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.  

The Domestic Violence Project: An intersection of Art and Work

By Jessica Caldas, Project Coordinator, Domestic Violence and Guardian ad Litem Programs

I first began working for Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation doing six hours per week of data entry per week for the Domestic Violence Project.  When I asked to volunteer at the Safe Families Office, where the primary work of the project is done, I honestly had no idea what was in store.  I had no background in the law or with domestic violence, but I felt like I was seeing only a small piece of a large and confusing puzzle that was the Domestic Violence Project.  In order to be really effective I needed to understand the entire program. 

The walk-in Safe Families Office is a far cry from the quiet, all-to-myself office where I quietly updated a database with client information.  It is unpredictable, often hectic.  A box of tissues sits upon every surface.  I sit and talk face-to-face with client after client, hearing their stories of abuse and confusion and fear, while their children color in our children’s corner, or tug on mom’s sleeve to show the toy they just discovered.   In this office, the numbers and letters I enter into that database acquire names and faces and stories, and the weight of those stories bears down on me. 

Outside of AVLF, I am an artist.  My art helped me process and begin to make sense of the struggle of families I see each week at the Safe Families Office.   In my work I tried to express the powerlessness of our clients’ experiences, the utter lack of control.  Within the context of violent relationships, I have watched the objects we use every day become twisted into tools of fear, control, and cruelty - the major theme of my work.  I look forward to expanding this body of work to include the more wonderful side of these stories-the side that contains the hope and the recovery and the ability to heal.  Although I have been frustrated and angered by the things our clients go through, I know I will never be able to fully comprehend the journey survivors must travel and the depth and range of feelings that they must manage.

View Jessica's Artwork Below:

Celebrating Service: Pro Bono Awards

AVLF offers congratulations again to the winners of the annual AVLF Pro Bono Awards, announced by Michael Lucas at the recent Celebrating Service Luncheon.

The S. Phillip Heiner Award was given this year to a law firm that is a champion of private volunteer legal service to the poor - the law firm of Sutherland Asbill & Brennan.

The first “Outstanding Paralegal Service” award was given to to a dedicated and deserving group. Corey Lyles, Eveth McPherson, and Keli Jones have served hundreds of low-income clients, as collectively they have volunteered over 40 Saturdays in the first year of this initiative. 

Madison Burnett  received the 2012 AVLF Volunteer of the Year. Few in our legal community have demonstrated a deeper commitment to the legal rights of women and girls than Madison and her colleagues Robins Kaplan Miller & Ciresi L.L.P., offering passionate direct representation of our clients who would otherwise face the legal process without information or counsel. 

King & Spalding attorney Jason Edgecombe was awarded the Excellence in Pro Bono Service Award. Jason has represented dozens of low-income tenants during his 9 years at the firm, including 7 clients in the last year alone!  And since 2005, Jason has coordinated all of K&S’s pro bono efforts for this Program – providing training for his colleagues; recruiting volunteers and mentoring new attorneys through their first cases.

The Domestic Violence Project’s Volunteer of the Year was given to Kevin Linder, who since he began volunteering with AVLF's Domestic Violence Project has represented victims of violence in an unheard-of twelve protective order cases. 

Congratulations and thanks to our esteemed group of volunteer champions!

A Lesson from My First Year of Practice: A dishonest client is not necessarily an undeserving client

by Lindsey Siegel, AVLF Staff Attorney and Skadden Fellow

A few months ago, a client lied to me when she was on the verge of losing her housing.  Luckily, she admitted the truth relatively early in my representation of her, and we were able to explain her actions honestly and still prevent her from becoming homeless.  Though the vast majority of my clients are honest, in the past year I have had more than one client be less than honest or fail to give me key information during an interview.  When I discovered the dishonesty, my first reaction was to question everything she’d told me and, occasionally, to lose enthusiasm in representing her.  Since then, I’ve thought about why it can feel so disappointing when my clients lie, how it impacts my work, and why clients are sometimes dishonest in the first place.

Because at my core I believe in the righteousness of the work we do at AVLF, I can get fairly emotionally involved in my clients’ cases.  When I encounter a client who has lied, it is hard to shake that initial feeling of betrayal.  It can also be difficult to represent someone when a harmful fact arises for the first time in the middle of a hearing.  In fact, I can attribute at least one negative case outcome to this scenario, even though my client had a genuine need for assistance.  Despite lies or omissions, I continue to be concerned about my clients’ abilities to maintain stable housing and employment, secure government benefits, and most importantly, obtain physical safety.  Like many poverty lawyers, I sometimes obsess about the significant effect losing one of these cases has on my clients’ and their families’ lives.

