Today we are delighted to have Chris Joyner on the podcast. He is a journalist with the Atlanta Journal Constitution and is the author of The Three Death Sentences of Clarence Henderson and we are looking forward to diving into the book and a sordid period of Georgia history with Chris today on the podcast.

Chris Joyner:

Chris Joyner is an investigative reporter with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution with more than two decades of experience in journalism, ranging from community newspapers to national and international news and wire services. He reported from the scene of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill of 2010. As an investigative reporter, he focuses on uncovering hidden communities and has written about street gangs and life inside a supermax prison, the hidden world of government lobbying, and a white-collar criminal network built around a drug testing lab. He lives in Atlanta.

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Chris’ LinkedIn

Atlanta Journal Constitution

The Three Death Sentences of Clarence Henderson

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Today we share Robin and Lester’s CLE presentation, “Professionalism from a Trial Lawyer’s Perspective” for the Atlanta Bar Association. The panel is moderated by former podcast guest Robert Wellon (find a link to his interview below).

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, III:

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 shareholder in Akin & Tate, P.C., Georgia’s oldest continuing law firm. He has spent his entire professional career as a courtroom lawyer, having tried over 100 civil and criminal cases to verdict. While devoting most of his time to serious personal injury and wrongful death cases, where he has won a number of million and multimillion dollar verdicts and settlements, his practice is unusually broad and includes such diverse matters as state and federal criminal cases, complex commercial disputes, and worker’s compensation cases. Because of his extensive courtroom experience, Lester was inducted into the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA), one of the nation’s most prestigious trial lawyer organizations, with the rank of “Advocate”. He is also a Fellow in Litigation Counsel of America, a trial lawyer honorary society comprised of less than 1% of American lawyers. He currently serves as a Member of the American Bar Association’s House of Delegates and as President of the Georgia Chapter of ABOTA, and Treasurer of ABOTA’s Southeastern Chapter.

Lester has also appeared over 30 times in Georgia’s state and federal appellate courts. He is a Champion Member of the Georgia Trial Lawyer’s Association (GTLA) and a Member of the GTLA’s Political Action Committee Board of Directors, as well as the American Justice Association.

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.  He is also a graduate of Leadership Bartow’s 2012 class. Lester’s pro bono work includes having represented Advocates for Children as a volunteer legal counsel for over twenty years.

Today we are talking about some very special work being done with the Executive Director of The Georgia Justice Project, Doug Ammar.

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.

GJP has sought to be advocates for our clients not only by providing holistic criminal defense and social services; but also seeking systemic change in Georgia law that will reduce the number of people under correctional control and reduce barriers to reentry. During his time as Executive Director, GJP has helped change 21 laws in Georgia that have worked to reduce barriers to reentry for people impacted by the criminal justice system. GJP has continued to grow and expand its capacity to serve its clients with support from local foundations and national funders who have acknowledged our work. In 2020, GJP assisted over 6,000 Georgians with criminal justice issues and received a $5 million capacity from the Kendeda Fund; a national funder based in Atlanta.

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. Doug has received numerous awards for his leading voice in criminal justice reform and reentry, including but not limited to: Nonprofit Times 2019 Power & Influence Top 50; Urban League of Greater Atlanta’s Man of Empowerment & Distinction; Davidson’s College’s 2016 Game Changers, Emory University’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Service Award, Milner S. Ball Working In the Public Interest Lifetime Achievement Award; Georgia Center for Nonprofits’ Evelyn G. Ullman Innovative Leadership Award; Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers Indigent Defense Award; Davidson College’s John W. Kuykendall Award for Community Service; and Georgia Indigent Defense Council’s Commitment to Excellence Award. In addition to these recognitions, Doug is also an Omicron Delta Kappa Alumni inductee at Washington and Lee University and an Annie E. Casey Foundation fellow.

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Georgia Justice Project

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Today we are talking about premises liability cases with the person who wrote the book on Premises Liability as well as some cutting-edge litigation against Snapchat with our guest today, accomplished trial lawyer, Mike Neff.

