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THE UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA SCHOOL OF LAW PRESENTS :

The Twelfth Annual

WORKING IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST CONFERENCE 2.25.2017

About the Working in the Publ ic Interest Conference Entirely student organized , WIPI brings students and faculty together with public interest practitioners in order to discuss practical approaches to lawyering that promote social justice and human rights for all. The Conference seeks to highlight dynamic, creative ways to combat social injustice through the vehicle of the law. WI PI is committed to institutionalizing a public interest law conference in the Southeast. The social history, political climate , and economic conditions of the Southeast are unique, and we hope that by providing a forum to address persistent social injustices we may get one step closer to resolving some of the major public interest law issues in the Southeast.

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PANEL DESCRIPTIONS Panel1 VULNERABLE PERSONS IN CUSTODY

This panel is an intersectional look at incarceration and alternatives to it in Georgia and across the South. Speakers will discuss the ways in which prisons, jails, and detention centers affect individuals who are both living in poverty and members of marginalized groups. It will provide a broad overview of the challenges that the criminal justice system, and particularly incarceration, raises for vulnerable people, their loved ones, and attorneys working in the public interest. Visitors who have attended WI PI in years past will find that this session provides useful, additional information on how some of the criminal concerns discussed in years past affect specific populations. Speakers will emphasize the experiences of LGBTQA and undocumented people. Speakers will also describe the ways in which the criminal justice system affects the communities surrounding people who have been accused or convicted of crimes through private parole , fines, fees , court debt, and the effect of incarceration on the loved ones of persons behind bars.

Moderator.

Professor Russell Gabriel Director, Criminal Defense Practicum at the University of Georgia School of Law

Panelists: Jamie Roberts Troup County Public Defender's Office Jamie T. Roberts is a former Assistant Public Defender in the Coweta Judicial Circuit. Ms. Roberts spends her free time volunteering at the Trans Housing Atlanta Program, which strives to help transgender and gender nonconforming individuals find safe housing. Ms. Roberts is a proud Georgia alumna, graduating from the University of Georgia School of Law in 1999.

Rachel Grossman Southern Poverty Law Center Ms. Grossman is the litigation paralegal for the Economic Justice, LGBT Rights, and Special Litigation Projects at the Southern Poverty Law Center

(SPLC) in Montgomery, Alabama . She works directly with clients and assists attorneys at all stages of litigation . She is particularly involved in SPLC's ongoing advocacy for transgender people who are incarcerated, building on the Center's landmark case Diamond v. Owens, which challenged the Georgia Department of Corrections' unconstitutional "freeze frame" policy of denying medically necessary hormone therapy to transgender inmates. Ms. Grossman holds a Bachelor of Arts in Religious Studies from the University of North Carolina at Asheville and a Masters in the History of American Religions from Florida State University. Prior to joining SPLC, Ms. Grossman worked as a Graduate Instructor at Florida State University, a Program Assistant for the Florida Department of Education, and a Paralegal at Jackson Law Group, P.A.

Leanne Purdum University of Georgia School of Geography Leanne Purdum is a doctoral student in the University of Georgia geography department. Her research has focused on the politics of the "illegal" and scales of immigration enforcement in the U.S., including the construction of immigrant-as-problem in Georgia 's notorious 2011 House Bill 87. She recently received a Tinker Field Research Grant to study Argentina 's shifting migration laws and contrast them with our own. She has also done field work at a CCA detention center in Dilley, Texas, and is active within the Athens Immigrant Rights Coalition.

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Panel2 EXPANDING ACCESS THROUGH COMMUNITY LAWYERING

Effective public interest lawyering often requires lawyers and firms to think beyond the courtroom . Whether it is searching to find the clients most in need, addressing tangential issues to clients' legal problems, or seeking systemic changes, public interest lawyers can face problems that they never learned how to address in law school. This panel will discuss unconventional, yet practical techniques to help bring justice to those who need it most.

Moderator.

