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See You In Court is a podcast series that seeks to educate the public about the Georgia Civil Justice System and is a production of the Georgia Civil Justice Foundation. The Georgia Civil Justice Foundation (GCJF) is a nonpartisan resource for anyone seeking to understand, preserve, or restore the basic functions of civil justice. GCJF supports public education about the civil justice system and how to gain access to the civil justice system when it is needed. Our goal is to reach all Georgians with a message that presents civil justice as society’s means of assuring fair play for everyone.
Episodes
Sunday Mar 26, 2023
Sunday Mar 26, 2023
Dennis T. Cathey is a graduate of the University of Georgia undergraduate and law school. Mr. Cathey was born in Rabun County, Georgia, and has served on the Board of Governors of the State Bar of Georgia, as president of the Mountain Circuit Bar Association, is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates, has served on the Investigative Panel of the State Bar of Georgia Disciplinary Committee, has been a member of the Federal Bar Council for the Northern District of Georgia and is a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. He is a past recipient of the State Bar of Georgia Traditions of Excellence Award and past-president of the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association.
Mr. Cathey was an officer in the United States Army Medical Service Corps, has served as a youth sports coach for the Habersham County Parks and Rec Department, is active in the Cornelia United Methodist Church and serves on the Board of Trustees of Piedmont College.
Links:
Cornelia Personal Injury Lawyers | Cathey & Strain, LLC (catheyandstrain.com)
https://www.gatriallawyers.net/
To learn more about the Georgia Civil Justice Foundation, visit fairplay.org
Sunday Mar 19, 2023
Sunday Mar 19, 2023
Before being appointed a US Attorney, Mr. Nettles graduated from The Citadel
and earned his law degree at The Widener University School of Law, where he was
on law review and was a member of the moot court honor society. After
graduating, he began a career that has taken him into every corner of the legal
system. Mr. Nettles began his career as a public defender in Columbia, S.C.
providing criminal defense services to indigent defendants who could not afford
attorneys. During that time, he ensured that the legal system would not leave the
economically disadvantaged behind.
From 1997 to 2005, Mr. Nettles worked in private practice as a sole practitioner.
He continued his criminal defense work and became one of the region’s most well-
respected “white collar crime” lawyers. He also represented clients accused of drug
crimes, handled several court-appointed capital cases, twice tried cases that were
argued before the United States Supreme Court and worked in medical malpractice
and other torts.
From 2005-2010, he worked at Sanders & Nettles, LLC . In 2010 Nettles was
appointed United States Attorney for the District of South Carolina by President
Obama and was sworn into that office on May 3, 2010. As the US Attorney, he
dramatically overhauled the office to focus on public corruption, fraud and white
collar crime, while also greatly increasing resources to the extraordinarily
important false claims whistleblower division. Under Mr. Nettles’ leadership, the
US Attorney’s office made white collar crime and public corruption the highest
priority of the criminal division’s efforts. He also earned national praise for the
innovative and intelligent approach his office took to drug crimes.
He is now back in private practice with his own firm, Bill Nettles, Attorney at
Law, in Columbia, S.C.
Links:
Columbia Whistleblower Lawyer | Blowing the Whistle Attorney (billnettleslaw.com)
https://www.gatriallawyers.net/
To learn more about the Georgia Civil Justice Foundation, visit fairplay.org
Thursday Jan 12, 2023
Thursday Jan 12, 2023
Today on the podcast, Robin and Lester interview Lance McMillian acclaimed legal author and scholar.
Guest Bio
Lance obtained his B.A., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Phi Beta
Kappa and his J.D., University of Georgia, summa cum laude, Order of the Coif.
He is a full-time professor of law at John Marshall School of Law where he teaches
Torts, Constitutional Law, Federal Courts, Constitutional Law Seminar, First
Amendment Seminar, White Collar Crime, Domestic Relations, Depositions, Law
Office Management, Remedies in Context, Scholarly Writing.
