Deputy Director Receives 2013 Unsung Devotion to Those Most in Need Award

The Emory University School of Law Public Interest Committee awarded AVLF Deputy Director Tamara Caldas with the 2013 Unsung Devotion to Those Most in Need Award on February 5. Also that evening, Jeffrey Bramlett received the Outstanding Leadership in the Public Interest. Award, and Robbie Dokson was awarded the Lifetime Commitment to Public Service Award.

AVLF was very much in evidence throughout the evening. Obviously, the Foundation is very proud of the recognition of Tamara and her selfless and amazing work for the clients, the legal community and the Court systems of metropolitan Atlanta. As well, Robbie Dokson was a founder of AVLF; Jeff Bramlett worked closely with the Foundation’s One Child One Lawyer Program when resolving the claims of the groundbreaking Kenny A. litigation; Steve Gottlieb, who introduced Robbie that evening is a close partner of AVLF’s from his position as the Director of the Atlanta Legal Aid Society; Theresa Roseborough, who introduced Jeff that evening is a former AVLF Guardian ad litem; Dan Bloom, the evening’s MC, is a former Deputy Director of AVLF; and Marty Ellin, AVLF’s executive Director, had the pleasure of introducing Tamara to the full house at Emory Law School.

Marty’s comments that evening included the following:

Tamara Serwer Caldas is a great lawyer. And she would never tell you that, but tonight she doesn’t have to, in part because the people who work with her are thrilled to have the chance to do so. I had the pleasure of contacting a range of Tamara’s current and former colleagues, and wish I could share all of what they said. Put together, it is the portrait of a woman who lives by this direction: If one does not consider the circumstance of fellow human beings then the whole purpose of the law is lost.

You could see Tamara’s career and all that she would accomplish, coming from miles away. After finishing at Princeton, where she received awards for the best senior thesis in American literature AND achievement in dance, Tamara spent time with the New York Lawyers for the Public Interest before simultaneously securing a law degree and Masters of Public Affairs from some school in Austin, Texas.

She then clerked in the Sixth Circuit- Judge Martha Daughtery told me that “Tamara was a superb law clerk and a joy to have in chambers.  We never had a doubt that she was headed into public-interest law and into lifelong public service. We knew she would shine at work closest to her heart. And she has.”  

From there she went to the Southern Center for Human Rights where she just made life miserable for a number of jailers and a political subdivision or two that doubted that this little pixie of a lawyer could challenge men and systems that had been in place since… since… well, no one could remember it being otherwise.

The Southern Center’s Kung Li related this- “Typical of Tamara was the second preliminary injunction hearing for the Tutwiler case, when she was 2½ months pregnant w/ Shoshana and pretending like she wasn’t– we pulled into the federal district court parking lot, she got out, threw up, dusted herself off, and carried on.” And carried on she did- through the Tutwiler case, Tamara represented over 1,000 women prisoners, and Mica Doctoroff, an investigator on the case, said “This was a case that Tamara and others had fiercely litigated for years - so fiercely and so successfully, in fact, that the State of Alabama and the Department of Corrections never quite recovered from what hit them.”

Sara Totonchi, the current Executive Director of the SCHR told me this is what she learned from TSC- “if you’re fighting for something for your client, you might as well get comfortable because you’re just not leaving the room until opposing counsel gives in.”

And then, after work promoting reproductive rights for birth parents and adoptive parents, fortunately for us, and for the effort to promote equal access to justice for the poor of our community, she came to AVLF. After being a Staff Attorney and our Managing Attorney, Tamara quickly became our Deputy Director. …From the day she began we have been a significantly better organization for her presence and her enormous talent. She is at once a very broad and very deep thinker about how to address the unmet civil legal needs of the poor, and unusually for a big picture person she is also extremely detail oriented.

Tamara is the perfect example of what can be accomplished when no one is invested in who gets the credit. She has so often been a force for positive change for which there has been no publicity. Among the most meaningful law-related endeavors: without fanfare, Tamara provided the impetus for the establishment of the Housing Advocacy Resource Center and the Fulton County Courthouse’s Self-Help Center. And, in recognition for her insistence on helping the justice system to evolve, she made many fans of those with whom she worked.

State Court Administrator/Chief Clerk Cicely Barber related this to me: “I can always count on Tamara to tell me the truth and be helpful.  I am very grateful for her wisdom, guidance, and most importantly her friendship.” Judge Louis Levenson told me this about Tamara: “She has been an involved member of the Court family for years and always with a constant interest in contributing ideas for improving the quality of the justice and fairness that is delivered to all who we serve. She is a resource that everyone resects for her knowledge of the law and for her experience about the legal procedures utilized in the Court.”

