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Live Event

U.S. Supreme Court Update


CLE Hours: 3 including 3 General, 0 Ethics, 0 Professionalism, 0 Trial Practice

Location:
Savannah Convention Center - Savannah, Georgia

Dates


Description

Please Note Speakers, session times and credit hours are subject to change.

U.S. Supreme Court Update

Friday, June 9, 2023

2:00 p.m. – 5:25 p.m.

Savannah Convention Center

 

 

1:00       In-person Registration Opens                                   

                                                           

2:00       Introduction

               Julia Neighbors, ICLE Director, State Bar of Georgia, Atlanta, GA

 

2:05       Welcome and Program Overview

               Laverne Lewis Gaskins, Law Office of Laverne Lewis Gaskins PC, Augusta, GA

               Avarita L. Hanson, Attorney at Law, Atlanta, GA

               Donna Coleman Stribling, DeKalb County Solicitor-General, Decatur, GA

 

2:15       Affirmative Action and Education

               Moderator:

               Tanya Washington, Professor, Georgia State University College of Law, Atlanta

               Panelists:

               Jennifer L. Ervin, General Counsel, Clark Atlanta University, Atlanta, GA

               Charles S. Johnson, III, The Peach Firm PC, Atlanta, GA

               

 

3:15       Break

 

3:20       Reproductive Rights

               Moderator:

               Tanya Washington, Professor, Georgia State University College of Law, Atlanta

               Panelists:

              Tricia “CK” Purks Hoffler, The CK Hoffler Firm, Atlanta, GA

               Sen. L. Edwin "Ed" Setzler,  Georgia State Senate, 37th District, Acworth, GA 

               Andrea I. Young, Executive Director, American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia, Atlanta, GA

               

4:20       Break

 

4:25       Guns and Gangs: Legal Issues and Community Strategies

               Moderator:

               Donna Coleman Stribling

               Panelists:

               J. Gabriel Banks, Banks & Weaver LLC , Atlanta, GA

               Mawuli M. Malcolm Davis, Davis Bozeman Johnson Law P.C., Decatur, GA

               Francys Johnson, Jr, Davis Bozeman Johnson Law P.C., Statesboro, GA

               Fani T. Willis, Fulton County District Attorney, Atlanta, GA

 

5:25       Adjourn

 

Hosted By:

 

Georgia Association of Black Women Attorneys, Gate City Bar Association, DeKalb Lawyers Association, Augusta Conference of Black Lawyers, New Rock Legal Society, State Bar of Georgia Committee to Promote Inclusion in the Profession

 

Handouts

Speaker

Ms. Fani Taifa Willis's Profile

Ms. Fani Taifa Willis Related Seminars and Products

Fulton County District Attorney's Office


Fani T. Willis is the District Attorney for Fulton County, Georgia, the state’s largest county and the home to over one million Georgians. It is home to most of the City of Atlanta, as well as many of the city’s suburban communities, including Sandy Springs, the City of South Fulton, and several smaller communities north and south of Atlanta. She is the first woman to serve in the position. Fani leads an office of almost 390 public 
servants, including almost 150 prosecutors and 90 sworn criminal investigators.

Fani took office on January 1, 2021, after ousting a longtime incumbent while campaigning on a commitment to both protect Fulton’s neighborhoods and reform Fulton’s criminal justice system by making it fairer, more transparent, and focused on reducing crime by changing lives rather than just seeking retribution. She also promised the people of Fulton that she would restore integrity and effectiveness to the office, and she has brought in a new team of highly experienced trial lawyers and civic leaders who are committed to making the Fulton County District Attorney’s office the best in the Southeast and one of the top local prosecutor’s offices in the United States.

Fani is a career trial lawyer with deep and broad prosecutorial experience. She has led over 100 jury trials and has prosecuted hundreds of murder cases. She has prosecuted many other serious crimes, including crimes against women and children. Fani’s 27years as an attorney, including and 21 years as a prosecutor, have given her a deep commitment to focusing her office’s prosecutorial efforts on the most dangerous offenders and removing them from society. Part of that commitment is making sure that 
her office’s efforts are focused on those cases while also bringing innovative reform to Fulton County’s criminal justice system that diverts offenders to a better life before they become a threat to the community.