It is also difficult to navigate the various ethical issues that arise when representing a client who has been dishonest about some fact, especially when that fact is central to our case.  If I come to believe prior to a hearing that a client has lied to me, I worry about proffering false testimony.  Of course, if I insist that the client admit the truth under oath, we may lose the case.  Withdrawing from the case is another option, though it is unappealing to leave a client unrepresented (as they almost always will remain) when the stakes are so high.  Though I memorized the rules of professional conduct in preparation for my practice of law, implementing them with real clients who need assistance has been much more challenging than I would have guessed it would be.

At AVLF, the vast majority of our clients have very few resources, despite working or looking for work to support their families.  Often their basic needs—safety, housing, food—are not being met, and they are doing what they can for their and their children’s survival.  I have learned that sometimes a client is going to say what she thinks we want to hear in order to obtain assistance.  Other clients believe we will judge them if they admit to making certain decisions; and past experiences with government or social service agencies may have taught them this lesson.  My clients’ past experiences and economic realities have influenced my impression of their occasional dishonesty.

Practicing this type of law involves recognizing that even our clients who have experienced abuse and injustice aren’t perfect, just as we are not perfect in our representation of them.  The best we can do is try to discover the truth, recognize the potential complications in our representation, and understand the barriers our clients face.  And if we imagine stepping into their shoes, we may wonder what we would do in a similarly desperate situation.

A GAWL FOUNDATION GRANT SPREADS GOOD NEWS

Theresa is 34. She is married and has a six year old son and a three year old daughter. She has family; she has friends; she is employed; her colleagues think she is happy. In fact, she is terrified that her husband, again tonight, will drink and beat her, perhaps with the belt he has begun using more regularly. Her deepest fear is that he will also hurt their children.

Theresa is not alone, but she and other victims of intimate partner violence do not always know of the array of services that may be available to them. In particular, she may not be aware of the Safe Families Office, a partnership among the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation, Partnership Against Domestic Violence and the Family Division of the Superior Court of Fulton County. The Safe Families Office is the only courthouse-based free legal support program of its kind in Georgia, serving survivors of domestic violence and stalking. This court-based clinic assists every person in Fulton County seeking legal protection from intimate partner violence, including elder abuse and stalking, which numbers close to 2,500 people each year.  The clinic also assists victims from outside the County seeking protection from abusers residing inside the county - serving women from 17 Georgia counties last year.  The clinic is located in a reconfigured courtroom dedicated solely to this project.  In this space, the Safe Families Office is able to serve as many people as need help; it has a Children’s Center and enough space for confidential conversations with several different clients to happen simultaneously.

But how do victims who need the services offered by the Safe Families Office learn of its existence?  To help address this question, AVLF turned to the Georgia Association for Women Lawyers (GAWL) Foundation, and earlier this year AVLF was the fortunate recipient of a generous GAWL Foundation grant.  The grant allowed AVLF to print postcards and related written materials in Spanish and in English, which have been and continue to be widely disseminated through community events, libraries, clerks’ offices, and partner organizations to help increase the number of victims who know about the Safe Families Office.

Founded in 1928, the Georgia Association for Women Lawyers serves the diverse interests of women lawyers in Georgia. The mission of the Georgia Association for Women Lawyers Foundation is to encourage philanthropy by women lawyers in Georgia for the benefit of the greater community.  As part of fulfilling its mission, the GAWL Foundation gives out grants to other non-profit organizations that provide direct services to those in need in our local communities.  Grants typically range from $500 to $2,000 and are awarded three times a year in the fall, winter, and spring.  Recipients are selected using the following guidelines:

1.        Organizations that provide free legal services to disadvantaged women and girls;
2.        Organizations that provide free services to disadvantaged women and girls in the legal system; and
3.        Organizations that provide free services to disadvantaged women and girls.

The GAWL Foundation is accepting applications for the fall cycle through October 12, 2012.  Feel free to contact Diana Cohen at GAWL.grants@gmail.com with specific questions regarding the grant application process.  Please contact Christina Baugh at GAWL.foundation@gmail.com with other questions about the GAWL Foundation.   

AVLF is proud to report that the American Bar Association’s Commission on Domestic Violence has called the Safe Families Office a national Best Practices model.  We are proud that our work has confirmed that access to civil legal representation has the most impact on a survivor’s ability to make a permanent break from her abuser. And we are proud of and grateful for our affiliation with GAWL and the GAWL Foundation; because of their gift, the Theresa's of the world may yet be safe.  

