Feels Like Home:
The Atlanta Bar
Association
O
n May
21, 2019, I was honored to become the 112th
President of the Atlanta Bar Association. It
was a humbling experience, given the lawyers
that have held this position before me. My
predecessors have been wonderful stewards
of the organization since it was established
131 years ago, and I intend to do everything
I can to maintain that proud tradition.
Being sworn in as President of the Atlanta
Bar is particularly meaningful to me because
the Atlanta Bar family has been a part of
my life for as long as I can remember. I
was born here in Atlanta, and I have lived
in this city virtually my entire life. My
father, Terry Walsh, practiced law in Atlanta
for his entire career. In addition to his
practice at Alston & Bird, my father was
also very active in the larger Atlanta legal
community, including service as Atlanta Bar
President. Upon my swearing in last May,
my father and I learned we were only the
second (albeit slightly less famous) father/
son duo to have served as President of the
Atlanta Bar Association, with the first being
Eugene and Stephens Mitchell (the father
and brother of author, Margaret Mitchell).
4
June/July 2019
Joining a legacy as the 112th President of the Atlanta Bar
Association, looking towards an innovative future while giving
honor to the past.
RYAN K. WALSH
Jones Day
[email protected]
The example my father set for me as I was
growing up in Atlanta was a major reason
that I chose to go to law school many
years ago. I witnessed firsthand the many
rewards, as well as the myriad challenges,
associated with the practice of law in this
city. I learned from my father’s work (and
the work of his colleagues) how lawyers
can have an outsized impact on both their
clients and the community as a whole.
y father’s past service with the Atlanta
Bar was also a factor in my decision
to get involved with the Bar when I was
a baby lawyer. Once again, I had seen the
tangible benefits my father derived from
being involved with the Atlanta Bar – the
relationships he developed, the work he was
able to accomplish, and the impact he was
able to have on the local legal community. It is undeniable that the legal profession in
Atlanta has changed a great deal in the 28
years since my father was President. The
world has gotten smaller. Law practices
are not just local or regional, but national
if not global. Despite this globalization,
Atlanta remains our home, and the Atlanta
Bar remains our family. And nothing is
more important than family. And, just like
it always has, the Atlanta Bar remains a
powerful force for good in our community.
When I was young, I remember my father
telling me and my siblings about the
Mariel Cubans being held at the Atlanta
Penitentiary in the 1980s. I remember
hearing how then Atlanta Bar President
Frank Strickland worked with Atlanta Legal
Aid’s Executive Director, Steve Gottlieb, to
mobilize hundreds of Atlanta lawyers to give
voices to Cuban refugees who had none.
I was fortunate to have several family
members in attendance for the ceremony
on May 21st. This included my parents (Pat
and Terry Walsh), along with my wife Susan,
and our children -- Conor, Claire, Sally, and
Seán. I was also fortunate to be sworn in as
the Atlanta Bar President by Judge Philip
Etheridge. Judge Etheridge’s presence was
also significant as he has not only been a close
family friend for many years, but he also
swore in my father as Atlanta Bar President
28 years ago (a fact I only learned after asking
him if he would do me the honor of swearing
me into the position). It was an emotional
moment for me, surrounded by relatives and
friends, as I became the second Walsh to
serve as President of the Atlanta Bar family. That was obviously only one of many
instances where the Atlanta Bar has
exemplified the better angels of our often
criticized profession. You can go all the
way back to the establishment of the
Atlanta Legal Aid Society in 1924 (whose
founding Board reads like the “Who’s Who”
of the Atlanta Bar); the co-founding of the
Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation
in 1979; the establishment of the Atlanta
Bar Foundation and the Minority and
Diversity Clerkship Program in 1985; the
co-founding of the Truancy Intervention
Project in 1992; and the co-founding of
the Georgia Asylum and Immigration
Network in 2005 (which was initially
called the Atlanta Bar Asylum Project).
M