As part of her commitment to making Fulton County safer and focusing prosecutorial resources on the most dangerous defendants, Fani has increased the number of prosecutors and investigators working to bring violent gang leaders and members to justice. Her team has obtained several gang and RICO indictments and convictions of alleged gang members for committing violent crime across the county.

As part of keeping her commitment to reform Fulton County’s criminal justice system, Fani has created Fulton’s first pre-indictment diversion program, which gives offenders who would benefit from a second chance the opportunity to earn one. She is partnering with community organizations and labor unions to give those offenders, especially 
young people, the opportunity to gain life skills and the responsibility that comes from community service to have a better path forward than one marred by a criminal record.

Fani is also committed to reforming the office’s handling of cases involving the use of force by law enforcement officers. Before she took office, the Fulton County District Attorney’s office had a reputation for failing to announce decisions in such cases, and for keeping the public and police departments in the dark. She has created a new, transparent process that provides timely answers to families, the community, and police 
officers about decisions in such cases, and that process has cleared the entire inherited backlog of police use-of-force cases. She is committed to making decisions in investigations of police use-of-force based on the facts and the law and holding officers accountable when the circumstances warrant it.

Fani is a proud Bison, graduating from Howard University in 1992. She came to Georgia to attend Emory University School of Law, graduating in 1996. She chose to make Fulton County her home, and she lives in the City of South Fulton, where she had the honor of serving as Chief Judge of the municipal court.


She is the proud mother of two adult daughters.


Tanya M. Washington's Profile

Tanya M. Washington Related Seminars and Products

Georgia State College of Law


Tanya Washington, a native of the city that bears her last name, is a professor of law at Georgia State University College of Law. After earning her J.D. from The University of Maryland School of Law she clerked for then Associate Judge Robert M. Bell on the Maryland Court of Appeals.

After practicing for several years as toxic tort defense litigator at Piper & Marbury, she completed the Albert M. Sacks Fellowship, the A. Leon Higginbotham Fellowship and earned her LL.M. from Harvard Law School. She has been teaching Civil Procedure I and II, Family Law, Education Law and Race and Law at Georgia State for the past twelve years. Her research and scholarship focuses on issues related to educational equity,  domestic relations, race and children’s constitutional rights.

Washington’s articles have been published in law journals across the nation, including: the Harvard Journal for Race and Ethnic Justice, the Indiana Law Review, the Iowa Journal of Gender, Race and Justice, the Utah Law Review, the Whittier Journal of Child and Family Advocacy, the Hastings Race and Poverty Law Journal and the George Mason University Civil Rights Law Journal. A self-professed activist and scholar, Washington has worked collaboratively to ensure that legal scholarship has a practical and positive impact for vulnerable individuals and communities. Her co-authored amicus briefs filed with the Supreme Court in U.S. v. Windsor and Obergefell v. Hodges highlight the harmful impact of exclusionary marriage laws on children in same-sex families and they challenge states’ characterization of these laws as child welfare measures. The Obergefell brief was cited by Justice Anthony Kennedy in the Supreme Court’s majority opinion in that landmark decision.

A belief that the true value of the law lies in its capacity to improve the human condition animates her work, which has been presented at numerous conferences, programs and law schools including Harvard Law School, the University of Maryland Law School, Emory University School of Law, the University of Iowa College of Law, the Family Law Section of the American Bar Association, and the National Bar Association 2014 Presidential Showcase. In addition to her tenured position at Georgia State College of Law, Washington is a former adjunct faculty member at Howard University Law School where she served for more than ten years.

She has taught comparative law classes for study abroad programs in Brazil, Europe and China. Washington has also led pipeline programs designed to increase enrollment of students of color in U.S. law schools. These programs include: The Charles Hamilton Houston Preparatory Institute, The Justice Benham Law Camp, G-PLUS, and the Council on Legal Education Opportunity’s Six-Week Summer Institute. Her efforts to expand and deepen the pipeline of students entering law school earned her recognition in 2013 as one of 50 minority law professors under 50 making an impact in legal education.


Ms. Laverne Lewis Gaskins's Profile

Ms. Laverne Lewis Gaskins Related Seminars and Products

Law Office of Laverne Lewis Gaskins PC


Laverne Lewis Gaskins is an attorney and arbitrator. She has an extensive background in higher education law and has served as an attorney at three major universities. She has served as the University Attorney for Valdosta State University, as a Senior Legal Advisor at Augusta University, and Deputy General Counsel at Tuskegee University. She is a former Georgia Special Assistant Attorney General.

