Jacki Payne
Atlanta Legal Aid Society
Marietta, GA USA
"What good have I done today? Always think positively about your life and how you can help."
Career Roadmap
Jacki's work combines: Law, Non-Profit Organizations, and Helping People
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Day In The Life
Skills &
Education
Advice for getting started
In preparation for the LSAT, I suggest taking some philosophy classes and practicing logic models. That's what helped me get through the hurdle of preparing myself for a test that wasn't constructed for me, a Black woman. If you're not interested in going into law, there are many other avenues into public service. You can be a legislative advocate or a legislator without being an attorney. Make sure you consider those alternate paths to helping people.
Here's the path I took:
High School
Bachelor's Degree
Sociology
Spelman College
Doctorate
Law
University of Georgia
Here's the path I recommend for someone who wants to be a Managing Attorney:
Bachelor's Degree: English
Doctorate: Law
Learn more about different paths to this career
Life & Career Milestones
My path in life has been direct
1.
Grandparental relationships have always been very near and dear to my heart—my parents were very young, so my great-grandmother lived with us and helped raise my siblings and I.
2.
I graduated from Spelman College with a degree in sociology and then went on to earn my law degree from the University of Georgia.
3.
During my second year of law school, I interned with the Atlanta Legal Aid Society and decided that I’d like to build my career around helping the community through free legal services.
4.
After my internship, I applied for a position with Atlanta Legal Aid and received a fellowship to work with senior citizens—I spent a few years doing that and then branched out into other services.
5.
I eventually left the firm because I was now a single parent with young kids and knew I could make more money in private practice.
6.
During that two-year break, my former executive director at Legal Aid would check in to see if I wanted to return—I eventually took him up on the offer because I wasn’t fulfilled in private practice.
7.
I rejoined Atlanta Legal Aid in their family law unit—I ended up really loving it and eventually became the managing attorney for the unit.
8.
I now work as the managing director of our kinship care unit, where I'm focused on helping relatives raise children in the place of deceased or absent parents.
Defining Moments
How I responded to discouragement
THE NOISE
Messages from Parents:
When are you going to start taking on paying clients? You can make more money doing private practice.
How I responded:
My dad would often question my choice to stay in nonprofit legal work. He'd try to send me clients and I'd have to decline. He'd ask when I was going to venture out. The thought that I could make more money if I go into private practice was always in the back of my mind. I just stayed strong in my foundation, knowing that I wanted to help people who wouldn't otherwise receive it. I did actually do a brief stint in private practice but I didn't feel fulfilled, so I returned to nonprofit work.
Experiences and challenges that shaped me
I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2006. It was out of the blue—I didn't have family history of breast cancer. I call myself a thriver rather than a survivor. I also try to emphasize the importance of medical screenings to others.