Michael Neff:

Mike Neff founded Neff Injury Law in April 1996. After a successful solo career, Mike added Dwayne Adams, Susan Cremer and Shane Peagler to the firm. Mike has been lead counsel in trials where the jury returned verdicts totaling over $100 million.

In 2011, 2012, and 2013, Mike was lead counsel in three record-setting verdicts in Georgia, according to CaseMetrix: a $9 million verdict in a negligent security and rape case; a $2.79 million verdict in a grocery store fall case where the client developed Complex Regional Pain Syndrome; and a $35 million verdict against the amusement park Six Flags in a premises liability case.

In 2017, Mike was lead counsel in two trials that resulted in a total of $54 million in verdicts against an international car rental company, its agents, and an employee who stole a car and catastrophically injured two women.

Neff Injury Law currently has cases pending in Georgia, Arizona, and California involving wrongful death, sexual assault, premises liability, trucking and bus wrecks, and products liability.

Mike is the author of Premises Liability: A Guide to Success and Premises Liability: A Guide Through Trial, both published by Trial Guides. He is active in the American Association for Justice (AAJ) and is member of the Executive Committee for AAJ’s Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group and AAJ’s Inadequate Security Litigation Group. In 2014, Mike was elected Chair of AAJ’s Complex Regional Pain Syndrome Litigation Group. He is recognized as an Advocate by the National College of Advocacy and has served on the Executive Committee of the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association.

Mike was lucky to marry Kirsten Neff. “Coincidentally” his career blossomed shortly thereafter. Kirsten is an industrial engineer who is a retired Navy Commander. During her Navy tenure, Kirsten was a Seabee. She oversaw construction and property maintenance. Since leaving the Navy, she continues to work in managing commercial real estate with GSA. In addition to being a great wife and mother, she has been a valuable consultant on many cases.

Mike is a son, brother, husband and father. During college, he was a walk-on for the GWU basketball team. He likes to joke that his college coach, John Kuester (who later coached in the NBA), coached Lebron James, Kobe Bryant, and him.

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Neff Injury Law

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Today we are discussing The General Counsel’s Office of the State Bar of Georgia. To help us understand it, we are thrilled to have with us the General Counsel of the State Bar herself, Paula Frederick.

Paula Frederick:

Paula Frederick is General Counsel for the State Bar of Georgia, a unified bar organization with over 50,000 members.  As General Counsel, Ms. Frederick is responsible for interpreting the ethics rules for lawyers, prosecuting lawyer discipline cases, and providing legal advice to the officers and directors of the organization.  She has served in the Office of the General Counsel for 33 years and was Deputy General Counsel for Discipline before becoming General Counsel in 2009.

Ms. Frederick is a 1982 graduate of the Vanderbilt University School of Law and a 1979 graduate of Duke University.  Prior to joining the Office of the General Counsel, she spent six years as a staff attorney with the Atlanta Legal Aid Society handling civil legal matters for low-income people.

Ms. Frederick is a Past President of both the Atlanta Bar Association and the Georgia Association of Black Women Attorneys.  She is also an active member of the American Bar Association, where she serves as State Delegate for Georgia.  She sits on the ABA Standing Committee on Bar Activities and Services and recently chaired the Standing Committee on Professional Regulation.  In the past she served on the Commission on the Future of Legal Services,  chaired the Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility and the ABA Diversity Center, and served as a member of the Board of Governors.

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Georgia State Bar

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Today on See You in Court, we are talking about products liability and, more specifically, about a defect in the Chevy Cobalt uncovered by our guest, Lance Cooper.

Lance Cooper:

Lance Cooper is the founding partner of The Cooper Firm and represents clients in catastrophic injury and wrongful death cases. He specializes in product liability cases involving automobile design and manufacturing defects. Lance has been lead counsel for plaintiffs in a large number of jury trials including trials against General Motors, Ford, Toyota, Kia, Chrysler, Honda, as well as other motor vehicle manufacturers and large corporations.

His 2011 wrongful death case against General Motors (Melton v. GM, 2011-A-2652) exposed the cover-up of faulty ignition switches resulting in millions of recalled vehicles.