Upon retiring from Augusta University, she opened a private law practice in Augusta specializing in arbitration. A Fulbright grant recipient in law, Gaskins has lectured at universities in Hungary and Canada. Her international experiences also include travels to Geneva, Switzerland, and Vienna Austria to the United Nations as a representative of the American Bar Association, and to South Africa to present at a conference.

She is a member of the Board of Directors of the Georgia Legal Services Program and she serves as its Treasurer. She is a member of the Board of Trustees for Voorhees University.

She is an active member of the National Bar Association and previously served as the Editor-In-Chief of the National Bar Association Magazine for several years. She is the recipient of numerous awards and accolades, including several for her work with the NBA magazine. In 2019, she was inducted in Augusta’s Academy of Richmond County’s Hall of Fame.


Ms. Donna Coleman Stribling's Profile

Ms. Donna Coleman Stribling Related Seminars and Products

DeKalb County Solicitor General's Office


Donna Coleman-Stribling was first elected in 2016 and then again re-elected in 2020. She leads an office of more than 100 staff members and is responsible for handling more than 13,000 misdemeanor cases including domestic violence cases, DUI cases, stalking, and petty theft matters. In addition, her office handles more than 150,000 ordinance and traffic violations annually.

Prior to serving as the Solicitor-General, she served the citizens of DeKalb County as the Deputy Chief Assistant District Attorney over the Crimes Against Children Unit, where she managed more than 400 cases annually. She has also practiced in the civil arena. In 2005, She was a partner at Johnson, Coleman and Stephenson, LLC., and then later the principal in the Coleman-Stribling Law Group, where she represented clients in a variety of civil and criminal matters. In addition to her extensive trial and management experience, Solicitor-General Coleman-Stribling has substantial training experience. This veteran prosecutor has been selected as a speaker for numerous seminars ranging from the prosecution of child abuse cases to effective trial techniques where she has presented to lawyers, law enforcement,and other professionals. She has also served as an adjunct professor at Emory University School of Law and Southern Polytechnic State University, where she taught litigation techniques and business law courses.

While Solicitor Coleman-Stribling is an accomplished attorney, she remains committed to bridging the legal and local communities. In 2019 she was appointed to the State Bar of Georgia’s Board of Governors for the Stone Mountain Circuit and continuously serves on the State Bar of Georgia’s Committee to Promote Inclusion in the Profession. She is an active member of the Georgia Association of Black Women Attorneys (GABWA), the DeKalb Lawyers Association, National Council of Negro Women, and Cooper Inn of Court. She is an alumnus of both Leadership DeKalb and Leadership Atlanta. She is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc and Jack and Jill, Inc. In her tenure as the Solicitor, she has received numerous awards including Solicitor of the Year in 2021 from the Georgia Association of Solicitors-General, Solicitor of the Year in 2021from the Georgia Association of Black County Officials, Hope for Tomorrow Award from the International Women’s House in 2019, and the Community Service Award from Davis Bozeman Law firm in 2018.

Under the leadership of Solicitor Coleman-Stribling, the office focuses on pursuing justice by being victim-centered and community oriented.With this mission in mind, she created Dancing with the DeKalb Stars, A Domestic Violence Awareness Fundraiser and Resource Expo,to educate the community about domestic violence and provide resources to domestic violence survivors. Since its inception, Dancing with the DeKalb Stars has raised over $100,000 for victims of domestic violence.

Solicitor Coleman-Stribling received her undergraduate degree from Xavier University of Louisiana and earned her Juris Doctorate from Emory University School of Law. She credits her father, Dr. Thomas Coleman, a retired State Executive with sparking her interest in government and law. She is married to David Stribling and together they have 3 children Daphnie, Daniel, and Dylan.


Mr. Charles S. Johnson III Related Seminars and Products

The Peach Firm PC


Charles S. Johnson, a seasoned trial lawyer, currently practices in the areas dispute resolution, and public policy.

