Month: April 2010

Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School held its annual Youth and the Law Summit on Saturday, April 17, 2010. More than thirty middle-school students attended this year’s Summit. The students came from various schools from the Atlanta and Clayton County school districts. Their day started with a continental breakfast and ice-breaker conducted by Darrick McDuffie, an attorney from King and Spalding. The students were then broken up into four groups. Each group, led by a John Marshall law student, participated in two separate lessons/activities designed to teach them how to analyze the impact of laws, think critically, and write persuasively. After a pizza lunch, the students listened to a panel of three attorneys, Willie Lovett, Jr., Candiss Collins, and Prof. Kamina Pinder, discuss their paths to becoming a lawyer. Students were able to ask of questions about the panelists’ educational and career choices. In the afternoon, the students broke into two teams for a very spirited debate on the First Amendment rights of students using MySpace. Closing remarks were made by Shukura Ingram, President of the Gate City Bar Association. In addition to DiscoverLaw.org back packs, students also received a portfolio, a U.S. Constitution and a certificate to mark the occasion.

Equal Justice Works hosted a reception at Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. on April 15, 2010 to honor Equal Justice Works Fellows Atlanta area law schools. One of the keynote speakers was Steve Reba, a 2008 graduate of Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School. Steve, a member of the Equal Justice Works Fellows Class of 2009, works at the Barton Juvenile Defender Clinic of the Emory University School of Law. He gave a moving speech about his work to free and rehabilitate incarcerated juveniles. Class of 2010 Fellows were also in attendance, including Alpa Amin, a 2010 graduate from Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School. Alpa was awarded a fellowship to work with GAIN, the Georgia Asylum and Immigration Network. We are very proud of both Steve and Alpa and the positive impact they are making in our community. The Equal Justice Works Fellowship Program creates partnerships among public interest lawyers, nonprofit organizations, law firm/corporate sponsors and other donors in order to afford underrepresented populations effective access to the justice system. Equal Justice Works is currently supporting 108 Fellows in the field: 54 Fellows who began in September 2007 and 54 new Fellows who began last fall. Equal Justice Works is committed to recruiting attorneys who represent a variety of experiences and backgrounds and to providing them with a strong foundation on which to build a public interest career. For more information about the program, please visit: http://www.equaljusticeworks.org/programs/fellowships/general.

Equal Justice Works hosted a reception at Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. on April 15, 2010 to honor Equal Justice Works Fellows Atlanta area law schools. One of the keynote speakers was Steve Reba, a 2008 graduate of Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School. Steve, a member of the Equal Justice Works Fellows Class of 2009, works at the Barton Juvenile Defender Clinic of the Emory University School of Law. He gave a moving speech about his work to free and rehabilitate incarcerated juveniles. Class of 2010 Fellows were also in attendance, including Alpa Amin, a 2010 graduate from Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School. Alpa was awarded a fellowship to work with GAIN, the Georgia Asylum and Immigration Network. We are very proud of both Steve and Alpa and the positive impact they are making in our community.

The Equal Justice Works Fellowship Program creates partnerships among public interest lawyers, nonprofit organizations, law firm/corporate sponsors and other donors in order to afford underrepresented populations effective access to the justice system. Equal Justice Works is currently supporting 108 Fellows in the field: 54 Fellows who began in September 2007 and 54 new Fellows who began last fall. Equal Justice Works is committed to recruiting attorneys who represent a variety of experiences and backgrounds and to providing them with a strong foundation on which to build a public interest career. For more information about the program, please visit: http://www.equaljusticeworks.org/programs/fellowships/general.