Professor McMillian joined the Atlanta’s John Marshall faculty in 2007. Before
embarking on a teaching and writing career, Professor McMillian wore many
different hats in the legal profession, including those of civil litigator, commercial
arbitrator, and certified mediator. The focus of his practice centered primarily on
complex litigation—class action prosecution and defense, business torts,
constitutional torts, and discrimination. In 2002, he became a founding partner of
the law firm of McMillian & Camp, LLP. Following its inception, the firm was
approved as lead counsel by numerous federal and state courts in class and
collective actions arising under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act and the
Fair Labor Standards Act. In this role, Professor McMillian successfully negotiated
several six and seven-figure settlements. As a neutral, Professor McMillian
mediated and arbitrated over 100 active lawsuits.
Professor McMillian’s writing career is just as diverse. He is a novelist and creator
of the Atlanta Murder Squad series. The first book in the series, The Murder of
Sara Barton, won a prestigious B.R.A.G. Medallion and became a #1 Best Seller
Legal Thriller on Amazon. His nonfiction work has appeared in such legal journals
as the North Carolina Law Review, the Washington and Lee Law Review, the
Wisconsin Law Review, the Alabama Law Review, the Tennessee Law Review,
the Southern Cal Interdisciplinary Law Journal, and the American Journal of Trial
Advocacy. He also contributed a chapter for Lawyers In Your Living Room! Law
On Television, a book project from the American Bar Association that also
featured essays from actors Sam Waterston and James Woods. A number of federal
and states courts, including an opinion by Judge Richard Posner of the Seventh
Circuit Court of Appeals, have cited Professor McMillian in their opinions.
Professor McMillian is married to Justice Carla Wong McMillian of the Georgia
Supreme Court.
Atlanta’ss John Marshall Law School (AJMLS) is a private for-profit law school in
Atlanta, Georgia. It was founded in 1933 and named for John Marshall, the fourth
chief justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. AJMLS is accredited by
the American Bar Association. It was among the first southern law schools to
integrate. It is in Midtown Atlanta and is accredited by the American Bar
Association. AJMLS offers five J.D. programs: full-time day, part-time day, part-
time evening, accelerated/spring start, and a Criminal Justice Certificate Program
(led by MacArthur Genius Fellow, Jonathan Rapping).
Lance’s books are:
To Kill A Lawyer (2021)
Death to the Chief (2021)
The Murder of Sara Barton (2020)
Lance’s latest novel is “Hard Way to Die”, the 4 th in the Atlanta Murder Squad
series, and takes place at a Georgia State Bar Annual Meeting on Jekyll Island.
Links:
Lance McMillian - Atlanta's John Marshall Law School
https://www.gatriallawyers.net/
To learn more about the Georgia Civil Justice Foundation, visit fairplay.org
Thursday Dec 15, 2022
Thursday Dec 15, 2022
Today on the podcast, Robin and Lester interview Douglas Ammar & Rami El Gharib of the Georgia Justice Project who focus on restorative justice.
Guest Bios
Douglas B. Ammar,
Douglas B. Ammar has been an active presence at Georgia Justice Project (GJP) since
its beginning in 1986. Starting as a volunteer, then joining as a staff
attorney in 1990, Doug has led GJP as Executive Director since 1995. During his time as Executive Director, GJP has help change 21 laws in
Georgia that have worked to reduce barriers to reentry for people impacted
by the criminal justice system.
Originally from Charleston, West Virginia, Doug earned a bachelor’s degree in History from Davidson College in 1984, and then a law degree from Washington and Lee University in 1989.
Rami El Gharib
Rami recently joined Georgia Justice Project (GJP) as the
organization’s first Restorative Justice Program Manager. Rami comes to GJP as
an accomplished Restorative Justice practitioner with several years of experience.
In his current role, Rami supports GJP in efforts to build Georgia’s first restorative
justice program taking referrals of felony cases involving adults, or youth who are
tried as adults. The program, Restorative Justice Georgia, is partnering with local
District Attorney offices in the Metro Atlanta area.