 

Following his graduation from Boston College Law School, where he was a member of the Law Review and a recipient of the Law School’s O’Keefe Award, Mr. Johnson began his legal career as an antitrust lawyer.  His antitrust practice has included service as principal Georgia antitrust counsel for a major automobile manufacturer and as coordinating antitrust counsel for a national insurance rating organization.  He also served as Adjunct Professor of Antitrust Law at the University of Georgia.  His litigation practice eventually expanded to include health policy litigation, education policy litigation, tax litigation, employment litigation, securities litigation, civil RICO and qui tam litigation, eminent domain litigation, zoning litigation, and litigation of commercial disputes. He currently serves as a member of the Commercial Dispute Resolution Panel for the American Arbitration Association.

 

Mr. Johnson’s public policy practice has included counseling, regulatory and legislative advocacy, and litigation.  His litigated cases have included Freeman v. Pitts, the 1992 Supreme Court case which made it possible for the courts to consider quality of education when fashioning a remedy for school segregation.

 

Following tours of duty as a principal at several major Atlanta law firms, he most recently served as Chief Counsel for a major historically black university and as Interim Chief Executive Officer for the Georgia Budget & Policy Institute. Among his many civic involvements, he currently serves as President of the Southern Regional Council and as a Trustee of Bard College.

 

 



Mr. Francys Johnson Jr.'s Profile

Mr. Francys Johnson Jr. Related Seminars and Products

Davis Bozeman Johnson Law


Francys Johnson is a Founding Partner of Davis Bozeman Johnson Law. Born and raised on his grandparent's farm in Sylvania, Georgia, Francys Johnson learned the value of hard work, responsibility, and service to others. He is a practicing lawyer, public theologian, and educator. 

 

Committed Servant-Leader | Francys Johnson has served in ordained ministry for more than 20 years. He is Senior Minister at the Mount Moriah Baptist Church in Pembroke and the Magnolia Baptist Church in Statesboro. He has been making a positive difference for a long time through public service to several community-based organizations focused on helping people help themselves. 

 

Johnson succeeded Stacey Abrams and Raphael Warnock as head of the New Georgia Project, a transformational civic engagement organization responsible for defeating voter suppression and advancing progressive values in public policy. Previously, Johnson was President of the Georgia NAACP, this state's oldest and largest civil rights organization, following more than two decades of service in a variety of capacities including Southeast Regional Director. There he was the chief manager of the NAACP’s public policy agenda and administrative activities in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. Recently, Johnson was the 2018 Democratic Nominee for Georgia’s 12th Congressional District. 

 

Seasoned Professional | As a zealous trial lawyer; Francys Johnson practices criminal and civil law in the state and federal courts. He has secured justice on behalf of the wrongfully accused and seriously injured. He is a Member at Large of the Board of Governors of the State Bar of Georgia and the Chief Justice's Commission on Professionalism. 

 

A graduate of Georgia Southern University and The University of Georgia School of Law, Johnson previously served on the Political Science and Criminal Justice faculties at Georgia Southern University and Savannah State University teaching courses on Criminal Law; Constitutional Law; Race and the law; and the Civil Rights Movement. Today, he is a recognized thought-leader on voting rights having testified before Congress; lecturing across the country, and writing on other subjects including race, measuring equity, and understanding of power in public policy. 

 

Family Matters | Francys Johnson is married to Dr. Meca Williams-Johnson, an educational psychologist, and professor at Georgia Southern University. They have three sons, Thurgood Marshall Joshua, Langston Hughes Elijah, and the late Frederick Douglass Caleb. Francys lives by the command of Micah 6:8 to love mercy, do justice and walk humbly.


Ms. Jennifer Lynn Ervin's Profile

Ms. Jennifer Lynn Ervin Related Seminars and Products

Clark Atlanta University


Jennifer is the General Counsel for Clark Atlanta University, her alma mater and one of the nation’s oldest, most prominent historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) located in the heart of the Atlanta University Center in Atlanta, Georgia. In her role as the University’s General Counsel, Jennifer provides daily legal advice and counsel to Executive Cabinet members and their respective teams on all matters affecting the University, while honoring the University’s rich legacy and the contributions of the University’s alumni to local, regional and national social and economic progress.   

Prior to joining the executive leadership team at Clark Atlanta in 2020, Jennifer served as the General Counsel & Chief Legal Officer for Shelby County Schools in her hometown of Memphis, Tennessee.  In this role, Jennifer led a 22-member team of attorneys, paralegals and support staff and managed the day-to-day operations of the school district’s legal, policy, legislative and risk management teams.  In August 2019, Jennifer was recognized and honored by the Shelby County Commission as the first African American woman to serve as the General Counsel for Shelby County Schools in its over 150-year history.