John Marshall proudly presents its 8^th Annual Bobby Lee Cook Practical Legal Symposium on Friday, April 9, 2010 from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. This event, which was established to honor Mr. Cook, Georgia’s renowned criminal defense and civil rights attorney, will feature prominent members of the legal community. A long-time friend of the Law School, Mr. Cook will lead the panel, which will include J. Vincent “Jay” Cook, R. Price Nimmo, Chilton Davis Varner and Judge Alvin T. Wong. This event is free and open to the public. We encourage law students, members of the bar, and interested parties to join us for this unique opportunity to benefit from the experience of these distinguished lawyers and the “dean” of Georgia’s criminal defense attorneys. Bobby Lee Cook, principal of Cook & Connelly in Summerville, GA, has earned fame for his career as a criminal defense attorney and representation in some of the most controversial criminal trials in the state. He is believed by many to have inspired the character of “Matlock” in the television series. Mr. Cook’s influence extends beyond Georgia, as he has also represented national and international figures. Early in his career, Mr. Cook served in the Georgia House of Representatives and Senate before becoming a State Court Judge. Mr. Cook’s achievements were recognized by the Georgia Bar in 1994, when it named him Trial Lawyer of the Year. J. Vincent “Jay” Cook is a veteran trial lawyer, having achieved significant judgments and settlements for clients in cases involving wrongful death, personal injury, business torts, and commercial and construction litigation. He is a respected leader in Georgia’s legal community, is past president of the State Bar of Georgia, president of the Georgia Civil Justice Foundation, and former president of the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association, the Georgia Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates and the Western Circuit Bar Association. Mr. Cook has written and edited numerous publications on the law and has conducted seminars on medical malpractice. He is the Managing Partner of Cook Noell Tolley & Bates LLP in Athens, Georgia. R. Price Nimmo is a partner with Nimmo, Hoehn & Nimmo in Nashville, Tennessee. He is an experienced litigator, focusing his practice on matters of personal injury, insurance defense, criminal defense, products liability, and family law. Chilton Varner has 30 years of courtroom experience as a trial lawyer defending corporations in product liability, business torts, contract and other commercial disputes. Ms. Varner was appointed by Chief Justice Rehnquist in 2004 and re-appointed by Chief Justice Roberts in 2007 to the Federal Civil Rules Advisory Committee, where she has participated in the Committee’s drafting of amendments governing electronic discovery and consideration of changes to the Rules governing summary judgment and expert discovery. Ms. Varner speaks regularly on women’s issues for the American Bar Association and DRI. She currently practices with King & Spalding in Atlanta, Georgia. Judge Alvin T. Wong has served on the State Court of DeKalb County, Georgia for eleven years. A 1976 graduate of Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School, Judge Wong is the only Asian Pacific American to be elected judge in the Southeast. Judge Wong serves on the Fernbank Museum of Natural History Board of Trustees, the Georgia Commission on Access and Fairness in the Courts, and the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) Law Foundation Board.

On April 14, 2010, volunteers from Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School helped the Atlanta Community Food Bank to distribute 3,448 pounds of food to 2,298 families. Volunteers included faculty, staff and students of the school, with Professor Renata Turner, Shannon Keef, Randi Moore, Anne Bowerman, Carlos Nauedo, Alpa Amin, Barbara Herzberg, Lauren Wallace, Cliff Turner and Gregory Gelpi all lending a hand to this great cause.

The Atlanta Community Food Bank works with more than 800 nonprofit partner agencies including food pantries, community kitchens, childcare centers, night shelters, senior centers and other service programs to distribute almost two million pounds of food each month to low-income Georgians. To learn more about The Atlanta Community Food Bank, please visit their website at www.ACFB.org

Volunteers pictured (from left to right): Barbara Herzberg, Shannon Keef, Alpa Amin, Randi Moore and Greg Gelpi

Great fun and entertainment was had at the Public Interest Law Society’s 1st Annual Silent Auction and Networking Mixer on Friday, April 9, 2010. The silent auction was followed by a live auction and included items such as dinner and snooker with Dean Lynn, mentoring lunches donated by various faculty members and alumni, “stay-cation” packages, cultural events and sporting tickets, jewelry and art work. Thank you to the Zweifel Law Firm for their generosity in sponsoring the event and to the many contributors. JMLS Alumnus The Honorable G. Alan Blackburn was presented with the first annual Public Interest Law Award for his more than thirty years of public service. Proceeds of the auction will be used to sponsor a JMLS student engaged in pro bono work during this summer.

The Honorable G. Alan Blackburn (’67 Alumnus) was honored by Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School’s Public Interest Law Society with the First Annual Public Interest Law Award at the Public Interest Law Society’s Silent Auction and Networking Mixer on Friday, April 9, 2010. The award recognizes Judge Blackburn’s more than thirty years of public service.