I have always loved that quote from “Field of Dreams”.  Serving on the Lawyer Referral and Information Service (LRIS) Board of Trustees has certainly been that type of experience. I have now been on the Board for 4 years, and am presently about to end my term as Chair. During my time on the Board, I have focused on growth and recruitment.

We presently have 195 attorneys signed up to take cases. We have worked on beefing up our Family Law area, as that is the biggest need, both on the regular LRIS referrals, and also on our Modest Means panel.  We still need you! Please sign up if you have not already. We are still building and growing.

For me, as a Legal Aid attorney, I love that there is a resource for those applicants I encounter who are over income for Legal Aid, or otherwise ineligible for Legal Aid. Serving on the Board has given me a better understanding of the case types available for referral, and of the need for attorneys in the areas that receive the most calls. Lucia Keller, Director of LRIS, has indicated that the office receives more than four thousand calls each month! There is definitely a need for more attorneys to sign up. The sheer volume of calls each month, if able to be placed, could provide a steady revenue stream for your law practice. There is an urgent and a particular need for family law attorneys, but all practice areas are open. This is the time to sign up! The Atlanta Bar Association and LRIS membership enrollment period is just commencing.

 Lucia and her staff work hard to make sure that placements happen. I thank her for her support and kindness during my tenure as Board Chair.

LRIS continues to provide a yearly grant to non-profits in the Atlanta area through the Atlanta Bar Foundation. This year, we were happy to be able to allocate $160,000. The non-profit groups granted funds this year were Truancy Intervention Project, Atlanta Bar M&DCP, Atlanta Bar SLIP, AVLF, Atlanta Legal Aid, GAIN, Georgia Innocence Project, Gideon’s Promise, the Latina American Association, and Pro Bono Partnership of Atlanta. It would be wonderful to be able to increase the Foundation’s funding of these grants. One of the ways to do that is to of course have more members of the Bar sign up for LRIS. LRIS provides a wonderful opportunity for attorneys building a practice.

I want to thank my entire Board for their excellent service on behalf of LRIS. Thanks to Fatima Harris, who will be Board Chair for the 2023-2024 fiscal year. I have appreciated her support as Vice-Chair. A big THANKS to departing members Jim Blitch IV, Kana Caplan, Stephanie Graham and Kyle Jarzmik. And a HEARTY WELCOME to new Board members Walter Gabriel, Tristan Morrison, Trevi-Ann Thompson and Bomkapr Kanu. Peter Strott returns as LRIS Vice-Chair (and Board Chair elect).

As I complete my term as Board Chair, I will continue to work with LRIS to fulfill their goal of building and recruiting more attorneys in the Atlanta area to sign-up and to serve.