Jennifer’s work in the legal industry began during her time in the Atlanta office of Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell and Berkowitz, PC, where she represented companies in a broad range of general commercial and business litigation, including, but not limited to, cases involving personal injury, products liability, breach of contract claims, claims on open accounts, and judgment enforcement and collections. She also represented an array of clients, including mortgage lenders and servicers, clinical laboratory companies, health care companies and publicly traded supermarket chains. Jennifer also counseled educational institutions on the regulations governing Title IX grievance procedures, student confidentiality, and proper and comprehensive training of Title IX Coordinators and responsible employees; drafting and revising student and employee handbooks and Title IX grievance procedures; and providing ad hoc legal advice to higher education clients.

Throughout her career, Jennifer has been a staunch advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, and most recently co-authored an article for Baker Donelson titled, “A General Counsel's View on Advising Through COVID-19,” where she provides her perspective on advising clients during a crisis. 

Before earning her law degree from Northwestern University’s Pritzker School of Law in Chicago, Illinois, Jennifer worked as an accountant for Turner, Inc. (previously known as Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.). While at Turner, Jennifer also developed a working knowledge of the media and television broadcasting industries that has been helpful to how she advises her client on matters requiring both effective legal advice and proper crisis management.

Over the course of her career, she has been listed by the National Black Lawyers as a member of the “Top 40 Under 40,” a “Rising Star” by Georgia Super Lawyers and a member of Georgia Trend Magazine’s “Legal Elite.”


Ms. Andrea I. Young's Profile

Ms. Andrea I. Young Related Seminars and Products

American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia


Andrea Young
Executive Director of the ACLU of Georgia
________________________________________

Andrea Young is the Executive Director of the 22,000 member American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia. She is a life-long advocate for civil and human rights. The ACLU of Georgia is a trusted, ethical, nonpartisan defender of our civil liberties: opposing threats to civil liberties; combatting voter suppression; supporting criminal justice reform; protecting freedom of speech, immigrant rights, and women’s rights, especially reproductive freedom. Under her leadership, the ACLU of Georgia has reimagined its work on a framework integrating legal action, policy, advocacy, civic engagement, and communications.

 

Prior to taking the helm of the statewide affiliate of the ACLU in January 2017, Young was an Adjunct Professor at the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University. For many years, she served as executive director at the Andrew J. Young Foundation producing a nationally-syndicated series of documentary films and other programs on themes of civil and human rights.

 

Young has devoted her career to promoting policies to defend and extend civil and human rights. In the arena of national legislation, Young served as Legislative Assistant to Senator Edward Kennedy contributing to significant civil rights and international policy including the Martin Luther King Holiday Act and South Africa sanctions legislation. She later worked with the United Church of Christ in global mission and advocacy, returning to the Capitol to serve as Chief of Staff for the first woman to represent Georgia in Congress, Cynthia McKinney. She served as Vice President for External Affairs for Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington, defending a woman’s right to reproductive healthcare. As Vice President of the National Black Child Development Institute, Young led a school readiness initiative that increased local investments in early care and education and led to a commitment to universal pre-kindergarten in Washington, DC.

 

Young is the author of Life Lessons My Mother Taught Me; co-author of Andrew Young and the Making of Modern Atlanta and collaborated with former Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young in writing, editing, and researching An Easy Burden: Civil Rights and the Transformation of America. She has been recognized, nationally, for her work as an advocate for civil and human rights.

 

Young has received awards for her work from Georgia State, Emory University, several NAACP Chapters; the YWCA of Metropolitan Atlanta; and many others. She has also been recognized as Georgia Trend’s 100 Most Influential Georgians, Atlanta Magazines’ 500 Most Powerful Atlantans, and is the recipient of the 2023 Elaine B. Alexander Roses for Roe Lifetime Achievement Award. She is a board member of the National Center for Civil and Human Rights and the Dean’s Council of Georgia State’s Andrew Young School of Policy Studies.

 

Young is a graduate of Swarthmore College and received her law degree from Georgetown University School of Law. She is a member of the State Bar of Georgia. Young is married to attorney and art consultant, Jerry Thomas. She has one daughter and one granddaughter.


