HBS Partners with Children’s Rights Nonprofit by Providing Pro Bono Work, Office Space & Staff Support

ATLANTA – Hall Booth Smith, P.C. is partnering with Children’s Rights, Inc., a nonprofit organization that has helped protect the legal rights of more than 100,000 children who have been abused or neglected. HBS will provide pro bono legal work, staff support and office space to the organization.

Children’s Rights does advocacy and legal work to ensure children who are under state supervision, such as foster care or juvenile justice programs, have a safe and healthy childhood. That includes bringing legal action to keep siblings together in foster care, expand access to health care and mental health therapies, minimize disruptive moves while in foster care, reduce institutional placements and ensure access to education – all of which can improve the safety, permanency and well-being of vulnerable children.

In ATLANTA, the organization has helped create access to attorneys for more than 10,000 foster care children when neglect or abuse allegations arise, and it has advocated for a dramatic reduction in the number of caseloads per caseworker in Georgia’s Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS).

Hall Booth Smith hosted a breakfast for Children’s Rights on May 30 at its Atlanta headquarters office that drew several dozen attorneys and support staff. Numerous attorneys with the firm offered to do pro bono work for the nonprofit, which will also be given office space and additional staff support from HBS to further advance the efforts of Children’s Rights.

“Across the South children are better off today because of the kindness and generosity of attorneys and staff at Hall Booth Smith,” said Christina Remlin, lead counsel for Children’s Rights, which is setting up a Southern headquarters in Atlanta. “Each hour of time invested in protecting these children helps give them a more stable upbringing that continues to pay dividends for the rest of their lives.”

Contributing time and legal knowledge to Children’s Rights exemplifies the servant leadership culture that has been a guiding principle at Hall Booth Smith since the firm’s earliest days.

“This cause is close to our hearts, and we are humbled to help protect children when they are at their most vulnerable,” said John E. Hall, Jr., a founding partner of Hall Booth Smith. “No child should feel unsafe or unwanted. Better care is the first step toward creating a brighter future for thousands of children who need our support the most.”

Hall Booth Smith was connected with Children’s Rights by Greg Hecht, a principal at Hecht Walker, P.C. and a longtime friend of HBS who has volunteered many hours of pro bono work to the organization and who is a Children’s Rights National Advisory Council Member and Chair of the Southern Steering Committee focused on expanding the advocacy footprint in the South.

“There is no greater reward than giving these children a voice and looking out for their needs so they can have a safe and healthy childhood,” said Hecht, who was formerly a State Senator and State Representative who also served as an Assistant District Attorney. “They deserve to be protected from harm and deserve love and support from the community, and we’re doing everything we can to make it right.”

About Hall Booth Smith
Established in 1989, Hall Booth Smith, P.C. (HBS) is a full-service law firm with six regional offices strategically located throughout Georgia, as well as offices in Birmingham, Alabama; Charleston, South Carolina; Asheville and Charlotte, North Carolina; Jacksonville, North Palm Beach and Tallahassee, Florida; and Nashville and Memphis, Tennessee. Experienced across a wide range of legal disciplines, HBS attorneys pride themselves on providing knowledgeable, proactive, client-specific counsel to individuals, domestic and international corporations, state and federal agencies, and nonprofit organizations. The firm’s promise: “Serving to Achieve Excellence.” To learn more, please visit: www.hallboothsmith.com.