Giving Back: Raising the Bar

GIVING BACK

Raising the Bar

How local lawyers pay it forward

Written by ARIEL FELTON

IN A COMMUNITY-FOCUSED city like Savannah, there are plenty of ways to give back. Whether supporting fundraisers or joining the boards of local nonprofits, the altruistic can find a way to get involved. In an effort to do their part, three lawyers combine personal passions and legal expertise to give back both in their everyday jobs and in their free time.

THE HELPING HAND

William “Bill” Hunter, partner at Oliver Maner LLP

Bill Hunter considers himself fortunate.

“I’ve been tremendously blessed with my job and my family. You get old enough, and you realize how often we take that for granted,” he says. “But it’s not that way for everybody.”

In 2016, Hunter’s passion for helping the less fortunate led him to join the Board of Directors for Union Mission, Savannah’s leading organization for providing assistance to the homeless. Through Hunter’s involvement, his firm Oliver Maner is a major sponsor for the Union Mission’s annual Raising Hope fundraiser.

“Solving homelessness in Savannah couldn’t be more important,” Hunter says. “People simply want a little help getting back on their feet, and that’s what Union Mission does so well: it gives people the skills and training that will help them get a job.”

Additionally, Hunter does probono work with Compassionate Release, an organization aimed at securing releases for the most vulnerable federal prisoners.

“There’s always been a shortage of attorneys to handle these motions, but it took on a whole new importance and urgency with COVID-19,” Hunter says, noting that prisons often don’t have the resources to manage COVID outbreaks properly. “I’m happy to say we’ve gotten three people released.”

“I’ve been tremendously blessed with my job and my family. You get old enough, and you realize how often we take that for granted, but it’s not that way for everybody.”—Bill Hunter

Dekle and his wife, Dr. Monica Harper Dekle, organist and director of music at Wesley Monumental United Methodist Church

PHOTO BY DR. LES WILKES

THE MUSIC MAN

Andrew Dekle, partner at Bouhan Falligant LLP

Lawyer and lifelong violinist Andrew Dekle fi rst connected the study of law and music during law school.

“It wasn’t until I heard my contracts professor talk about breaking down judicial opinions that I realized it sounded almost word for word what my violin instructor taught me for breaking down a piece of sheet music,” Dekle says. “That’s when the value of music education really dawned on me.”

Years later, the Savannah native would pursue his passion of music education as a member of the Board of Directors for the Savannah Philharmonic.

“My senior year of high school was about the time when the original Savannah Symphony ceased its operations, so I was happy to see a live hometown orchestra come back on the scene,” he says.

Dekle estimates he’s donated hundreds of pro-bono hours to the organization during a six-year period, but it’s his work with the orchestra’s educational programs that he counts among his proudest achievements.

“We off ered master classes and workshops, giving high school students opportunities I did not have until college,” Dekle says. “I hope students see how lessons learned in one aspect of their life, which may seem wholly irrelevant to other [aspects], can really have a lot of applicability.”

THE ACTIVIST

Amy Lee Copeland, partner at Rouse + Copeland LLC

“The best advice I’ve ever gotten is, when you don’t know what to do, do something,” says Amy Lee Copeland.

After leaving what she calls “the trenches of parenthood,” Copeland was searching for a way to reconnect with and invest in her community.

“I started volunteering for a number of organizations,” she recalls, “and the one that has meant the most to me is Emmaus House of Savannah.” Emmaus House is an unrestricted soup kitchen run by United Ministries of Savannah, where Copeland previously coordinated the organization’s Empty Bowl fundraiser each November.

“I sat on the board for as long as I could before they kicked me out under the bylaws,” Copeland recalls, laughing. “The board members, the congregations and right down to the people who showed up and helped in the kitchen — everyone was so committed to it.”

Copeland is also known for her court-appointed criminal defense work. She sits on the board of Georgia Legal Services, working to guarantee access to the court system for low-income Georgians, and, in 2020, the Savannah Bar Association presented her with the Robbie Robinson award for her dedication to civil rights.

“I end up defending people in some of the worst moments of their lives,” Copeland says. “It’s my job to make sure they understand what’s going on and what their options are.”

Emmaus House provides a place of respite for those in need.

“I started volunteering for a number of organizations and the one that has meant the most to me is Emmaus House of Savannah.”

—Amy Lee Copeland

IF ANYTHING, thepast year has highlighted the importance of everyone doing their part, something Hunter, Dekle and Copeland have taken to heart. “The whole notion of granular involvement is, even if you can’t do big stuff , you can fi nd your lane and do little stuff ,” Copeland says. “If we all did little stuff , that would be pretty awesome.”