Professor Christine Scartz Managing Attorney, Family Violence Clinic at the University of Georgia School of Law

Panelists:

Morgan Kauffman Atlanta Legal Aid Morgan E. Kauffman is a staff attorney at the Atlanta Legal Aid Society's Health Law Unit. Prior to joining the Atlanta Legal Aid Society in 2016, Ms. Kauffman was an associate attorney at the Atlanta firm of Butler, Wooten , & Peak, LLP. Ms. Kauffman is a proud double dawg, majoring in German and History before graduating from Georgia Law in 2012 .

Tirien Steinbach East Bay Community Law Center Tirien Angela Steinbach , is the executive director of the East Bay Community Law Center (EBCLC), the community-based clinic for Berkeley Law School, where she is a lecturer-in-residence. Tirien was the founding director of the Clean Slate Clinic, EBCLC's community reentry program.

Tirien is also a graduate of Berkeley Law ('99), where she served as copresident of the Berkeley Law Foundation and Vice President for Law Students of African Descent.

Tirien has been recognized for her social justice legal work, receiving both Equal Justice Works and Berkeley Law Foundation fellowships, the inaugural Thelton Henderson Social Justice Prize, and the 2015 Berkeley Law Young Alumna Award . Tirien served on the board of the Mindfulness in the Law Initiative, and currently serves on the executive advisory board

of Transforming Justice: A Center for Mindfulness and Criminal Justice.

Tirien conducts classes and training on increasing mindfulness and cultural responsiveness in the law.

Diane Park Undocumented Student Alliance at UGA Diane Park is a second year undergraduate student at UGA with pre-med intent majoring in biological science , minoring in sociology, and getting a certificate in leadership and service. She is currently the outreach chair for the Undocumented Student Alliance at UGA, the Director of Community Service for ServeUGA, an intern at the J.W. Fann ing Institute for Leadership Development, and an undergraduate research assistant at the poultry science department. Her interests include immigrant and Asian American causes/rights, building solidarity, addressing inequity, and sustainable service. She switches between pursuing pre-law and pre-med constantly.

Panel3 HEALTHCARE ACCESS, D ISABILITY RIGHTS, AN D OLMSTEAD ADVOCACY

Healthcare access and disability rights for Americans have expanded dramatically over the last thirty years through the implementation of both the Affordable Care Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act. This panel presents an overview of the past, present, and future of healthcare access and disability rights law. Panelists will cover topics ranging from deinstitutionalization to the intersection of transgender rights and the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Olmstead decision . This panel was organized in conjunction with the University of Georgia Institute on Human Development and Disability (IHDD).

Moderator: Professor Elizabeth Weeks J. Alton Hosch Professor of Law University of Georgia School of Law

Panelists:

Susan Jamieson Atlanta Legal Aid Sue Jamieson served as the Project Director of the Mental Health & Disability Rights Project of Atlanta Legal Aid Society before retiring . Sue worked for three legal services programs during her 30-year career: Jacksonville Area Legal Aid , Legal Services of North Carolina, and Atlanta Legal Aid Society. Her emphasis was on the basic legal rights of this population under state and federal law and finding ways to expand legal and advocacy resources to protect and enforce their rights. In 1999, in Olmstead v. L. C., a case brought by Sue and others on behalf of two women in a Georgia state institution, the United States Supreme Court ruled that the Americans with Disabilities Act requires public entities to place persons with disabilities who are in institutions in more integrated, community based settings, if their clinicians agree and this is their choice .

Sue's work at the ALAS rights projects was focused on ways to establish mechanisms at the individual representation level to apply and implement the ADA principle of integration. Sue has a bachelor's degree from Brown University and a J.D. from Rutgers School of Law. Sue was in the Peace Corps before attending law school.

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Talley Wells Atlanta Legal Aid Talley Wells is the Disability Law Project Co-Director at the Institute on Human Development and Disability at the University of Georgia, the Director of the Disability Integration Project at the Atlanta Legal Aid Society, Inc., and leads the Olmstead Disability Rights Clinic at Georgia State School of Law. He advocates for individuals with disabilities who are confined in Georgia institutions and nursing homes and individuals at risk of institutionalization. He has been a key advocate in the implementation of a 2010 U.S. Justice Department settlement with Georgia that is enabling most people with intellectual disabilities and mental illness to leave state institutions and return to the community. He and his wife Laura worked for ten years to found a L'Arche community for adults with developmental disabilities in Atlanta . He attended Duke University and Duke School of Law.