Before his role at GJP, Rami facilitated juvenile violent crime Restorative
Conferences and Victim Offender Dialogues in Colorado and Connecticut. He has
also facilitated Restorative Justice processes for adults within the Colorado justice system. Additionally, Rami is the founder of the Restorative Rainbow Alliance,
which aims to introduce a LGBTQ+ lens into the field of Restorative Justice by
providing extra care for LGBTQ+ victims of hate crimes and assisting facilitators
in understanding the extra levels of harm that LGBTQ+ individuals may face.
Rami is also the founder of The Space, an LGBTQ+ youth safe space in Colorado
that utilizes Restorative Circles to assess the needs of LGBTQ+ youth in the
Region.
Originally from Lebanon, Rami received his undergraduate degree in Psychology
from the American University of Beirut in 2017, and his Master’s in
Industrial/Organizational Psychology from the University of New Haven in 2020.
Links:
Georgia Justice Project - Transforming Our Community (gjp.org)
https://www.gatriallawyers.net/
To learn more about the Georgia Civil Justice Foundation, visit fairplay.org
Tuesday Oct 11, 2022
Tuesday Oct 11, 2022
Today on the podcast, Robin and Lester interview Cheryl Legare and Steven Wolfe of Legare, Attwood and Wolfe who focus on employment law.
Guest Bios
Cheryl Legare
Cheryl Legare’s practice focuses on representing employees in all aspects of
employment law, including claims of disability discrimination and retaliation,
sexual harassment, FMLA interference and retaliation, gender, pregnancy, race,
religion, national origin, age discrimination, and wage and hour disputes.
She also represents individuals in contract negotiations and employment separation
Negotiations.
Cheryl is active in the Georgia Association for Women Lawyers, the Atlanta Bar
Association, the State Bar of Georgia. She founded GAWL’s Solo/Small Firm
Affinity Group and is a past president for GAWL. Cheryl is also a member of the
National Employment Lawyers’ Association and is a past president of the
organization’s Georgia chapter.
Cheryl is admitted to practice law in Georgia and South Carolina. She is also
admitted to the United States District Courts for the Northern and Middle Districts
of Georgia, the United States Courts of Appeals for the Fourth and Eleventh
Circuits, and the United States Supreme Court.
Cheryl lives with her cat Dixie and dogs Luna and Molly in Decatur, Georgia. In
her spare time, Cheryl enjoys spending time with friends, listening to live music,
and traveling.
Steven Wolfe
Steven has devoted his entire legal career to helping individuals stand up to
their employers. He helps people fight for overtime pay that their employers have
illegally denied them. He helps people overcome unlawful workplace
discrimination, harassment, and retaliation and helps people negotiate severances
and new employment contracts. Steve has successfully represented people from all
walks of life, from all industries, and on all rungs of the corporate ladder, from
entry level to C-level. Steve attended Boston University for undergraduate and then Emory Law School.
Steve is married to his wife, Cristiane, who is a corporate attorney, has two sons,
Jake and Caleb, and two dogs. Steve loves hiking, photography, and reading
history or anything to do with the space program. He is also more than halfway to
my goal of hiking in every national park in North America.
Links:
https://www.gatriallawyers.net/
To learn more about the Georgia Civil Justice Foundation, visit fairplay.org
Thursday Aug 04, 2022
Thursday Aug 04, 2022
Today on the podcast, Robin and Lester interview Mariellen Jacobs, the founder of Rails Against Danger and the co-founder of the College Safety Coalition, Nanette Hausman. Also joining is Steve Welsh, plaintiff's counsel in Valdosta State University v. Davis
Guest Bios
Mariellen Jacobs
Mariellen Jacobs is the founder of RAD and co-founder of the College Safety Coalition (CSC). She is also on staff at Shepherd Center where her son was rehabilitated after his accident. A devoted mom of two and a resident of Georgia for 31 years, her passion is to drive for lasting change in institutional bed design and college campus safety data collection.
