Leadership

Seth Kirschenbaum
Founder and Board Member

Seth Kirschenbaum graduated with Distinction from Emory University School of Law in 1976 and was elected to the Order of the Coif. He started his career at the law firm now known as Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton, LLP. From 1979 to 1984, Seth was a federal prosecutor working for the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice and then the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia. Seth’s private practice since 1984 focused exclusively on criminal defense in a variety of cases including public corruption, antitrust, mail and wire fraud, healthcare fraud, hazardous waste, drug trafficking, homicide by vehicle and murder. Seth was President of the Atlanta Bar Association, founder of the Multi-Bar Leadership Council, founding Chairman of the Atlanta Judicial Commission, founding Vice-Chairman of the Atlanta Citizen’s Review Board, member of the Board of Governors of the State Bar of Georgia for 20 years, Chair of the State Bar’s BASICS Committee prisoner training program, Member of the Chief Justice’s Commission on Professionalism, and a Vice-President and Life Member of the Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

Lynne Borsuk
Founder and Board Member

Lynne Borsuk is a trial lawyer and community leader. She specializes in white-collar and other criminal defense matters and handles cases in the State and Federal Courts. Recognized for her trial skills and ethical conduct, she has been selected as a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, the American Board of Criminal Lawyers and is included in the Chambers and Partners international ranking of lawyers.

She taught as an Adjunct Professor at Emory University School of Law for nine years, authored two books and numerous articles, co-founded the non-profit “1000 Lawyers for Justice”, which secured pro bono legal defense services to indigent clients from Atlanta’s top law firms, served as President of the Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, served on the Board of Governors of the State Bar of Georgia for over a decade and currently serves as Treasurer for the Georgia Legal Services Foundation.

She chaired the Board of Counselors for Oxford College of Emory University, served on the Board of the International Women’s Forum-Georgia, served as Board Chair for the Anti-Defamation League’s Southeastern Region, serves on the Anti-Defamation League’s national board, and is a member of the Board for the Breman Museum.

Walter Jospin
Founder and Board Member

Walter Jospin is a retired corporate partner of Paul Hastings LLP and the former Director of the Atlanta Regional Office of the Securities and Exchange Commission. He has been the board chair of Georgia Innocence Project, Atlanta Legal Aid Society, Georgia Legal Services Foundation, Zaban-Paradies Couples Center, and the Anti-Defamation League (SE Region). He was also chair of the Business Law Section and the Securities Committee of the State Bar of Georgia. Walter has taught at Emory Law School as an adjunct professor and is a co-author of a treatise on Georgia Corporate and Securities Law (West Publishing). He has a B.S. Degree from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, a J.D. from Emory University, and an MFA in Creative Writing and Literature from Bennington College. He has been listed as a leading lawyer in Chambers, Best Lawyers in America, Who’s Who of Mergers & Acquisition Lawyers, and Georgia’s Legal Elite.

Shelby Grubbs
Co-Chair, Speakers Bureau

In 2020, following a 40+ year career as a commercial litigator, Shelby Grubbs became a full-time arbitrator, mediator, and special master. He has served on arbitration panels for JAMS, American Arbitration Association, CPR Institute, International Centre for Dispute Resolution and the International Chamber of Commerce Court of Arbitration. He is currently serving as a special master for the US District Court for the District of Columbia in cases brought under an exception to the United States Foreign Sovereign Immunity Act. He was named Atlanta’s 2023 Lawyer of the Year for International Commercial Arbitration by Best Lawyers in America. He co-edited the AtlAS Desk Book, A Guide for International Dispute Resolution Lawyers, now in its fifth edition, and he edited International Civil Procedure, a comparative guide published by Kluwer Law International. He is a Fellow of the College of Commercial Arbitrators, the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and the Academy of Court Appointed Neutrals. From 2018 until 2024, he was a member of the International Chamber of Commerce Commission on Arbitration and ADR. A graduate of the University of Alabama School of Law, he is a frequent speaker on domestic and international arbitration and alternative dispute resolution and has taught arbitration courses as an adjunct professor at the law schools at Georgia State, Emory and Vanderbilt.

Claudia S. Saari
Chair, Communications Committee

Claudia Saari is the former Circuit Public Defender for DeKalb County’s Stone Mountain Judicial Circuit, where she spent over three decades at the DeKalb County Public Defender’s Office — including 16 years leading a staff of more than 100 attorneys and support personnel handling cases across all courts and diversion programs, from DUI to death penalty matters. A Brown University and Emory Law graduate, she is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and has held leadership roles with the State Bar of Georgia, the Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Gideon’s Promise, and numerous other professional and civic organizations. Her decades of service have been recognized with honors including the American Constitution Society’s Legal Legend Award, the Gideon’s Promise John Lewis Lifetime Achievement Award, and Emory Law’s 2025 Lifetime Commitment to Public Service Award.