Leslie Lipson Georgia Advocacy Office Leslie Lipson is from the South, born in Augusta , Georgia and having grown up in Columbia, South Carolina. She earned her undergraduate and law degrees from The University of Georgia and soon after started work at the Georgia Advocacy Office (GAO), a nonprofit organization that protects people with disabilities from abuse and neglect and advocates on their behalf. In her 15 years at the GAO, she has provided assistance with the Department of Justice in its investigation of a parallel, segregated system in Georgia for educating children with disabilities; led the Safe Schools Initiative, a multi-agency advocacy effort aimed at ending restraint and seclusion in Georgia public schools; coordinated the Parent Leadership Support Project, which assisted approximately 10,000 families; and directed a program that helps people with psychiatric disabilities. Leslie has also served as program director at the GAO for both the Developmental Disability advocacy unit and the Psychiatric Disability advocacy unit. Leslie currently is of counsel at the GAO, providing technical assistance to the various advocate programs; presenting on multiple topics around the state; and litigating on behalf of children who have experienced abuse or neglect.

Additionally, she has an active national consulting practice where she conducts strategic planning for specific advocacy and special education issues and further leads trainings for parents and advocacy groups on topics relating to special education law and advocacy. She is also a member of the Georgia Board of Education State Advisory Panel for Special Education.

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Ezra Young Transgender Defense and Education Fund Ezra Young is the Director of Impact Litigation at the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund in New York City. Mr. Young's work focuses on transgender rights of recognition, employment protections, and health care and insurance coverage issues. In early 2016, Ezra won the first case in which the Medicare Appeals Council ordered a health plan to cover vaginal reconstruction surgery for a transgender woman . Mr. Young completed his undergraduate studies at Cornell University and received his J.D. from Columbia Law School.

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Francys Johnson Georgia NAACP Francys Johnson is a successful solo practitioner in Statesboro, Georgia and a graduate of the University of Georgia School of Law. Drawn to community leadership, Mr. Johnson has found a variety of ways to serve others, including taking on church and civic roles , offering pro bono representation to people facing discrimination , and serving as the current State President of the NAACP. Mr. Johnson will speak on his work with the NAACP and the many possibilities open to attorneys in private practice who seek to make the world a better place.

WIPI'S EXECUTIVE BOARD R. Larkin Taylor-Parker, Director Larkin is this year's Executive Director and a third-year student pursuing a career as a disability rights attorney. Larkin has a background in disability advocacy and community organizing , especially in digital media. During the summer of 2016, Larkin interned in the Disability Rights section for the U.S. Department of Justice. She looks forward to beginning a fellowship with the North Carolina protection and advocacy system starting August 2017.

Sarah Mirza, Deputy Director Sarah is a first year law student from Grand Island, Nebraska. Sarah received her bachelor's degree in Human Geography and Spanish from the University of Georgia. Following graduation, she worked for one year at Freedom University, an underground school for undocumented students in Atlanta. Sarah is committed to community service, immigration law, and human rights. She pioneered the Undocumented Student Alliance (USA) during her undergraduate years , interned for the Worker's Defense Project in Austin, Texas, and worked for Teaching for Change in Washington , D.C. as well. As a law student, Sarah dedicates time to two local organizations: Athens Immigrant Rights Coalition and Dignidad lmmigrante en Athens.

Ryan Holden Shriver, Logistics Director Holden is a second year law student from Dublin , Georgia. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from University of Georgia in 2015.

Holden takes an active role in the clinical programs at the University of Georgia School of Law, participating in both the Public Interest Practicum and Criminal Defense Clinic. In the summer of 2016, Holden served as a legal intern for the Northeastern Judicial Circuit Public Defenders Office.

Holden is passionate about criminal law and looks forward to pursuing the areas of criminal defense and criminal justice reform .