AVLF Domestic Violence Project – First Impressions of Our Newest Volunteers

By Jane Warring, AVLF Junior Board Member 

Two months ago, AVLF’s Domestic Violence Team - Liz Whipple, along with Lindsey Siegel and Jessica Caldas - visited the Atlanta office of Robins, Kaplan, Miller, & Ciresi, LLP—a law firm specializing in IP, business, and insurance litigation—to train partners, associates, paralegals, and staff members to take temporary protective order cases.  The AVLF Team explained that the advocate fills three main roles:  First, the advocate works with the victim to determine his/her goals and needs, including needs related to protection, child custody, divisions of property and financial issues.  Second, the advocate organizes the victim’s evidence so his/her story can be quickly and effectively relayed to the Court.  Third, the advocate negotiates with the respondent to obtain an order by consent or, if the respondent does not consent, presents the evidence to the judge to obtain an order directly from the Court.  Since this training session, RKMC has worked with over fifteen clients, and attorneys are taking new cases every week.

I have taken four cases since the training.  From a volunteer perspective, these are perfect pro bono cases.  The clients have a true, immediate need, the evidence is overwhelmingly in your favor, and the matter generally takes less than one week from start to finish.

“Although many of these cases share the same basic formula in the courtroom, the unique facts of each petitioner’s situation provides the opportunity for volunteers to think and work creatively,” says RKMC associate Brandon Arnold.  Brandon Arnold and Eric Swartz have dealt with child visitation and support issues in their cases.  In granting protective orders, the law gives the court discretion to order specific visitation and support arrangements agreed to by the parties or requested by one party, provided that the Court determines that such arrangements are in the child’s “best interest.”  As such, where the mother approves of some visitation rights for the father, the hearing may involve both negotiating these issues with the respondent and convincing the judge that a particular arrangement is appropriate. 

In addition, volunteers have noticed that these cases sometimes involve interesting types of evidence, such as text messages or camera phone photos.   RKMC partner Bill Stanhope recently used a camera phone photo of the respondent with large amounts of cash to rebut the respondent’s contention that he could not afford child support. The more relaxed courtroom environment makes presenting these items easier than in some other courts. 

Bill Stanhope says that “the key is to make sure you understand why the client has gone to court to obtain a temporary order and figure out how much practical relief the Court can provide given the circumstances and scope of the law.”  In one of Jane Warring’s cases, the client had been living with the respondent for over 5 years—she paid the rent and he paid the utilities.  “When you’re getting the protective order, you need to think about things like—Do we need to help get her assistance for the next few months while she adapts to paying rent and utilities?  The goal is to send these victims out into the world with legal protection, but also with the ability to start over and break from an abusive past,” says Jane Warring.

In the end, these cases keep RKMC attorneys, and volunteer attorneys around Atlanta, coming back for more.  “The volunteer experience is both exciting and gratifying.  You are able to assist clients with immediate personal needs and provide them with a means to protect themselves both emotionally and physically, all while gaining practical legal experience.  It is truly a win-win situation!” says RKMC associate Elizabeth Thomas, who has assisted four clients obtain 12-month protective orders.

Email Jessica Caldas at jcaldas@avlf.org  if you are interested in volunteering.

Fighting Fire in the Community

By: Tamara Serwer Caldas, Deputy Directror

One afternoon earlier this summer I found myself in the meeting room of the Atlanta Fire Department’s Station 4 speaking with about 20 firefighters from Squad 6.  Daytime TV was playing on a flatscreen television, and a couple of the firefighters were relaxing on worn-out couches joking good-naturedly, but obviously tired after eight hours on duty.  I had come to talk about end of life legal documents such as a Last Will & Testament and Advance Directive for Health Care in support of an ambitious and wonderfully generous initiative led by Troutman Sanders, LLP, in partnership with AVLF and Georgia Power.  Through this pro bono project, all Atlanta firefighters and their partners may secure a will and all related legal documents free of charge. 

The firefighters of Squad 6, all of whom happened to be men (there are a number of women in the Department as well) are among the elite of the fire department – the men trained in special operations who respond to hazmat and other chemical disasters and extricate people from buildings such as the collapsed parking garage at Georgia Tech a couple of years ago.  They listened intently and patiently as I spoke, with a raised eyebrow or two when I explained who would inherit their property in the absence of a properly-executed will.  Although I was skeptical that all of them would follow through on this opportunity right away, I grew increasingly confident that the information I was giving was valuable and would lead eventually to action.   

