Frank Daniel LoMonte will be the Student Press Law Center’s next executive director, officially joining the SPLC on Jan. 2, 2008. Currently he is an associate attorney with Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP, Atlanta, where he has had a diverse commercial practice focusing on energy and telecommunications litigation.Prior to joining that firm in 2003, LoMonte was a law clerk at the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. LoMonte also has more than 12 years experience as a journalist, including serving two years as a state capitol reporter for the Florida Times-Union, nine years as bureau chief for the Morris News Service in Atlanta, and two years as Washington correspondent for Morris.”The board of directors of the SPLC enthusiastically welcomes Frank LoMonte to the organization. His strong credentials — both legal and journalistic — made him a compelling candidate to lead the SPLC, and his passion for our cause impressed us as just the right combination of qualifications we sought,” said Rosalind Stark, board chair.Since early 2005, LoMonte has been a member of the SPLC’s Attorney Referral Network. He also is a member of the State Bar of Georgia and holds memberships on the state legal committee of the ACLU of Georgia, Georgia First Amendment Foundation, American Constitution Society and the American Bar Association. He also is an active volunteer with the Atlanta Bar Asylum Project and Atlanta Legal Aid.”I am tremendously honored and excited to be succeeding Mark Goodman, who is rightfully one of the most respected voices in media law in this country,” LoMonte said. “Mark has established SPLC as a leading voice against censorship and in favor of open government, and I intend to work with SPLC’s friends in law, education, and the media to bring SPLC’s message and services to an even wider audience.”