Ann Woolner
Managing Editor

Ann Woolner is an author and retired journalist, having spent most of her 40-year career writing about the law. As reporter, editor or columnist, she has worked for the Memphis Press-Scimitar; the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, including four years as Washington correspondent; American Lawyer Media’s Fulton County Daily Report; and Bloomberg News, where she wrote a legal affairs opinion column for 11 years. Her work has appeared in USA Today, Atlanta Magazine, The American Lawyer magazine, Brill’s Content magazine and The Current, an online investigative news nonprofit based in Savannah. She served on the board of The Atlanta Press Club and, in retirement, on the advisory committee for The Learning Center, a lifelong learning organization in Savannah, where she is a frequent lecturer. As a mid-career journalist, Ann was selected for a Nieman fellowship at Harvard University. She holds a Bachelor of Journalism degree from the University of Missouri at Columbia.

A two-time author, Ann wrote Washed in Gold: The Story Behind the Biggest Money Laundering Investigation in U.S. History (Simon & Schuster) and The Jews of Savannah: An Escape, a Journey, a Home. (Congregation Mickve Israel).

Ann heads a team of volunteer journalists who edit and write articles for Georgia Lawyers for the Rule of Law.

Jim Long
Co-Chair, Speakers Bureau

Jim Long is a graduate at Davidson College and the University of Florida law school. He spent 32 years representing injured workers with the law firm of Long & Holder, LLP.

He was a founding board member and board chair of the Atlanta Bar Association Workers’ Compensation Section, board chair of the Workers’ Compensation Section of the State Bar of Georgia and is a Fellow of the College of Workers’ Compensation Lawyers. He is a recipient of the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation 20 Year Saturday Service Award.

He was the long-time board chair of Side by Side Brain Injury Clubhouse, a day facility for individuals with traumatic brain injuries, and was the first recipient of the annual Jim Long Servant Leadership Award given by the Clubhouse. For many years, Jim has been a big brother through Big Brothers/Big Sisters. One of his little brothers is currently an Assistant D.A. in Brooklyn, New York trying murder cases.

Michael Sullivan
Chair, Rapid Response Committee

Michael Sullivan is a partner with Finch McCranie, LLP in Atlanta. His 40+ year career includes litigating and trying complex civil and criminal cases on both sides, including prosecuting a former Secretary of the Interior, and representing whistleblowers in notable cases. He has also advised clients inside and outside the U.S. on compliance with law, and he served on the Senior Leadership Team of the Volkswagen AG Monitorship, as Counsel to the Monitor. He has long held the highest rating (AV) for legal ability and ethical standards from Martindale-Hubbell and has been recognized as a leading lawyer by Chambers USA (Band One nationally), Best Lawyers in America, and Super Lawyers. Michael was consulted by Congressional staff in the drafting of the whistleblower provisions of the Dodd-Frank law. At the request of state legislators, he helped draft Georgia’s two False Claims Act statutes. He has led educational programs on ethics and professionalism for attorneys, and he has testified as an expert witness in related cases. Mr. Sullivan is a 1984 graduate of Vanderbilt Law School, where he was Senior Articles Editor of the Vanderbilt Law Review and was selected to Order of the Coif. He clerked for U.S. District Judge Marvin H. Shoob in Atlanta from 1984-86.

Eytan Davidson
Part-Time Executive Director

Eytan Davidson serves as the part-time Executive Director of Georgia Lawyers for the Rule of Law, providing strategic leadership and organizational direction to advance GLRL’s mission of defending judicial independence and the rule of law. He brings to this role more than two decades of experience in public affairs, communications, and strategy across nonprofit, government, and civic sectors.

Eytan Davidson serves as the part-time Executive Director of Georgia Lawyers for the Rule of Law, providing strategic leadership and organizational direction to advance GLRL’s mission of defending judicial independence and the rule of law. He brings to this role more than two decades of experience in public affairs, communications, and strategy across nonprofit, government, and civic sectors.

Eytan is a partner at Open River Strategies, a social impact consulting firm that works with nonprofits, foundations, universities, and government agencies on strategy, communications, and governance. His prior roles include Southeast Regional Director at the Anti-Defamation League, where he led the organization’s civil rights and countering extremism work across a four-state region, as well as senior positions at Purpose Built Communities, Atlanta Beltline, Inc., and the Partnership for New York City. He also served in the administration of New York mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Eytan holds a B.A. in History from Columbia University and completed additional studies at Tel Aviv University and Columbia Business School. He is based in the Atlanta area.

Chanelle Boatswain-Alfen
Part-Time Executive Project Manager

Chanelle Boatswain-Alfen, M.Ed. is the part-time Executive Project Manager for Georgia Lawyers for the Rule of Law (GLRL) and has been with the organization since its founding. She helped build much of GLRL’s operational infrastructure from the ground up and plays a key role in facilitating GLRL’s communications and internal processes. Chanelle also provides operational and administrative support to GLRL’s Board of Directors and committees, helping streamline workflows, strengthen collaboration, and ensure effective execution of the organization’s initiatives.

Prior to joining GLRL, Chanelle held operations and program management roles at Gideon’s Promise, where she coordinated a national training institute for public defenders, and at Garland, Samuel & Loeb, P.C., where she provided administrative and operational support to a premier civil litigation and criminal trial practice. Chanelle began her career with Teach For America as a classroom teacher before becoming an instructional coach, supporting and developing more than forty first-year educators.

Chanelle holds a Master of Education from Christian Brothers University and a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice from Western New England University.