After speaking for about 45 minutes about end-of-life decisions (something all of them have considerably more experience with than I do!), I relaxed and had a very down to earth conversation with these highly trained and extremely professional first responders.  Their Station sits at the corner of Edgewood and the Connector, a place I drive by every day on my way to work at the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation, so I felt like we had a common sense of community.  They discussed with great sensitivity their concern for the homeless men and women who sleep under the interstate overpass across the street from their Station and the problems of homelessness generally.  They described the fire hazards caused by the growing number of properties turned empty due to foreclosures, and the problem of buildings occupied illegally by people who had nowhere else to find shelter.  I hadn’t expected to learn so much from them on this visit, but appreciated their perspective and now carry it with me as I consider the hazards involved in the substandard housing where many of AVLF’s other clients live.

In the end, the firefighters drove me back to Peachtree Center in their shiny red fire truck, a fact that my school-age children LOVE to share with their teachers and classmates.  (And yes, I’ve told the story a time or two as well!)  They were so appreciative of my time and interest in helping them and deeply curious about the work of AVLF.  My afternoon reminded me about the importance of reaching out to people where they live and work, listening with an open heart to their stories and finding common cause in unexpected places. 

Helping Hand for a Grateful Client By Matthew J. Simmons, Commercial Litigation Associate, Swift, Currie, McGhee & Hiers, from the Daily Report, July 5, 2012

While I have been participating in this program since I was admitted to the Georgia Bar, a case I worked on recently is the most poignant for me. Early one Saturday morning in late 2011, I headed to downtown Atlanta to participate in one of the AVLF's pro bono programs. Soon after my arrival, I was introduced to an elderly woman whom I will call Ms. Green. Little did I know then that Ms. Green would become not only my client but also my friend.

Shortly after meeting Ms. Green, I sat down to speak to her further about what brought her to the program. Ms. Green informed me that she had recently been served with a legal document claiming she owed a great deal of money as a result of a debt that had built up on a credit card with which she was completely unfamiliar. The credit card was not in her name but that of her ex-husband, a man who had since passed away and from whom she had been divorced for more than a decade. As you can imagine, Ms. Green was in a state of shock and disbelief, but also one of significant trepidation about the potential repercussions this lawsuit could have on her and her extremely limited income.

After assuring Ms. Green that I would do my best to represent her and that I would do everything I could to make the situation right, she did what no client had done before - she gave me a great big hug.

Read this article in its entirety, Click Here

Judge Pitch in to Save Guardian Ad Litem Program By Meredith Hobbs, the Fulton County Daily Report, June 22, 2012

For want of $25,000, a popular pro bono program that protects low-income children in cont-ested custody cases was almost lost. 

But when the 20 judges of Fulton County Superior Court heard an unexpected grant cut would end the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation's program providing guar-
dians ad litem to the court, they stepped up and made personal donations to keep it
alive. 

 AVLF's director, Marty Ellin, learned at the end of May that Fulton County's Office of Grants and Community Partnerships wouldn't renew a $25,000 grant that
covered part of the salaries of the lawyer, Liz Whipple, and paralegal, Jessica Caldas,
who coordinate the program. Whipple and Caldas also run AVLF's domestic violence program. 

 Fulton Superior Court, which handles the county's divorces, asks AVLF for
volunteer guardians ad litem to discern what's best for the children in highly
disputed custody cases, when a judge needs more insight into what's going on
and the parents can't afford to pay a lawyer.

 "The judges only see the parents when they are in court and don't know what's going on in the home," said Whipple. "The guardians ad litem get to the root of what's going on with the family, so they can make the most balanced and sound recomme-
ndation for the best interests of the children."

 Lawyers from the private bar volunteer to serve as the guardians ad litem. After receiving training through AVLF, they visit the children's schools and homes and interview the children, their parents, teachers, neighbors, doctors and other people in their lives. 

Last year 60 lawyers volunteered their time as guardians ad litem through AVLF in 44 new custody cases involving 67 children, said Whipple. 

 It's a big time commitment. For the 18 cases from 2011 that have closed, the
volunteer lawyers put in 484 hours - an average of 27 hours per case. So far this year, AVLF has taken on 19 custody cases, representing 29 children. 

 But this year the Fulton County Commission cut funding to the Office of Grants and Community Partnerships from $4.6 million to $2.1 million, and the office made only half as many grants as last year. AVLF's guardian ad litem program was one of the casualties. "The economic downturn is finally catching up to Fulton County's grantmaking entity," said Dedrick Muhammad, the office's division manager.
He said this was the first time its grant budget had been cut in its more than 20 years of existence. 

 Read this article in its entirety by clicking here: Continue Reading