James Magazine May-June 2020 - Magazine - Page 16
Bondurant Mixson & Elmore’s John Floyd is a racketeering law expert who donates hundreds of hours of time and knowledge to
prosecutors. His partner Mike Terry is
a skilled appellate attorney, sought after
for his capacity to sustain or dismantle
Terry
trial court rulings.
Domestic lawyer Randy Kessler of Kessler & Solominay is not only sought after for his legal skill, but also as
a lecturer and media commentator. Plaintiff’s counsel Joe
Fried, a founding partner of Fried Goldberg, has litigated
cases in dozens of states and is founder of the Academy
of Truck Accident Attorneys.
There’s John G. “Sonny” Morris and
technology practice leader John Yates
of Morris, Manning & Martin, Dennis
Cathey of Cathey & Strain and Paul
Weathington of The Weathington Firm.
Weathington
There are countless corporate attorneys who move easily in Georgia’s corridors of power.
Many of these lawyers have appeared in recent years, so
the following are our select elite: UPS general counsel
Norm Brothers . . . Delta Air Lines Chief Legal Officer
Peter Carter (and Delta’s Government
Relations Director David Werner, who
especially keeps busy during the General
Assembly) . . . John Tanzine of Columbus who ably represents the Georgia
Crown Distributing Company . . . Teresa
carter
Wynn Roseborough of Home Depot . . . Southern Company General Counsel Jim Kerr . . . Meredith Lackey of
Georgia Power . . . Tye Darland of Georgia-Pacic . . . Leo
Reichert of WellStar Health Systems . . . Jay Mitchell
with Jackson Healthcare . . . and Thomas Worthy, Piedmont Healthcare’s vice president of government affairs.
David Hudson of Augusta’s Hull
Barrett rm especially deserves plaudits in the defamation/libel eld and
has assisted legislators in crafting and
strengthening open records/meetings
laws. Hudson and son Brooks Hudson
Hudson
are counsel to the Georgia Press Association. Patrick
Rice, also of Hull Barrett, represents the famed Augusta
National Golf Club. Brothers David Bell and John Bell
are well-known Augusta trial attorneys. And two Augusta Democrats with clout are former state senator and U.S.
Senate candidate Ed Tarver and law partner Ed Enoch.
In Columbus Joel Wooten and Jim Butler of Butler, Wooten & Peak are well-known in the business and
political world . . . In Rome there’s Bob
Brinson of Brinson, Askew & Berry . . .
Steve Scheer represents various Savannah candidates and officeholders, and
past Bar president Pat O’Connor and
Paul Threlkeld represent the Georgia
Brinson
Ports Authority . . . In Brunswick/St. Simons, Jim Bishop
represents leading corporate citizens . . . Rick Brown Jr.
of Macon and Patrick Cork of Cork & Cork in Valdosta
have GOP ties and William “Pope” Langdale of Valdosta
is a former Georgia Trial Lawyers Association President.
Kimberly Hermann is the general counsel of the
Southeastern Legal Foundation, a constitutional law rm
and policy center; Georgia’s American Civil Liberties Union
Executive Director is liberal activist Andrea Young; Laurie
Speed, a personal injury attorney with Speed & King, is the
President of the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association.
THE LEGAL LEGENDS
First and foremost are colorful trial attorney
Bobby Lee Cook (reputed to be the
inspiration of the popular TV series
“Matlock,” featuring a defense lawyer
played by Andy Griffith); former U.S.
Senator and national defense expert
Sam Nunn and 1996 Atlanta Olymnunn
pics organizer and former Augusta National Golf Club
Chairman Billy Payne.
The irrepressible former Gov. Roy Barnes of Cobb
County hasn’t slowed down as a skilled legal/political
advisor for many Democrats and even a stray Republi-
can. Also in Cobb County is former U.S. Rep. Bob Barr
who heads the Law Enforcement Education Foundation.
Another former congressman, Buddy
Darden, is representing John Barrow in
litigation over Justice Keith Blackwell’s
Supreme Court seat, along with Charles
(“Chuck”) Byrd and Wade (“Trip”) H.
Darden
Tomlinson. A former governor, Nathan
Deal, is with the consulting rm Deal and Riley and also
teaches college courses.
No Georgia list would be complete without mentioning University of Georgia law professor emeritus Ron
Carlson and his aformentioned son, GBI Chief Counsel
Mike Carlson. Proven successes as trial and appellate attorneys, the Carlsons have taught and trained countless
judges and lawyers in the classrooms and lecture halls
across the country. Their books and articles are quoted
authoritatively by high courts and they are widely recognized as inuential behind-the-scenes players in state
and federal politics.
THE LEGAL ORGANIZATIONS
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M AY/JUNE 2020
Darrell Sutton of the Marietta-based Sutton Law
Group is president of the State Bar of Georgia and Christine Hayes is government affairs director. The State Bar
houses numerous offices and many committees, each
with their own leadership.
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