Since 2013, Meredith Ragains has served as the Executive Director of Georgia Lawyers for the Arts. Meredith oversees legal services, education programs, and community relations for the statewide organization. Her duties also include long-range planning, budgetary controls, fundraising, and personnel supervision.

Prior to her work at GLA, Meredith was a litigator for 12 years at Robins Kaplan where she was in the Commercial Litigation practice group. In 2009, the State Bar of Georgia awarded Meredith its Pro Bono Project Award for her outstanding work with pro bono clients.

Meredith graduated from Emory University and Mercer Law School. After law school, Meredith clerked for the Honorable G. Ernest Tidwell of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. In addition to her work at GLA, Meredith is an adjunct professor at Emory Law School where she teaches contract drafting, and she regularly guest lectures at the Georgia State University College of Law on intellectual property-related topics.

Kelly oversees the Georgia PATENTS program and manages GLA services. Kelly obtained her LLM from Vanderbilt Law School in 2016 and was the recipient of the Scholastic Excellence Award in Copyright Law. In 2016, she also attended the 17th International Copyright Law Summer Course at University of Amsterdam, Institute for Information Law. Kelly received her JD from Dalhousie University and her MBA from the University of Toronto.

Kelly has over 10 years’ experience in the film and television industry having worked for producers and international distributors of live action and animated productions. She has independently produced two feature films, both of which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. Her experience also includes six years with a boutique branding, research and valuation company.

Jayma was born and raised in Rochester, N.Y. and then moved to Charleston, S.C. where she graduated from the College of Charleston with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. After college, Jayma co-owned and operated several businesses in Charleston, S.C. before attending law school. Jayma received her Juris Doctor and LL.M. in Intellectual Property Law from Thomas M. Cooley Law School. After law school, Jayma relocated to Atlanta to focus on trademark and copyright law. Jayma is a member of the Georgia Bar and the Michigan Bar. In her free time, Jayma enjoys cooking with her family, playing tennis, and spending time with her newly-adopted cat, “Batman.”

Ben is a Legal Fellow for Georgia Lawyers for the Arts. As a law student, Ben was selected for the Summer Intellectual Property program at University Lovran, Primorje-Gorski, Croatia where he studied international intellectual property and worked with European IP owners. As a student attorney with the Great Lakes First Amendment Clinic, Ben was featured in two newspaper articles on the importance of the First Amendment and its convergence with copyright and trademark law as it relates to journalism.

Ben became a percussionist at an early age. As a percussionist, Ben performed in symphonic and marching bands throughout his college years at South Carolina State University where he became a member of the Marching 101 Band and graduated with a B.S. in Psychology. Ben received his J.D. from Michigan State University College of Law. Before law school Ben worked as a software test engineer during the day and spent his nights as a budding music producer and songwriter. As a Broadcast Music, Inc. member Ben continues to engage the creative process through music production. He now lives
in Smyrna, GA with his wife, Andrea, and two daughters, Jeneen and Lana.