Nanette Hausman
Nanette Hausman, whose son, Corey, died on the campus of University of Colorado-Boulder while skateboarding on a dangerous campus street. As a result of Corey’s death, Nanette created College911.net whose purpose is to minimize college students’ deaths and accidents. She is a co-founder of College Safety Coalition. Nanette is driven to help colleges and injury prevention professionals acquire the data and resources needed to minimize the risk of injury and loss of life. She is equally committed to provide tools to prevent other families from living with the devastating loss hers does, every single day.
Stephen Welsh
Mr. Welsh has been practicing law since 1994 and specializes in workers compensation, bodily injury, and civil litigation law. He recently secured a 1.4 million dollar verdict for a veteran truck driver in the Superior Court of Laurens County. He has previously served as the Mercer Law Review Writing Editor, the Co-chair of the Georgia Workers Compensation Law Institute (2002), and at the State Board of Workers Compensation Annual Education Seminar as a panelist and speaker in 2008 and as an author and speaker in 1999. Mr. Welsh was also a host speaker at the 2015 State Board of Workers Compensation Annual Regional Seminar.
Mr. Welsh is currently an adjunct professor at the Mercer University School of Law, where he teaches the Workers’ Compensation class. He is an AV Rated attorney, holds several memberships, including the Trial Lawyers Association and American Association for Justice, and has been listed again by Best Lawyers© for 2020.
When not practicing law, Mr. Welsh enjoys playing golf and traveling.
Links:
https://www.gatriallawyers.net/
To learn more about the Georgia Civil Justice Foundation, visit fairplay.org
Friday Jul 08, 2022
Friday Jul 08, 2022
Today on the podcast, Robin and Lester interview Georgia trial attorney Jenny Jensen who specializes in legal malpractice cases and representing lawyers when they have been accused of behaving badly.
Guest Bio
Jenny E. Jensen
Ms. Jensen is a principal in The Jensen Firm, whose current practice focuses on attorney ethics, encompassing a Plaintiff’s professional negligence practice, including legal malpractice, representation of both lawyers and clients before the Georgia Bar in disciplinary matters and fee disputes, serving as an expert witness in in the areas of legal malpractice, attorney ethics and attorneys’ fees, as well as a general litigation practice.
Ms. Jensen also serves as a jury consultant and assists other attorneys with witness preparation and jury selection. She was named a “Rising Star” in 2005 and has been named a “Super Lawyer” for 2012-2022. Ms. Jensen was a member of the Georgia Bar Commission on Continuing Lawyer Competency from 2013 through 2018 and served as Chair of the Commission in 2017.
Ms. Jensen was admitted to the Georgia Bar in 1990 and is admitted to practice in all Georgia trial and appellate courts, as well as the United States District Courts for both the Northern and Southern Districts of Georgia and the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. She received her undergraduate degree, a B.S. Political Science with an
International Studies minor, from Georgia Southern. She is a graduate of the Walter F. George School of Law (J.D.) at Mercer University, where she was a Member of the Moot Court Board and Intrastate Moot Court Team, as well as the Dan J. Bradley Fellow, and recipient of the Class of 1974 Scholarship. Ms. Jensen’s Her practice has focused extensively on civil litigation and appeals in state and federal court. She has been a mock trial coach for over ten years and presently coaches the Duluth High School Mock Trial Team.
Links:
https://www.gatriallawyers.net/
To learn more about the Georgia Civil Justice Foundation, visit fairplay.org
Thursday May 05, 2022
Thursday May 05, 2022
Today on the podcast, Robin and Lester share their thoughts on the question asked at the end of every episode, “What is Justice?”. In addition, to close out the podcast, we share a few clips that exemplify the various types of justice as well as a short compilation of many of our former guest’s definitions of Justice.
Robin Frazer Clark:
Robin Frazer Clark is the owner and founder of the law firm of Robin Frazer Clark, P.C. Ms. Clark has practiced law for thirty years in Atlanta, Georgia, all as a trial lawyer in personal injury cases. Prior to this firm she was a partner in Clark Goldner, P.C. from 2004-2006 and a partner in Jewett and Clark, LLC from 1997-2004. Ms. Clark devotes one-hundred percent of her practice exclusively to representing everyday Americans who have been injured by the carelessness of others. This includes personal injury and employment matters, automobile wrecks, tractor-trailer wrecks, premises safety, elevator and escalator cases, products safety (including defective automobile manufacture), medical malpractice and sexual harassment cases.