Absent publicity for her work, she worked with Michael Lucas and his team to revise the 40 year old Saturday Lawyer program, making it again the Foundation’s and the community’s primary vehicle for the delivery of housing, consumer and wage claim-related pro bono legal service. She has interacted extensively with law students and interns, working last Legislative session with Emory students of Frank Alexander seeking to extend the Protecting Tenants in Foreclosure Act. Tamara is coordinating the effort to promote foreclosure Mediation in the federal court; and she is leading the Foundation’s Judicial Bypass work, even as she teams with the AVLF Housing and Consumer Law team to address issues of economic integrity and with the AVLF DV Project team to address equally critical matters of violence prevention.

On top of all of this, she continues to demonstrate - in the trenches - the impressive advocacy and the compassion for people on which she has built her career, finding time to remain “hands on” with eviction and housing condition cases, to directly advise clients, and to give public “know your rights” presentations to communities in need…

 And on it goes, competently, creatively- unrelentingly- and without much notice. I am delighted that the EPIC Committee was inspired by Tamara’s selfless approach, and although praise for the excellence of the body of Tamara’s work is barely sung, and although she would not have us broadcast, it merits a full chorus, so I am proud to ask TSC to come forward to accept the EPIC’s 2013 Unsung Devotion to Those Most in Need award.

AVLF congratulates Tamara and her fellow award recipients, and thanks the Emory University School of Law Public Interest Committee for an extraordinary celebration of the best of the community’s pro bono leaders.

Congress’s Unfinished Business: The Violence Against Women Act

By Lindsey Siegel, Staff Attorney, Skadden Fellow [Previous Publication from the Atlanta Journal Constitution]

They are smothered with pillows and held hostage in their houses. They have their teeth kicked out. They are poisoned and shot at in front of their kids. They are kicked in the stomach while pregnant. Am I describing atrocities committed against women and children in foreign countries at war? No, these are Georgia domestic violence cases with which I have worked as a lawyer in the past year alone. With crimes like these taking place within our state, it is not surprising that Georgia ranks 10th in the nation for its rate of men killing women. 

Lindsey Siegel, Staff Atorney, Skadden Fellow

 On February 12th, the Senate passed VAWA in a bipartisan 78-22 vote (62 of those voting “yes” were co-sponsors).  The majority of domestic violence advocates support this version of the bill, which increases funding to programs and expands protections to LGBT and Native American victims, among others.  The fight continues, though, with the bill heading to the House. 

 I have seen firsthand the impact that the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) has on our ability to fight these abuses in Georgia. With robust bipartisan support, Congress passed and twice reauthorized this key piece of legislation. Unfortunately, Congress failed to agree on a new, updated version of VAWA before the end of the 112th session. While its current protections do not expire, Congress must prioritize VAWA’s passage in the coming weeks to expand assistance to all—including Tribal, immigrant, and LGBTQ—victims of domestic violence. Sarah Buel noted in her article It’s Time to Pass the Violence Against Women Act, which appeared in the Arizona Republic on December 13, 2012, that there are at least five good reasons why Congress should immediately reauthorize VAWA and provide appropriate funding; and the realities in Georgia bear this out. 

 First, the statistics are staggering: The Dept. of Justice reports that about four American women are murdered each day by a current or former partner—and about 100 of those happen here in Georgia every year. If foreign terrorists were killing four Americans a day, how would we react? According to the American Medical Association, American women are in more danger in their homes than on the street – a situation VAWA can help change. 

Second, VAWA’s reforms are working: Sexual and domestic violence assaults are down across the nation. VAWA has augmented judicial and law enforcement tools, improved housing and economic security for victims, and enhanced the healthcare system’s response. The services provided by VAWA are the difference between life and death for many victims of domestic and dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, and human trafficking.

 Third, VAWA is a cost-effective mechanism to prevent and address crime in our communities: Violence against women is expensive—medical care, lost work productivity, and lost wages constitute over $5.8 billion per year. It is estimated, however, that during its first six years alone, VAWA saved about $14.8 billion in prevented net social costs. 

Fourth, VAWA keeps our children safer by helping the non-violent parent flee and ensuring that children grow up in a safe environment. As many as 15.5 million children witness abuse in their homes each year. These children may learn that it is okay to be abusive to get what you want and thus have a higher likelihood of later involvement in the courts. VAWA can change this.


Fifth, VAWA has been a fundamental part of this nation’s public safety strategy since 1994, creating many new law enforcement and community programs designed to protect victims and get violent criminals off the street. Through VAWA, Georgia receives funding to provide services to victims and their children, train and staff law enforcement, and more. Our homeland security plan must include protection from terrorists inside the home as well as from strangers and political terrorists. 

Congress should immediately reauthorize and fully fund the Violence Against Women Act.

Looking to make a difference? Contact your representative and tell her/him to support the Senate version of the bill.