our legal system serves and considers the rights and interests of all people
that our work will be done. We have a
little way to go yet!
I share the honor tonight with two pillars of our legal
community. Robbie Dokson, whose vision
and hard work more than 30 years laid the foundation upon which AVLF was
created. You should be very proud of
how this baby has grown up, Robbie! It
has served 10s of thousands of families in this community who are safer,
healthier and more secure because a lawyer stepped in when a critical legal
interest was at risk. Robbie and I have
another connection – we discovered at an AVLF winetasting many years ago that
he went to summer camp with my father and his brothers. Robbie remembers my grandmother as head
counselor for the girls camp in upstate New York in the 1950’s. She was a leader, a woman of firsts, a
fearless advocate for oppressed people – and someone to be remembered 60 years
hence. I cannot pay tribute to those who
have inspired me with a mention of her.
When anyone mentions complex civil rights litigation in this
town, Jeff Bramlett’s name is usually in the same sentence. I came to Jeff for help before filing my
first lawsuit – he read our complaint and the dozens of attachments, memos and
motions that came with it. He was not in
a position to co-counsel, but instead used the respect he had earned as an
officer of the Atlanta Bar Association to convince the Board to pass a
resolution supporting the idea that incarcerated people should receive HIV
treatment. It was a most unusual
request, in many ways, but Jeff stood up for us and gave the Board his
word. This vote of confidence by Jeff
and leaders of the legal community stayed has stayed with me.
Today I work with a staff of 10 at the Atlanta Volunteer
Lawyers Foundation whose devotion to those most in need rings through in every
one of the thousands of phone calls that come to our office every year and with
every visit to our domestic violence safe families office by someone looking
for a legal advocate. The work never
ceases and, sadly, the need has grown deeper and wider as the number of poor
people in Georgia has expanded in the past decade. There are
300,000, Georgia families
now live below the poverty line—50 percent higher than in 2000,
for a poverty rate that now ranks sixth in the nation. For a family of 3 – that’s less than 20,000
of gross income per year in 2013. AVLF
accepts families who earn twice that number – up to 39,000 for a family of
three. That’s an assistant teacher with
two children, two parents working full time at minimum wage jobs and supporting
a child. That’s someone laid off in the
recession, who once made a comfortable living and now finds that everything she
has is at risk. Our office helps these
types of families, and those with much, much less. The majority of our clients support families
on less than $20,000 per year. With
poverty comes jeopardy – of losing one’s home, one’s children, one’s income and
one’s credit. Legal advocacy and access
to justice make a difference.
I cannot with the time remaining do justice to the staff of
AVLF, most of whom are here tonight. Michael
Lucas who directs AVLF’s housing and consumer programs simply never stops – I
have worked with some phenomenal people, but never have I seen someone as
thoughtful with each client, each relationship, each case, each volunteer – with a growing list of client success stories. Michael – you give me great hope and it is a
privilege to work with you. The AVLF
team who works with Michael - Kenisha,
Dionne, Caroline matches his skills with incredible commitment to advocacy and
service. Our Domestic Violence team sees
almost 2,000 victims of violence every year.
Liz, Jessica and Lindsey – you help women find a new life from the ashes
of violence and destruction. Day after
day. Your lives and your work are full
of meaning. And Jeffrey – you make it
possible for all of us to do our work each day – something too easy to take for
granted. Thank you for managing our
office and keeping us moving!
But our small staff does not work alone. AVLF relies on more than 500 attorney volunteers
each year– attorneys, just like many of you in this room are or will be, who
work for private law firms but offer their skills to help families facing
eviction, violence and financial hardship.
Our volunteers report back to us that their work with our clients is
life-changing, the most important professional accomplishment of their career,
more meaningful than closing a business deal – those are direct quotes. And after donating 20, 30 hours of their
time, most of our volunteers turn around and make a financial contribution so
we can continue our good work into another year and generation. These are the voices and actions of
humanity.
Each case that we take has a compelling human story behind
it and I can’t begin to give you the details of any one story in the time I
have remaining, but I encourage you to ask me or anyone on AVLF’s staff for
those details.
I’m now old enough to
talk about the next generation of lawyers and professionals! Emory law students through EPIC pushed us to
engage in policy work for the first time during the past couple of years. I deeply admired their commitment, especially
knowing that they were also writing papers, taking exams and interviewing for
jobs in a challenging market. Students: when you work in our office you encourage us
to consider new frontiers, new possibilities, new strategies, new values. Respect the groundwork laid by Robbie, Jeff,
Steve, Marty, Dan and others, but don’t be afraid to push. There is so much work to be done, and we need
your energy and creativity more than ever.
There is another group is in this room – my sisters and
brothers from other non-profit law offices.
Steve Gottlieb – the guidestar for our community, Haley Schwartz who had
the audacity to start her own legal project at Legal Aid – the Breast Cancer
Legal Project and build it into a great success, Monica Khant, Sharon Hill,
Rachel Spears, Sara Totonchi, Phyllis Holmen, Talley Wells, Melanie Velez, Stephanie
Stuckey. The list goes on. I especially appreciate how many friends from
Atlanta Legal Aid are here tonight. We
are all devoted to a common principle of equal justice, and none of us could do
it without each other and without the generosity of this community.
There is not one way to choose a meaningful life – there are
so, so many roads. Find something that
moves your heart to action and opens doors for other people and then step up to
the challenge with confidence. It is
what makes you and me and us uniquely and wonderfully human.
with the head of Fulton's ADR office Jerry Wood, the program director of Business Court Megan Johnson, and Deputy D.A. Sally G. Butler of the Crimes Against Women and Children Unit. The day wound down with a happy hour attended by some of AVLF's best and brightest volunteers, giving the students real insight on the rewards and challenges of pro bono service. Wednesday morning got off to an early start in Drug Court with Judge Downs. The students were also fortunate to stay for opening arguments in a murder trial right after, followed by intake at the Safe Families Office. The week culminated in the students representing two clients in Protective Order cases on Friday under the supervision of AVLF's Liz Whipple. Summers Robertson and Lee Watson negotiated a consent order, while Melissa Groover and ReToya Gilmer had a hearing with a Respondent represented by counsel. After a well-argued case on both sides, the students carried the day, ending their week on a triumphant note for their client and themselves. 