Ms. Clark was recently invited and inducted into the International Society of Barristers. She is a Past President of the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association (GTLA) and previously served as President-Elect, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, Parliamentarian and Education Committee Co-Chair of GTLA. She served on the Editorial Board of The Verdict and was elected to membership in the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA). Ms. Clark was also on the Board of Governors for the State Bar of Georgia for Atlanta Circuit Post No. 36. She is a Past President of the State Bar of Georgia and a member of the Atlanta Bar Association, in which she is a Past Chair of the Litigation Section. She is a Member of the General Practice and Trial Section of the State Bar of Georgia. She is also a member of the American Association for Justice (formerly, the Association of Trial Lawyers of America) and a member of the Executive Committee of The Lawyers Club of Atlanta. Ms. Clark is a Fellow of The Lawyers Foundation of Georgia.
Lester Tate:
Lester Tate is a trial lawyer who served as the 48th President of the State Bar of Georgia. Since 1996, he has practiced as a member of Akin & Tate, Georgia’s oldest continuing law firm. He has spent his entire professional career as a courtroom lawyer, having tried over one-hundred civil and criminal cases to verdict and appeared over thirty times in state and federal appellate courts.
He currently serves as National Treasurer of the American Board of Trial Advocates and a member of the Executive Committee. He is the past President of the Southeastern Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates (SEABOTA) and is a member of the American Bar Association’s House of Delegates.
Lester is a Fellow in the International Society of Barristers, an invitation-only trial lawyer honorary society, whose members are rigorously screened by trial lawyers and judges to determine the member’s ability, experience, accomplishments and ethical standards.
He is Senior Fellow of Litigation Counsel of America, a trial lawyer honorary society comprised of less than 1% of American lawyers, and, because of his extensive courtroom experience, he holds the rank of “Advocate” in the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA).
While devoting most of his time to wrongful death and serious personal injury cases, where he has a number of million and multimillion-dollar verdicts and settlements, Lester’s practice includes many diverse matters. He has successfully defended individuals charged with a broad array of state and federal crimes at trial, ranging from murder to conspiracy. He has also handled a wide variety of complex commercial and political cases involving issues as varied as shareholder rights and ballot access.
Active in community and public affairs, Lester serves on the board of the Community Foundation of Northwest Georgia and the Board of Advisors for Georgia Tech’s School of Literature, Media, and Communications. Lester’s pro bono work includes having represented Advocates for Children as volunteer legal counsel for over twenty years.
Links:
Clip 1: Chris McNabb sentenced to life without parole: 'I would never do this. I'm innocent.'
Clip 2: DATING APP MURDER TRIAL | Adam Hilarie's Mother Reacts - COURT TV
Clip 3: 'I forgive you': Botham Jean's brother hugs Amber Guyger after she gets 10 years in prison
Clip 4: No Other Road: 1953 Red and Black Editors Stand Up for Equality and Free Speech
https://www.gatriallawyers.net/
To learn more about the Georgia Civil Justice Foundation, visit fairplay.org
Friday Apr 15, 2022
Friday Apr 15, 2022
Today on the podcast, Robin and Lester interview Ray Persons, Senior Litigation Partner at King and Spalding and President of the International Society of Barristers.
Ray Persons:
W. Ray Persons is a senior litigation partner at King & Spalding, an international law firm that represents a broad array of clients, including half of the Fortune Global 100, with 900 lawyers in 23 offices in the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Ray has a national practice focused on product liability, mass tort, class action and complex litigation.
