Ms. Rita Arlene Sheffey

Atlanta Legal Aid Society

Rita A. Sheffey joined the Atlanta Legal Aid Society (“Legal Aid”) on August 1, 2023, where she oversees more than 150 staff (85 lawyers) who help low-income people meet basic legal needs, removing barriers to justice through civil legal assistance.  Prior to joining Legal Aid, Rita served for eight years as Emory University School of Law’s Assistant Dean for Public Service.  In that role, she oversaw the law school's Pro Bono Program, advised students interested in post-graduate federal and state court judicial clerkships, and employment with government and public interest organizations, and managed the Volunteer Clinic for Veterans and Emory Immigrant Legal Assistance.  Prior to joining Emory in January 2015, Rita was a partner with Hunton & Williams LLP (now Hunton Andrews Kurth) where she focused on complex litigation and served as Hunton & Williams’ Southside Legal Center pro bono clinic director and Atlanta Pro Bono Committee Chair.

Rita has served in numerous leadership positions, including as President of the Atlanta Bar Association, the Atlanta Legal Aid Society, the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation, and Emory’s Lamar Inn of Court (now Cooper Inn of Court), among others.  She was a member of the Leadership Atlanta Class of 2005 and has served on the Executive Council of the National Conference of Bar Presidents (NCBP), the Executive Committee of the Metropolitan Bar Caucus (affiliated with NCBP), and on the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on the American Judicial System.  Rita was a self-described “quasi-insider” with Legal Aid.  Not only did she serve as Board President, but she also co-chaired the 90^th Anniversary Planning Committee, served on the Strategic Planning Committee, mentored a number of staff attorneys, and supported the work of Legal Aid through her service to the Atlanta Bar and the State Bar of Georgia.

Rita has received numerous awards for her leadership and pro bono efforts, including the Atlanta Legal Aid Society’s Extraordinary Pro Bono Service Award in 2018, the Georgia State University College of Law's Ben F. Johnson, Jr. Public Service Award in 2015, and the inaugural Rita A. Sheffey Public Interest Award from the Atlanta Bar’s Public Interest Law Section in 2012.   Rita grew up in southwest Virginia and has degrees from the University of Virginia (B.A. in chemistry), Duke University (Ph.D. in chemistry), Boston College Law School (J.D.) and Emory’s Candler School of Theology (Master’s in Religion and Public Life).  She also did a two-year postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Biological Chemistry at Harvard Medical School.