Sherry Virginia Neal

Sherry V. Neal is the managing member of Neal & Wright LLC. Experienced in both the private and non-profit legal sectors, Sherry specializes in assisting families who want to grow through adoption and enjoys representing adoptive parents in all types of adoptions. Sherry is widely recognized as an expert on Title IV-E adoption assistance benefits and is a regular speaker on this topic, both in Georgia and nationally. Sherry also provides legal services in the area of estate planning, focusing on middle income estates. Through these practice areas, Sherry’s goal is to assist her clients with creating families and protecting the rights of family members, particularly those with special needs.

As an outgrowth of her adoption practice and because of her commitment to Georgia’s adoptive families, Sherry founded the Georgia Council of Adoption Lawyers, Inc., and was the Charter President of that organization. She is also a Fellow in the Academy of Adoption and Assisted Reproduction Attorneys (///A), which allows her to work at a national level on issues affecting children and families in the adoption community. She served a term as Chair of the Board of Trustees for the Family Formation Charitable Trust and is currently Immediate Past Chair of the Trust. A charitable outgrowth of ///A, the Trust provides financial assistance to those individuals and organizations seeking to create families through adoption and assisted reproductive technology, to provide educational programs in support of this mission, and to provide grants and sponsorship for innovative and meaningful family building programs.

In the legal world, Sherry is an associate member of the Georgia Association of Licensed Adoption Agencies; a member of Voice for Adoption, the HelpUsAdopt.org Adoption Professionals Council, and the Stonewall Bar Association; and on the State Bar of Georgia’s Children and the Courts Committee. She also thoroughly enjoys chairing an (almost) annual CLE program for ICLE Georgia on ethics and professionalism issues of particular interest to women attorneys. Through her law firm, Sherry enjoys having the ability to offer and supervise internships for college students interested in the law and for law students interested in small firm practice or the firm’s practice areas. She and her partner look specifically to make these opportunities available to women and minority students.

In her local community, Sherry volunteers at least one day a week in the media center at Mary Lin Elementary, volunteers regularly with the Olmsted Linear Park Alliance and Lake Claire Neighbors, and served for four years as Chair of the Mary Lin Education Foundation. Sherry currently serves as Treasurer of the Inman Middle School PTO and as Secretary on the Board of Managers for the Wesleyan College Alumnae Association, the world’s oldest and best Alumnae Association.

Sherry graduated summa cum laude from Wesleyan College, where she majored in biology, minored in philosophy, played soccer and sang in the Washboard Band. She graduated cum laude from the University of Georgia School of Law, where she was a member of the Women Law Students Association and the Georgia Law Review (and had a whole lot of fun and met her husband and law partner).

Sherry has received numerous awards for both her professional and her personal involvement. In particular, in 2017, the Academy of Adoption and Assisted Reproduction Attorneys awarded her the Amy Silberberg Award in recognition of her work on issues involving the Title IV-E adoption subsidy, grandparents raising grandchildren, and children in foster care. Sherry is also proud that, in 2004, Wesleyan College named her Outstanding Young Alumna, an award given from time to time to an alumna who has provided unique service to or had a special impact on her profession, her community, or Wesleyan.

Sherry’s partner in life and work is Daniel S. Wright. They and their children make their home in the Lake Claire neighborhood of Atlanta. In addition to spending time with her daughter and son, Sherry’s personal interests include reading, yoga, walking (especially in the Olmsted Linear Parks), travel, and riding the occasional roller coaster.