Ray has represented more than 50 of the Fortune 500 as counsel or national coordinating counsel for clients in the pharmaceutical, automotive, chemical and energy industries; he has served as lead counsel in 92 jury trials, 90 percent of which went to verdict. He has served as lead counsel in over 25 Engle progeny tobacco jury trials. He serves as national counsel in In re UST Litigation for one of the world’s largest petroleum companies in claims brought by dozens of states alleging fraudulent overpayment of claims for reimbursement of costs associated with cleanup of underground storage tanks. He served as national coordinating counsel and lead trial counsel for Union Carbide Corporation in the successful defense against claims of an alleged industry-wide conspiracy to subject workers to cancer-causing chemicals. He represented one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies in a 442-plaintiff case involving claims of exposure to arsenic and chromium stemming from the 60- year operation of a manufacturing facility in New Jersey. Ray successfully defended against claims brought by 1,200 homeowners and residents who lived in the vicinity of a fertilizer plant; the chemicals of concern were arsenic, lead, mercury and sulfur dioxide.
Ray is regarded as one of the best trial lawyers in the country, as evidenced by his election as a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, the International Society of Barristers and the Litigation Counsel of America. He holds the rank of Advocate in the American Board of Trial Advocates. He is listed in The Best Lawyers in America in four categories: Commercial Litigation, Bet-the-Company Litigation, Mass Torts, and Product Liability; Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business; Lawdragon 500; The Legal 500; Georgia Trend magazine’s “Legal Elite,” and Atlanta Magazine's Georgia Super Lawyers (Top 10 for eight consecutive years). He is a member of the Defense Research Institute, Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel, International Association of Defense Counsel, and American Health Lawyers Association.
Ray received his undergraduate degree in 1975 from Armstrong State College and his law degree in 1978 from The Ohio State University. He was awarded the Armstrong State University Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2000, the Moritz College of Law 2005 Distinguished Alumnus Award, The Ohio State University 2006 Distinguished Service Award, and The Ohio State University 2012 John B. Gerlach, Sr., Development Volunteer Award.
Links:
International Society of Barristers
https://www.gatriallawyers.net/
To learn more about the Georgia Civil Justice Foundation, visit fairplay.org
Friday Feb 25, 2022
Friday Feb 25, 2022
Today on the podcast, Robin and Lester interview writer and Senior Editor of POLITICO, Peter Canellos. We are so excited to discuss Peter’s new book, The Great Dissenter: The Story of John Marshall Harlan, America’s Judicial Hero.
Peter Canellos:
Peter S. Canellos is managing editor for enterprise at POLITICO, overseeing the site’s magazine, investigative journalism, and major projects. He has also been POLITICO’s executive editor, overseeing the newsroom during the 2016 presidential coverage, and the editorial page editor of The Boston Globe.
A native of Boston, Peter is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia Law School. He spent most of his career at the Globe, where at various points he oversaw the paper’s local news coverage and Washington, D.C., bureau. As the Globe’s editorial page editor, he authored numerous editorials urging Bostonians to overcome their parochial divisions and embrace their status as a world-class city.
He also edited the Globe’s book, “Last Lion: The Fall and Rise of Ted Kennedy,” which was a top-10 New York Times bestseller in 2009. The book also set the stage for much of the analysis of Kennedy’s career following his death from cancer and supplied most of the anecdotes for President Barack Obama’s eulogy of Kennedy.
For the past 12 years, Peter has worked with the International Women’s Media Foundation overseeing the Elizabeth Neuffer Fellowship, given to a woman journalist from around the world to study human rights at MIT and intern at the Globe and New York Times. He has also traveled overseas on human rights trips with the US Holocaust Museum, International Reporting Project, and Robert Bosch Foundation, among other groups.
Peter considers the many young journalists he’s hired and mentored over the years to be his greatest accomplishment. As an editor, he has overseen two Pulitzer Prize-winning projects along with five others that were Pulitzer finalists, among many other awards. As a writer, he was a recipient of the American Society of Newspaper Editors award in 2011 for excellence in editorial writing.
Links:
https://www.gatriallawyers.net/
To learn more about the Georgia Civil Justice Foundation, visit fairplay.org