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AVLF Staff Members
Martin L. Ellin, Executive Director
mellin@avlf.org
Martin L. Ellin has served as the Executive Director of the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation since 2001.
Marty began his legal career as a staff and then managing attorney with the Atlanta Legal Aid Society. Nearly 20 years of private practice followed, first with the firm of Lipshutz Greenblatt & King litigating business and commercial matters, and then with the firm of Zimring & Ellin litigating education law and civil rights claims.
Throughout his years in private practice, Marty was also an active mediator, mediating several hundred claims for federal agencies, the local court systems and private litigants. In 1999, Marty left private practice to promote alternative dispute resolution full time as the Director of Legal Services for the Justice Center of Atlanta.
It is unlikely that anything other than the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation could have pulled Marty back into the active practice of law, but Marty had admired the Foundation since its inception and his strong commitment to service to the poor made the chance to promote equal access to civil justice irresistible.
Dawn Smith, Deputy Director
dsmith@avlf.org
After graduating from the Georgia State University Law School cum laude in 1989, Dawn served as a law clerk to the United States District Judge Marvin Shoob. She was later appointed Special Administrative Master for the United States District Court in In re Airline Antitrust Litigation. Dawn thereafter practiced law with Zimring & Smith, LLC where she focused primarily on children's issues. Prior to coming to AVLF, she was an Administrative Law Judge for the Georgia Office of State Administrative Hearings. Dawn has served on the Boards of the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, the Greater Georgia Chapter of the Autism Society of America, and Cool Girls, Inc.
Tamara Serwer Caldas, Managing Attorney
tcaldas@avlf.org
Immediately prior to joining AVLF, Tamara worked with clients building families through adoption and reproductive technology at Claiborne, Outman & Surmay, P.C. She has spent most of her legal career at the Southern Center for Human Rights advocating for the civil and human rights of prisoners in Alabama and Georgia. Tamara is a graduate of Princeton University in 1992 and the University of Texas School of Law and LBJ School of Public Affairs in 1997. After law school, she clerked for the Honorable Martha Craig Daughtrey of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. She loves all types of dance and spending time with her family.
Jennifer Stolarski, Director of Domestic Violence Project
jstolarski@avlf.org
Jennifer received her J.D. from the University of North Carolina in 1999. From 1999 to 2002, she was a staff attorney with Georgia Legal Services, where she represented low-income clients in a wide variety of civil matters. In 2002, Jenni became an Assistant Solicitor-General in DeKalb County. She served as the Division Chief for the Domestic Violence Unit, where she prosecuted misdemeanor domestic violence cases deemed to be "high risk". She joined AVLF in 2007 as the Director of the Domestic Violence Project.
Lila Newberry Bradley
Director of One Child, One Lawyer Program
lbradley@avlf.org
After graduating cum laude from the University of Georgia School of Law, Lila practiced with private law firms in Atlanta, with an emphasis on transactional law, until becoming a Staff Attorney with National Service Industries. After stepping away from the practice of law to help raise her three children, Lila now serves as the Director of the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation's One Child, One Lawyer Program.
Kathleen Dumitrescu
Coordinator of Special Education Programs
kdumitrescu@avlf.org
Kathleen Dumitrescu coordinates the Advocacy in Education program for the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation. Kathleen worked for Atlanta Legal Aid for thirteen years, the last eleven of which she spent managing the Cobb County Office. Kathleen's practice focused on children's issues. She spent years litigating the first class action brought against the Department of Juvenile Justice over conditions in the Cobb Youth Detention Center. In 2002 Kathleen came to work with the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation. Kathleen is a graduate of University of Illinois at Chicago and Southern Illinois University School of Law and has been practicing in the State of Georgia since 1987.
Bobbie J. Alexander, Administrative Assistant
balexander@avlf.org
Bobbie is responsible for answering the phones and entering and keeping the computer records of all of AVLF's clients and volunteers. She is also responsible for the voluminous paperwork that enables AVLF to follow the progress of each client's case. Bobbie was a Telecommunications Specialist in the United States Army and is a graduate of Rutledge Business College.
Jeffrey McIntyre, Office Manager
jmcintyre@avlf.org
Jeffrey McIntyre is the Office Manager at AVLF. He comes to use with many years' experience in law offices, ranging from 17 years with the Atlanta Legal Aid Society in various positions, to office manager of several small firms, and the business manager of a church office. Jeffrey is responsible for payroll, accounts payable and tracking our myriad of grants. He also is responsible for managing our office systems, including the client database and computer network. He brings to AVLF his experience of client intake, representing clients as a paralegal, as well as technical and business skills.
Dionne Hines Morse, Paralegal
dhines@avlf.org
Dionne is a graduate of the University of Georgia and received a certificate with honors from the National Center for Paralegal Training with an emphasis in Civil Litigation. In 2002, Dionne joined the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation as the Intake Coordinator, whereby she screens the several thousand telephone calls AVLF receives each year from potential clients. Dionne also coordinates legal representation in the Eviction Defense and Security Deposit Programs. She is actively involved in the Georgia Association of Paralegals and SEEDS for Life Educational, Inc.
Donna Jack, Paralegal
djack@avlf.org
Donna is a graduate of Adelphi University, Garden City, NY in 1993 where she also received her paralegal certification. She began her legal career as a legal secretary with a securities firm in NY and has over 10 years real estate law experience handling real estate litigation, foreclosure and bankruptcy. Donna is a member of the Georgia Association of Paralegals and a volunteer with the Truancy Intervention Project of Georgia. She has also worked for many years as a volunteer for the ANCHOR program in New York.
Amanda Donalson, Paralegal
adonaldson@avlf.org
Amanda is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, Boston and received her paralegal certificate from Emory University. Amanda is an active member of the Gate City Bar Paralegal Section, co-chairing the CLE Committee as well as a member of the Georgia Association of Paralegals. In her spare time, Amanda enjoys volunteering for Hands on Atlanta as well as the Atlanta Food Bank.
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