Ford & Harrison, a national labor and employment law firm, is pleased to announce the firm's sponsorship of an Atlanta-based pro bono Equal Justice Works (EJW) fellowship. The firm is sponsoring Aarti Sharma, a recent graduate of Emory University School of Law, and her project, the Legal Educational Advocacy Project (LEAP). LEAP provides complete educational advocacy services to youth involved in Fulton County Juvenile Court. The program focuses on providing foster children with educational stability because each time a child changes schools she loses approximately seven months of educational progress. The Health Law Partnership, a collaborative effort of Georgia State University, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta and the Atlanta Legal Aid Society is overseeing Sharma's work during this time.
Sharma began her two-year Equal Justice Works fellowship in September 2011. As a fellowship sponsor, Ford & Harrison funds her initiative by covering her salary and a portion of EJW's larger efforts.
Ford & Harrison boasts a long tradition of supporting pro bono initiatives in Atlanta. Steve Reba just completed his two-year fellowship as the director of The Barton Center's Appeal for Youth project.
As the director of The Barton Center's Appeal for Youth project, Reba focuses on providing holistic post-conviction representation to youthful offenders in Georgia's juvenile and criminal justice systems. The primary goal of Appeal for Youth is to decrease the number of youthful offenders languishing in Georgia's prisons through high quality legal representation.
In 2005, Ford & Harrison sponsored Haley Schwartz, founder of the Breast Cancer Legal Project. The Breast Cancer Legal Project, which serves as a legal advocate to breast cancer patients with limited resources and lacking systems of support, continues today as part of the Atlanta Legal Aid Society. Past EJWs sponsorships have also included the Health Law Partnership which strives to provide the quality of education for low income, chronically ill children in Georgia.
David Stern, CEO of Equal Justice Works, expressed his thanks and admiration for Ford & Harrison's support. "Ford & Harrison was one of the first law firms in Atlanta to sponsor an Equal Justice Works fellow, and it has been a steadfast supporter ever since," Stern said.
About Equal Justice Works
Equal Justice Works is dedicated to advocating on behalf of underserved communities and causes by combating injustice and solving social challenges relating to domestic violence, health care, affordable housing, employment discrimination, consumer fraud and the environment.