Natalie Kelly

Natalie Kelly is the Southern Poverty Law Center’s director of legal management, overseeing the operations of the SPLC’s legal department.

Previously, Kelly served as the director of the State Bar of Georgia’s Law Practice Management Program. She conducted over 1,200 onsite practice management and technology consulting engagements with Georgia law firms and legal departments. In 2005, she was selected State Bar of Georgia Employee of the Year.

A certified consultant for multiple legal software applications and a recognized national practice management expert, Kelly has presented continuing legal education programs in over 25 states, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Canada. She was named to the American Bar Association’s (ABA) inaugural list of Women of Legal Tech in 2015. That same year, she was selected as a Fastcase 50 honoree, which recognizes “50 of the smartest, most courageous innovators, techies, visionaries and leaders in the law.”

Kelly is active in the Law Practice Division of the ABA, serving on its council and numerous committees and delivery boards. She won the Robert P. Wilkins Award in 2016 for best feature article in the division’s magazine, Law Practice. She serves on the boards of the ABA Diversity and Inclusion Center and the ABA Career Center.

She was chair of the 2014 ABA TECHSHOW Planning Board, an event that brings together lawyers and other legal professionals to learn about effective and practical technologies available for the legal profession.

Kelly is a former member of the National Association of Bar Executives and the National Bar Association. She is a member of the Georgia Association of Black Women Attorneys and the Atlanta Bar Association. She previously served on the board of the Lawyers for Equal Justice incubator in Georgia.

Kelly received her bachelor’s degree in English with a minor in political science from Spelman College. She received her law degree from Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School.