Ms. Tricia Purks Hoffler's Profile

Ms. Tricia Purks Hoffler Related Seminars and Products

The CK Hoffler Firm


Tricia “CK” Hoffler is the CEO of The CK Hoffler Firm, an Atlanta-based law firm that specializes in representing plaintiffs in trucking accidents, medical malpractice, wrongful death, catastrophic personal injury, civil rights litigation, commercial litigation, employment discrimination, opioid litigation, global commercial transactions, and “Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL)” representation. She is licensed in Georgia, Florida, Virginia, the District of Columbia, and Pennsylvania. To date, Ms. Hoffler has tried and/or settled cases on behalf of her clients worth over $850 million. Ms. Hoffler has also lectured extensively nationally and internationally on trial strategies and techniques, personal injury, medical negligence, First Amendment matters, employment discrimination, opioid litigation, and commercial matters. Ms. Hoffler brings a diverse set of skills and talents to the practice of law. She speaks French fluently and is proficient in Spanish and Portuguese.

 

Ms. Hoffler was previously a partner at Edmond, Lindsay & Hoffler, LLP, and at Gary, Williams et al., in Florida. While a partner at Gary Williams, she led the commercial and international litigation practice for 12 years. She is also counsel to civil rights icon The Reverend Jesse Jackson and has represented him, and the Rainbow Push and related organizations for the past 35 years.

 

Ms. Hoffler has managed several billion-dollar commercial cases. In 2000, she co-led the trial team that won the largest medical negligence verdict ever in Roanoke, Virginia. She also co-led the trial team that, in 2012, won the largest medical negligence verdict at that time, in Gwinnett County, Georgia. She has served as a trial lawyer on various other high-profile cases, including representing the Roger Maris family against Anheuser-Bush in a breach of contract case that resulted in a $139 million-dollar verdict. She served as counsel in a class action lawsuit on behalf of 4,800 African American and Latino civil service workers against the State of New York. Better known as Simpson v. State of New York, this case resulted in a historic settlement for the plaintiffs in 2010 and forced the elimination of the “battery test” as a basis for promotion within the ranks of civil servants in New York state.

 

Ms. Hoffler has extensive professional experience throughout Africa, Europe, and the Caribbean. She has represented foreign interests and foreign governments and lobbied on behalf of various foreign countries. She developed a new privatization practice for her firm in foreign markets, and managed the general representation of diverse local, national, and international corporations and foreign governments. She participated in her firm's efforts to advise a foreign government on reformation of its drug trafficking and money laundering laws. In addition, she has furnished advice and counsel to the nations of Angola, Guinea (Conakry) and Gabon concerning election procedures and policies and helped coordinate U.S. Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) participation in elections. She also provided on-going legal counsel to numerous foreign government clients in their democratization process.

 

A service-oriented attorney, Ms. Hoffler’s community involvement includes active participation in pro bono law clinics, extensive lecturing on First Amendment matters, women and children issues, and international matters. She was intricately involved in the merit retention efforts related to the Florida Supreme Court and successfully co-chaired Florida Supreme Court Justice Peggy Quince's campaign for merit retention.

 

Ms. Hoffler has served on the boards of The Pine School (Stuart, Florida), Georgetown University Law Alumni Board (Washington, DC), Planned Parenthood of South Florida (West Palm Beach, Florida) and Women in Philanthropy (Stuart, Florida - founding member), the Washington Urban League (Washington, DC), Norfolk Airport Authority (former Commissioner, Norfolk, Virginia), Places and Programs for Children, Inc. (Norfolk, Virginia), Old Dominion University Education Foundation (Norfolk, Virginia), and Contemporary Arts Center of Virginia (Virginia Beach, Virginia). She is also an active member of the Georgia Association of Black Women Attorneys (GABWA) and hosts an informal mentoring program for lawyers throughout Georgia. Ms. Hoffler is a frequent lecturer for various bar associations including the American Bar Association, GABWA, the Gate City Bar, the National Bar Association and ABOTA. She’s been an active “lifetime” member of the National Bar Association for almost three decades.

