MALS Corner By Linda Warren Seely, Director of Pro Bono Projects and Campaign for Equal Justice
CAMPAIGN FOR EQUAL JUSTICE— WE’RE ALL IN FOR JUSTICE
our true Difference Makers in helping us reach our campaign goal. Tis year we saw some surprise anonymous gifts, along with (to name just a few) gifts from some of our stalwart supporters such as Paul and Mary Morris, Sean Hunt, Mary Wolf, Jim Gilliland, Houston Gordon, Ben Adams, Randy Noel and Alison Smith. We received funds from local foundations such as the Community Foundation which sent us with sizable gift of $100,000.00 from an anonymous source in December! To say we were surprised, and grateful, is a huge understatement.
L Te 2013 Campaign was ably led by Larry Crawford with
the firm Wyatt, Tarrant and Combs and his co-chair and the 2014 Campaign Chair Shea Wellford with Martin, Tate, Morrow and Marston. Allen Malone with Burch, Porter and Johnson chaired our Gray Knights subcommittee and special thanks go to John McQuiston, along with Linda Holmes and Mike Cody for working with Allen; Kathy May, President of Alpha Reporting, chaired the Community Outreach subcommittee with help from Norma Lester and Gail Williams. Nicole Grida was in charge of developing a ‘culture of giving’ among the Young Lawyers, while Justin Ross with Fed Ex and Sarah Norton with International Paper led the corporate counsel subcommittee. Dean DeCandia, Barbaralette Davis and Zayid Saleem worked
with the Government Lawyers subcommittee and the law school faculty subcommittee was chaired jointly by Lynda Black and Danny Schaffzin. As is always true, the leaders in the Small-Solo-Medium (or SMS) firm category were our own Frank Cantrell and Harris Quinn who were joined on their subcommittee by Sean Hunt and Paula Jackson. Te SMS subcommittee always has the toughest job because the Memphis legal community consists of so many firms in this category but as usual, they came through like champs. Tere were numerous others who helped in our campaign including Phone-a-Ton volunteers like Pat Arnoult, Blair Evans and Romona Jackson or those who ran in the ‘Race for Grace’. So many attorneys, paralegals and law students have stepped up to be ‘all in’ for justice, there are just too many to list in this column. With your generous donations, MALS has been able to help clients with their most difficult problems. For instance, • MALS received an emergency referral for a mother who
20
ast year, the legal community in Memphis came through in a big way for the Memphis Area Legal Services Campaign for Equal Justice. Te law firms listed on the Honor Roll were
had fled the state with her children to escape an abusive relationship. Te husband went to court and obtained an order granting him emergency custody of the children but did not inform the court about the alleged abuse. He was in the process of having a warrant issued for our client's arrest for custodial interference when an attorney from our office stepped in to represent mom. She was able to stop the warrant from being issued and within a week of becoming involved in the case, the father was arrested for domestic assault and his case against mother was dismissed. Mother and the children are now safe!
• An elderly man had a case against him dismissed after the intervention of one of our volunteer lawyers and his peace of mind restored. Tere are so many stories we hope to share with you and we
will do so throughout the coming year. As we close out the year 2013 and begin plans for 2014, we wanted to offer the opportunity to our outgoing chair to say a few words to the legal community and then turn the column over to our new chair, and recently elected Secretary/Treasurer of the Memphis Bar Association, Shea Wellford. So first to Larry: I was honored to be part of the 2013 Campaign for Equal Justice. Te staff and volunteers did a great job in driving the Campaign. Lawyers are by tradition people who are committed to giving back to their community. Trough their contributions to the Memphis Area Legal Services Campaign for Equal Justice, lawyers support their community and their profession. I am proud of the growing support from the members of the Bar for this Campaign. I can't wait to see what good things are done in 2014. And from this year’s Chair, Shea Wellford, we have a few words:
I am excited about the opportunity to build on the accomplishments of those numerous attorneys and individuals who made last year's campaign a success. I am proud to be a member of the Memphis legal community, which has given so generously of it time, talent, and treasure to Memphis Area Legal Services. As we kick off the 2014 Campaign for Equal Justice, I urge each of you to consider making MALS your "charity of choice," because, as attorneys, we are in the best position to understand the important work that MALS undertakes and to support that mission. I am looking forward to working with you in the coming year. At the risk of being corny, let me end by saying -- I'll be looking for your green in Two Tousand Fourteen!
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32