Dawn Jones has an unusual backstory for a new president of the State Bar of Georgia: "For as long as I can remember," she said, "I wanted to be a nurse."

She treated patients for more than a decade in intensive care units at Grady and Emory hospitals, among others, before deciding to become a lawyer. Her medical background has made her particularly attuned to the challenges of COVID-19. She adds that her life as a Black woman means she understands what's behind the racial upheaval the country is experiencing.

Both events caused her to reinvent plans she had been developing for the bar since last July, when she assumed the role of president-elect. One of her most significant new ideas is a standing committee against racism, or formally, the Seeking Equal Justice and Addressing Racism and Racial Bias Committee.

The Board of Governors approved the panel, she said, and she is getting ready to announce its members. In an online introductory speech, Jones said the first goal of the committee is to "engage, listen and learn from all who are willing to share their experiences with bigotry and racism." The next goal is to eradicate bigotry, racism and racial bias from the administration of justice.

Jones got a glimpse of how widely bar members view racial issues in the past month amid dozens of responses the organization received to two messages. The first was sent in the wake of vandalism to the bar's downtown Atlanta headquarters during a violent offshoot to peaceful protests in May, and the second addressed racism in general.

Some supported the bar leadership's efforts, while others pushed more recognition of racism within the justice system. Still others argued, for example, for the bar to stop "kowtowing to the mob that insists that our justice system is inherently racist. It is not, and the bar should fight that false narrative."

"Our profession is a reflection of society," Jones said.

In brief farewell remarks, outgoing bar president Darrell Sutton said many of the pandemic's burdens have "fallen disproportionately on our black friends,"

"This is not OK," he added, urging bar members to communicate with each other and especially listen to each other.

Jones runs a plaintiffs practice at Dawn Jones Law, which handles wrongful death, malpractice and elder neglect cases.

Despite serving in the nursing profession she'd aimed for, Jones said she thought of joining the law after hearing attorneys from the Department of Health and Human Services speak about regulations. She realized the lawyers were "impacting millions of lives," she said.

After getting nowhere with complaints about staff reductions at a hospital where she was working, Jones decided to go back to school—graduating from Georgia State University College of Law. From there she went to jobs at Cozen O'Connor, King & Spalding and the Grady Health System, where she served as associate general counsel. In those jobs she defended health care providers and pharmaceutical companies.