Earlier this year, the AWA put together a membership directory of those members who voluntarily submitted their information.  Due to frequent changes in employment, etc., the Board decided to provide the directory in electronic format only, rather than a printed booklet.  The directory is organized by practice areas first, followed by an alphabetical listing of members.

The AWA Membership Directory can be accessed on our website:  http://www.awanola.org/index.php/links under “Other Helpful Links.”

We will update the directory at the end of September.  Please review your listed information and email Kelly Barbier () with any changes.  If you were not included in the first edition, and now want to submit your information, please email your contact information and area(s) of practice to Kelly Barbier.

Deadline to submit information:  September 30, 2008

The AWA held its annual Ethics and Professionalism CLE Program on August 21, 2008. 

Civil District Court Judge Piper D. Griffin presented “Professionalism: A View From The Bench.” Julie Kilborn of the Louisiana Capital Assistance Center will present “Avoiding Ethical Complaints, And Dealing With Them If You Get Them”

The AWA was lucky to have Melissa Sawyer, Executive Director of the Youth Empowerment Project, speak at our July luncheon.  The Youth Empowerment Project believes that “by providing legal advocacy, intensive aftercare and case management to at-risk New Orleans youth, we will strengthen each young person’s capacity to successfully connect with his or her families and communities and lay the foundation for their healthy transition to adulthood.”

There are no other programs in the city of New Orleans that provide holistic, wrap-around services to court-involved youth. YEP links youth with existing social services and community resources and it also provides in-house, culturally competent care that empowers youth and their families to advocate for themselves. YEP teaches youth and their families how to navigate legal, social service and greater community systems. It does this in part by collaborating with a wide range of local entities including the Orleans Parish Juvenile Court, various faith-based organizations, mentors, educational programs, job-training centers and counseling specialists.

One of the continuing needs of the YEP is for someone to provide legal advice and occasional representation for things such as emancipations, drawing up affidavits, answering questions about custody/guardianship issues, etc.  There were many AWA members who expressed an interest in volunteering at the luncheon.

We would like to put together a list of those persons who are willing to help out on occasion.  We will form an email list of the volunteers, and will email out the specific requests for help as they arise to see if any of the volunteers are able to help. 

If you would like to be included on the volunteer list, please email AWA President, Kelly Barbier at

The AWA July Luncheon was held at Herbsaint Restaurant. 

Our speaker was Melissa Sawyer, Executive Director of the Youth Empowerment Project, who spoke on “A Focus on Youth – Providing Support to Prevent Delinquency”

The Project believes that “by providing legal advocacy, intensive aftercare and case management to at-risk New Orleans youth, we will strengthen each young person’s capacity to successfully connect with his or her families and communities and lay the foundation for their healthy transition to adulthood.”

There are no other programs in the city of New Orleans that provide holistic, wrap-around services to court-involved youth. YEP links youth with existing social services and community resources and it also provides in-house, culturally competent care that empowers youth and their families to advocate for themselves. YEP teaches youth and their families how to navigate legal, social service and greater community systems. It does this in part by collaborating with a wide range of local entities including the Orleans Parish Juvenile Court, various faith-based organizations, mentors, educational programs, job-training centers and counseling specialists.

For more information, go to http://www.youthempowermentproject.org/

The AWA has recently compiled a Membership Directory.  The directory is not a complete listing of our members, as it only contains contact information from those members who voluntarily submitted their information online earlier this year.  Due to frequent changes in employment, etc., the Board will provide the directory in electronic format only, rather than a printed booklet.

The directory is organized by practice areas first, followed by an alphabetical listing of members.

We hope that it will serve as a useful tool in your practice.

If you would like to be included in future editions, or have corrections to your listing, please email the information to Kelly at .

You can access the directory here, as well as in our Links section.

The AWA has committed to award $500 annually to an outstanding law clinic student from each of the two local law schools, whose work has focused on issues important to the AWA.

At Tulane, the $500 award is given to the most outstanding student in the Domestic Violence Law Clinic (as chosen by the Director of the Clinic).  The 2008 Award recipient is Nora Mahoney, a May 2008graduate.  In addition to her work at the Domestic Violence Clinic, Nora has worked for Bread of the City Legal Clinic in Washington DC, New Hampshire Bar Association Pro Bono Program, The Work Place (Welfare to Work) program in Boston, and as as assistant for the Refugee Program at Jewish Vocational Service in Boston.  Nora also has an interest in social and political issues in Coastal Kenya, and has worked in Mombasa, Kenya, assisting doctoral anthropological research in socio-economic impact of technology and law.

At Loyola, the $500 award is given to the most outstanding student in the family law section of the Loyola Law Clinic (to be selected by the family law attorney/advisor at the Clinic).  The 2008 Award recipient is Tiffany Elyce Crane.  Tiffany is a May 2008 graduate of Loyola University College of Law. She graduated with an Environmental Law Certificate and worked with the Loyola Family Law Clinic during the 2007-2008 school year. As part of her work with the clinic, Tiffany successfully filed the first contestation and establishment action in Louisiana.  Tiffany plans to pursue public interest work, particularly in the area of family law.

^{The 2007 Loyola Award recipient was Ericka Garnett. Erika is from New Orleans, studied civil law, and was a May 2007 graduate. The Tulane 2007 Award recipient was Lezlie Griffin, also a May 2007 graduate.  Lezlie is from Wetumpka, Alabama and received her BS from Troy State University.}

The AWA June luncheon was held at Redfish Grill.  All in attendance were able to introduce themselves to the group in a get to know you session over lunch.  We also had several judicial candidates in attendance, who provided us with information about themselves and their campaigns.

The AWA April luncheon was held on April 17, 2008 at the Bourbon House Restaurant.

Cynthia Ceballos gave an informative and enjoyable talk on ”Changing Landscape of New Orleans Residents and Immigration Issues.”

Please check back soon for information about our next luncheon!