Super Lawyers - Georgia 2016

Comet Trail every Saturday, and [I would
tell people], ‘I’m booked this week, but you
can come walk my dog with me.’”
Then one night she had a dream in which
all the Spelman students she was helping
were lined up in rows, with Lawrence-Hardy
teaching them. It was a light-bulb moment
that led to a talk with her managing
partner; and in 2005 the firm launched
Sutherland Scholars, a three-week summer
“boot camp” for students from historically
black colleges and universities. It’s designed
to give minority students who are headed
to law school the tools they need to be
successful in their first year.

“I now run into practicing lawyers who are Sutherland Scholars, all the time,” she says. “I charge them all with doing their part as change agents, and they are out there doing it.

“For every one of us, there is somebody
looking up to you. If you are a college
freshman, there is a 12-year-old in your
church or community who thinks you are
the coolest thing ever. That notion that
‘Each one, pull one’? At a time when so
many people could focus on their own
goals, our Sutherland Scholars are aware
of the need to lift as they climb.”

THEN THERE’S THE PRO BONO WORK.

Lawrence-Hardy remembers representing
Mexican farm workers who had not received
the wages they were entitled to under the
Fair Labor Standards Act in a class action.
“It wasn’t about a dispute of law,” she says.
“It was about them not being empowered to
After she won the case, she got a call to
come to the reception desk, where several
of the workers she’d represented stood
holding a peach pie they’d baked to say
thank you. “That’s when I got hooked” on
pro bono work, she says.

As for work-life balance? After reading
Anne-Marie Slaughter’s influential article
“Why Women Still Can’t Have It All,” she
realized that the description of women
who compartmentalize their lives fit her. It
concerned her—that young women don’t
hear powerful women saying that being
a mother is important. “One time I gave a
baby shower for an associate and she got
a book that happened to be my daughter’s
favorite at the time. I quoted the last line of
the book. The whole table turned around
and looked at me, open-mouthed. I’m a
Type A lawyer and a Type A mom—but
I never talked about [the latter]. I didn’t
share it with the women associates.”
It’s a realization that recalls what
happened when she asked Judge Black to
be part of her wedding ceremony. “Judge,
you sound happier now than when I called
to tell you I made partner,” Lawrence-
Hardy said. “And she said, ‘Allegra, I
always knew you’d make partner. I never
thought you’d get married.’”

LEADING THE WAY

Rangers Lead the Way and Semper Fidelis are not just slogans of the past for former Army Ranger Shane Lazenby and former U.S. Marine Kyle Moore; they are watchwords the two attorneys use to guide their approach to every case.

As a personal injury law firm, Lazenby Law Group is fully dedicated and tirelessly focused on obtaining justice for the victims and families of those who have been injured by the negligence of others.

“We understand what it takes to perform well in stressful situations,” says Lazenby. “We faithfully and selflessly served our country. Now, we provide those same levels of commitment, tenacity and service to each and every one of our clients.”