Grace Liu, Hospitality Director Grace is a second year law student from Savannah , Georgia. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Comparative Literature and Chinese, with a minor in history from the University of Georgia. Grace is passionate about elder and disability law. Through UGA Law's externship program, she worked with the Elderly Legal Assistance Program (ELAP) which provides underserved seniors in Georgia with legal help relating to income, healthcare, housing, abuse, neglect, exploitation , and long-term care. She currently works part time at an elder and disability law firm in Watkinsville , Georgia . Grace is an active volunteer in the community. She participates in a mentorship

program that provides local high school seniors with one-on-one help writing college applications and scholarship essays, works regularly with limited English speakers, and serves as a writing coach for ESL high school exchange students by conducting regular one-on-one sessions in English and Chinese.

Deborah Nogueira-Yates, Panel Director Deborah is a second year law student from Sao Paulo, Brazil. She holds an LL.B. Bachelor of Laws from Brazil, as well as an L.L.M. degree from UGA Law, and is currently working towards a Juris Doctor. Prior to attending UGA Law, Deborah worked as an attorney in Brazil and as a paralegal for a personal injury firm in Athens. She serves as a Dean's Ambassador for the Dean Rusk International Law Center, as an English tutor for refugees at Jubilee Partners, a non-profit organization that serves the refugee community, and is a student in the school's Prosecutorial Clinic Program.

During the summer of 2016, Deborah worked as a legal intern for the Western Judicial Circuit Public Defender's Office in Georgia. She is passionate about immigration, criminal law, environmental and animal welfare law, and public international law.

Harris Mason, Communications Director Harris is a second-year law student from Ringgold , Georgia. He received a Bachelor of Science in Business and Public Policy from Young Harris College. He has a strong interest in LGBTQ legal work and spent last summer interning at the Atlanta Legal Aid Society's Health Law Unit, serving clients who live with or affected by cancer, ALS, and HIV/AIDS. He is serving as an intern for the Georgia Legal Services Program in Athens this semester. Harris also serves as the 2016-2017 OUTLaw President, a student organization that promotes education and discussion of legal and societal issues relating to sexual orientation and gender identity. This February, Harris was appointed to fill the seat of Young Democrats of Georgia Stonewall caucus.

Slaton Wheeler, CLE Director Slaton is a first year law student from Montgomery, Alabama . She received her Bachelor of Arts in Ecology from the University of Idaho in 2000.

Following graduation, Slaton worked at the Joseph Ecological Research Center in southwest Georgia, as a preschool teacher, and as an dendrochronologist at Utah State University. Slaton is particularly interested in environmental , family, education , and elder law. She has served as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) since September 2015, and is the proud mom of two daughters, ages 8 and 10.

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Katie Wroten, Public Relations Director Katie is a second year law student from Chicago, Illinois. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice and double minors in Juvenile Justice and Spanish from Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Katie is committed to community service and dedicated over 500 documented hours of her time in the greater Grand Rapids area. During Fall 2016, Katie participated in the W ilbanks Child Endangerment and Sexual Exploitation (CEASE) Clinic at UGA Law, representing victims of child sexual abuse in tort litigation. She volunteered at a public defender office in the summer of 2015, and served as a legal intern at Prairie State Legal Services, a civil legal aid clinic in Waukegan , Illinois, for the duration of summer 2016. Katie currently serves as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) in Athens, and serves on the Equal Justice Foundation executive board at UGA Law which works to fundraise scholarships for students working in public sector jobs over the summer months.

Acknowledgements The WI PI Executive Board would like to thank the tireless efforts of everyone who devoted their time, resources, and experience to help make this conference happen . The list below seeks to thank a few of these people but in no way is an exhaustive list:

Special Thanks To: Dean Peter "Bo" Rutledge Alex Sklut Heidi Murphy Sandy Ledford Lona Panter Kathleen Day Brad Grove Cathy Dasher Ramsey Bridges Shannon Hinson Rachel Evans Professor Alexander Scherr

Thank you for attending the 2017 WI PI Conference!

We hope to see you next year.

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