Linda Klein is the commencement speaker for Atlanta's John Marshall Law School's graduation ceremony, which will take place Saturday at 1:30 p.m. at the Cobb Galleria Center.

Klein, a longtime leader in the Atlanta legal community, is the immediate past president of the American Bar Association and senior managing shareholder at Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz.

“It is an honor to celebrate the graduates of Atlanta's John Marshall Law School as they begin their careers,” Klein said in a statement. “As lawyers, they will have the opportunity to have a meaningful impact on our society by helping bring access to justice to so many who need it.”

As ABA president, Klein was a major proponent for preserving legal aid funding for the federal Legal Services Corp., which President Donald Trump threatened to cut entirely after taking office last year. Congress ultimately increased LSC funding from $385 million to $410 million for fiscal 2018.

Klein also pushed back at the president's criticism of a federal judge who blocked his order restricting immigration from Muslim-majority countries. “Let me tell you what the most important border is: It's our Constitution and the rule of law it embodies,” Klein told the ABA House of Delegates during its midyear meeting in Miami last year. “We as lawyers are called upon to protect it. Make no mistake: Personal attacks on judges are attacks on our Constitution.”

Klein became the State Bar of Georgia's first woman president in 1997. During her tenure she successfully advocated for the state legislature to appropriate $2 million to fund legal aid lawyers representing victims of domestic violence. It's a program the Legislature still funds.