 

Ms. Hoffler has received numerous accolades and awards for outstanding contributions to her profession and philanthropy. She was named "Woman of the Year" for 2011-2012 by the National Association of Professional Women for her demonstrated excellence and dedication within her profession. She has also received the National Bar Association Presidential Award, the National Bar Association Governor’s Award, the Gate City Bar Association A.T. Walden “Legacy” Award, the “Esquire Award” for the Small Firms and Solo Practitioners’ Division of the National Bar Association, an award from the National Bar Judicial Council in recognition for commitment to service and outstanding fundraising in 2014, a Certificate of Silver Life Membership to the NAACP, the “Recognition of Support, Commitment, and Service” award from the Judicial Council of the National Bar Association, an award for Outstanding Service and Contributions to the Theological Scholarship Foundation of the Tidewater Metro Baptist Minister’s Conference, the “Majestic Leader” Award from The Lott Carey Baptist Foreign Mission Convention, and a feature in the March 2012 edition of The Informer. In July 2018, she received the prestigious Leah Ward Sears Award for Distinction in the Profession Founders Award from GABWA. Ms. Hoffler also was honored by GABWA’s Foundation in December 2018 when the Foundation created a scholarship in her name. In 2019 Ms. Hoffler received the President’s Award from the Caribbean Bar Association and was inducted into the Gate City Bar Hall of Fame. She also was elected the Chairman of the Board of Rainbow Push Coalition--the first woman to ever serve in that capacity. In July 2019, she was elected President-Elect of the National Bar Association and became its 78th president in 2020. Rated a “Super Lawyer” in 2022, Ms. Hoffler also received the Randolph W. Thrower Lifetime Achievement Award from the Georgia Bar. Ms. Hoffler has made regular media appearances on television and radio. She hosts her own weekly radio show, “Law and Legal,” on Atlanta’s WAOK. Ms. Hoffler also is a guest host each Wednesday on the Santita Jackson show “Legal Q&A with CK”. She has also appeared and provide legal and political commentary on CNN, ABC, Court TV, MSNBC, and other entities in the Peacock Network. Ms. Hoffler is hosting a six-part legal talk show series on AIB Network entitled “Know Your Rights with CK Hoffler” series.

 

Ms. Hoffler was educated in Switzerland (College du Leman, University of Geneva), Canada (Branksome Hall) and the United States. She received her undergraduate degree from Smith College and her law degree from Georgetown University



Sen. Ed Setzler Related Seminars and Products

Georgia Senate


Senator Ed Setzler is a veteran, businessman, and father of four who represents portions of Cobb and Bartow Counties in the Georgia Senate. Currently serving on the Judiciary, Health, Education, and Science & Technology committees, prior to being elected to the state Senate in 2022, Ed served for 18-years in the Georgia House of Representatives where he chaired the House Committee on Science & Technology and served as the chairman of the Judiciary Noncivil Subcommittee on General & Juvenile Law. In these committee roles, Ed has been involved in virtually every change to Georgia’s criminal code for nearly two decades and provided leadership to more than 200 laws affecting sex trafficking, sexual exploitation of children, the death penalty, illegal immigration, internet crime, firearms law, abortion, metal theft, criminal record restriction, animal fighting, controlled substances, anti-terrorism, search and seizure, pardons and paroles, restitution for crime victims, the impact of emerging technologies on personal privacy, and diverting nonviolent drug offenders into treatment programs instead of prison. 

 

Deeply committed to protecting individual liberty, in 2019, Ed authored the Living Infants Fairness & Equality Act, Georgia’s “Heartbeat Bill”, recognized as the strongest pro-life law in the nation as it established for the first time since 1973 the full legal personhood of the unborn child throughout every corner of Georgia Law. 

 

Since first being elected, Ed has worked in challenging full-time leadership roles in the architecture, engineering, and environmental consulting industry where he has directed nationwide programs for more than 22 years. A graduate of the US Army Ranger School, Ed earned a BS in Physics from Furman University in 1992 and served as a Regular Army officer for nine years with leadership and command assignments in the United States, Europe, and the Persian Gulf. Ed and his wife Tracie, a high school teacher, are active members of the St. Stephen Orthodox Christian Church in Hiram.


Location

Savannah Convention Center

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1 International Drive, Savannah, Georgia 31421, United States
(912) 447-4000
www.savconventioncenter.com

Important Information

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The information presented is solely for educational purposes. The opinions expressed by the faculty in their materials and presentations are their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the State Bar of Georgia, its officers, directors and/or employees. The faculty is not engaged in rendering legal or other professional advice and these presentations and publications are not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. All publications and presentations were created to serve the continuing legal education needs of practicing attorneys.

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