Directors and Staff
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Meredith Ragains, Esq.Executive Director
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Kelly Bray, Esq.Director of Legal Services
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Jayma Leath, Esq.Staff Attorney
About Meredith
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.
About Kelly
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.
About Jayma
Legal Fellows

Connor Edwards
Connor is a Legal Fellow for Georgia Lawyers for the Arts. He is originally from Iowa and attended the University of Tampa with aspirations of going to law school. Connor graduated from Emory University School of Law in May 2020 and passed the October 2020 Georgia Bar Exam. Connor hopes to work as an attorney in the entertainment and sports industry. In his spare time, Connor enjoys watching all sorts of movies, listening to every genre of music, cheering on his favorite sports teams, and keeping in touch with his friends through video games.

Benjamin Middleton
About Ben
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.
Legal Externs

Julia Silverman
Julia is an Arts Legal Extern for Georgia Lawyers for the Arts. She is from Atlanta and studied international relations and Spanish at the University of Georgia. Julia currently attends the University of Georgia School of Law and hopes to work as an attorney in the film and television industry. In her free time, Julia enjoys running, spending time with friends and family, and taking care of her puppy, “Ringo.”

Robert Schmidt
Robert is a Patents Legal Extern for Georgia Lawyers for the Arts. He is from Wisconsin and obtained a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Furman University. He is a current third year at Emory University School of Law and is pursuing a career in intellectual property with a focus on Patents and technology. During his free time, Robert enjoys playing guitar, reading variety of novels including adventure fiction, running, and spending the remaining of his time with friends and family.