Lance received his law degree from Emory University in 1989 where he was a G. Joseph Tauro Scholar and Editor of the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy. He received his Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science and Economics from the University of California at Berkeley in 1985.

Lance served as the 2002-2003 President of the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association and is a past President of the Cobb County Trial Lawyers Association. He is also a member of the American Association of Justice and was honored to receive the Steven J. Sharpe Public Service Award in 2014. Lance was also a 2014 nominee for the Public Justice Trial Lawyer of the Year award.

In addition to his law practice, Lance is actively engaged in numerous community and charitable activities. He and his wife, Sonja, are the proud parents of five children, Rachel, Rebekah, Michelle, Asa, and Aaron.

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The Cooper Firm

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Today on See You in Court, we are honored to be joined by the Honorable Stephen Louis A. Dillard, presiding 73rd Judge of the Court of Appeals of Georgia.

Honorable Stephen Louis A. Dillard:

Presiding Judge Stephen Louis A. Dillard was appointed as the 73rd judge of the Court of Appeals of Georgia on November 1, 2010, by Governor Sonny Perdue. Prior to his appointment, Judge Dillard was in private practice with James, Bates, Pope & Spivey in Macon, serving as chairman of the firm’s appellate practice group. Judge Dillard was elected and reelected by his fellow Georgians in 2012 and 2018. On July 1, 2017, Judge Dillard was sworn in as the 30th Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals of Georgia for a two-year term that ended on June 30, 2019. He currently serves as the presiding judge of the Court’s Fourth Division.

Judge Dillard was born in Nashville, Tennessee on November 13, 1969. He attended and graduated from Hillwood High School in Nashville, Tennessee; Samford University (B.A. 1992); and the Mississippi College School of Law (J.D., cum laude, 1996). In college, Judge Dillard was a member of The Sigma Chi Fraternity and Omicron Delta Kappa. He was also given the Evelyn Meadows Historical Essay Award, as well as the William McMillian Rogers Colonial Dames Overall Essay Award for “The Tempting of America to be America: Alexander Hamilton and the Federalist Papers.” During law school, Judge Dillard was a member of the Moot Court Board and received the Judge Robert G. Gillespie Outstanding Achievement in Appellate Advocacy Award, as well as the American Jurisprudence Award in Appellate Advocacy. He also reactivated the Mississippi College Chapter of the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies, serving as its president for three years.

After graduating from law school, Judge Dillard joined the Macon law firm of Stone & Baxter, where he practiced from 1996 until 2001. In September 2001, he left private practice for a two-year period to serve as a law clerk at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit for Judge Daniel A. Manion (who was appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1986). In September 2003, Judge Dillard joined James Bates as of counsel, specializing in appellate practice and complex litigation. While in practice, he received an AV® Preeminent™ Peer-Review Rating from Martindale-Hubbell and was named by Super Lawyers as one of Georgia’s “rising stars.”

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Judge Stephen Dillard Twitter

Court of Appeals of the State of GA

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Today on See You in Court, we are excited to be joined by Frank Burns of J. Franklin Burns, P.C. On the show, Frank shares his expertise on worker’s compensation law, how the worker’s comp system works, as well as some common misconceptions about the law.

Frank Burns:

Frank Burns, Esq. is the founder of J. Franklin Burns, P.C. and a native of Gainesville, Georgia. He is a graduate of the University of the South, Sewanee, Tennessee, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science in 1982. He earned his J. D. at Mercer University School of Law in 1987. He began his legal career at Gorby & Reeves, an insurance defense law firm where he represented employers and insurance companies in Workers’ Compensation matters across the State of Georgia.

In 2002, he opened his law practice, J. Franklin Burns, P.C., devoting his practice exclusively to the representation of injured workers and personal injury victims. He has served on the State Board of Workers’ Advisory Council. and on the Legislative Committee of the Advisory Council. The Legislative Committee represents all stakeholders in the workers’ compensation system and is charged with crafting workers’ compensation laws for the State of Georgia.

