Sonya Sallis, a member of Brock Clay’s Education Law team, helps Georgia school boards, administrators and instructors respond to the legal, business and regulatory challenges facing school districts today. 

During law school at the University of Georgia School of Law, she was a student intern in the School of Law's Special Education Practicum, providing representation to children and their families in special education cases. She also served as a legal intern with the Georgia Student Finance Commission and the American Cancer Society's office of corporation counsel. As a research assistant to Professor Jason Solomon, she was a member of the student law team assisting in the pro bono representation and preparation of a habeas corpus petition to the Georgia Supreme Court. Her involvement included case and legal research in the drafting an ineffective assistance of counsel claim, as well as conducting witness and juror interviews. 

Before entering law school, Mrs Sallis was a newspaper reporter covering education at the Rome News-Tribune in her hometown of Rome, Georgia and spent the summer prior to her law school admission as a member of Americorps, mentoring young children as a part of its Jumpstart for Kids program.

REPRESENTATIVE CLIENT HIGHLIGHTS

Some of Mrs. Sallis’ recent experience includes:

• Preparing legal advice for local school boards on various issues including First Amendment concerns.
• Conducting legal research and providing legal advice on grant applications, sovereign immunity questions and HOPE scholarship eligibility for GSFC, the state agency for the administration of state- and lottery-funded scholarship and grant programs.

• Drafting corporate policies including H1N1 Pandemic Preparedness Response Plan and Corporate Employee Confidentiality Policy for the in-house legal department of the largest U.S. voluntary health organization. 

PROFESSIONAL & COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

• Member, The State Bar of Georgia