In 2010, Mr. Burns was nominated and selected as a member to the Southern Trial Lawyers Association. He was admitted to the Georgia Bar in 1987 and has been practicing workers’ compensation law ever since.

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Today we are delighted to have Brian Haara with us. He is a Kentucky lawyer and author of Bourbon Justice: How Whiskey Law Shaped America and we are going to talk about his book and how litigation involving Bourbon, the great American Spirit, shaped our country’s laws.

Brian Haara:

Brian primarily serves the trial and litigation needs of clients in the insurance, financial services, and bourbon industries, but more broadly, Brian represents businesses and professionals in defense of employment claims and professional liability claims, fiduciary liability, disputes among owners, conflicts with competitors and vendors, insurance coverage and bad faith disputes, construction defects, and personal injury defense.  Clients have also called on Brian to coordinate and manage multi-state non-compete litigation.

Before disputes arise, Brian focuses with clients on being able to avoid them through planning, drafting practical policies and proactive employment contracts with reasonable restrictive covenants, and protecting clients by counseling them on their insurance policies and risks.

Brian’s practice also includes land-use planning litigation, receiverships, Community Association disputes, and other real property disputes, including as a Mediator approved by the Greater Louisville Association of Realtors for residential sales disputes.

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http://www.sippncorn.com/

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To learn more about the Georgia Civil Justice Foundation, visit fairplay.org

Today we are delighted to have Attorney Luther Battiste with us. He is a lawyer in Columbia, S.C. and the former National President of the American Board of Trial Advocates. He is also the host of World Class Jazz that airs each Sunday from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm on WVCD 96.5 Voorhees College.

Bio:

Luther Battiste, III, Esquire:

Luther J. Battiste, III is a founding shareholder of Johnson, Toal & Battiste, P.A. He is a graduate of the University of South Carolina and Emory University Law School.

In 1983, Luther entered the political arena and made history by becoming one of the first two African-Americans elected to Columbia City Council since Reconstruction. He served fifteen years as a member of the Columbia City Council including two terms as Mayor Pro Tempore. In 1998, the City of Columbia dedicated to Luther J. Battiste, III the Monument and Plaza in honor of his dedicated service as a public servant.

Luther has been repeatedly selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers of America, and Super Lawyers and also has been awarded the “AV” highest rating for ethics and legal ability by the Martindale-Hubbell national rating service. He is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates and the International Association of Barristers. Membership is by invitation only.

Luther has served as president of the Columbia Lawyers Association, the Richland County Bar, Association, the South Carolina Trial Lawyers Association, and The Southeastern Region of the American Board of Trial Advocates (SEABOTA).

He is also a member of the John Belton O’Neil Inn of Court, Southern Trial Lawyers Association, American Association for Justice, the National Bar Association, the South Carolina Association for Justice, Injured Workers Advocates, and The American Trial Lawyers Association. In 2017, Luther was elected National Vice President of the American Board of Trial Advocates.

He served two terms as Commissioner of the Richland-Lexington Airport Commission which operates the Columbia Airport and as Chairman for two years. In 1999, Luther Battiste received the coveted Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of South Carolina. In 1999, he was selected to the South Carolina Black Hall Fame and for inclusion in the Bell South African American Calendar for 2004. In 2007, the Richland County Bar Association awarded him the John W. Williams Award, its highest honor. In 2008, he was selected by Historic Columbia Foundation as one of the 30 Most Significant African-Americans in Richland County.

Luther presently serves on the boards of South State Bank, the National Center for State Courts and the executive committee and board of directors of American Board of Trial Advocates. He is the Chairman of University Associates, a group of business, professional and community leaders who support the University of South Carolina

His previous community service includes serving on the boards of Columbia College and as President of the Board of the Columbia Museum of Art and as Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Capital City Club.

Luther is married to Judy M. Battiste, and they have two children, Justin and Jade.

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Links:

JOHNSON TOAL & BATTISTE PA

World Class Jazz each Sunday from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm on WVCD 96.5 Voorhees College

Miles Davis – All Blues

See You In Court Website

To learn more about the Georgia Civil Justice Foundation, visit fairplay.org