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Today on the podcast, Robin and Lester interview Judge Alvin Wong, Georgia’s first Asian American judge.
Judge Wong came to Richmond, Va. from Hong Kong when he was 14. His father enrolled him at Fishburne Military Academy in Waynesboro, Va., shook his hand and said he’d “see him next summer.” He followed a classmate from Fishburne to Auburn University without even knowing where it was. He graduated early and moved to Atlanta. He started taking night classes at John Marshal Law School and passed the Georgia Bar in 1976. He hung out a shingle and worked as a trial lawyer and then was a partner at Gambrell & Stolz (now Baker Donelson) for 20 years. Judge Wong was elected to the State Court of DeKalb County in 1999 and since his election in 1999, he’s been reelected, unopposed, to six consecutive terms. With his election in 1999, he became the first Asian American judge in Georgia history. At that time, Asians made up less than two percent of registered voters in DeKalb County.
In 2004, Judge Wong co-founded a DUI court to help people, calling it one of the most rewarding things he’s done. He also sits on the board of the Lifeline Animal Project, a nonprofit that helps turn Atlanta animal shelters into no-kill shelters. He also brings to the courthouse Coco, a dachshund-chihuahua mix he rescued a decade ago. Jurors love to meet her after the trial is over. Judge Wong was elected by his peers in 2021 as president of the Georgia Council of State Court Judges, overseeing the entire state. His election marked the first time an Asian American served as president of any judicial council in Georgia.
In 1993, Judge Wong and Professor Natsu Saito of Georgia State University Law School combed the State Bar Directory to find 10 attorneys to start an Asian American Bar Association. Today, the Georgia Asian Pacific Bar Association (GAPABA) has 750 members. In 2014, GAPABA named its top prize the “Judge Alvin T. Wong Pioneer Award”. It is given in his honor to a lawyer who demonstrates leadership to pave the way for the advancement of APA attorneys. He is the recipient of the 2017 Traditions of Excellence Award presented by the General Practice and Trial Section of the State Bar of Georgia. He received the 2022 Randolph Thrower Lifetime Achievement Award presented by the Committee to Promote Inclusion in the Profession of the State Bar of Georgia. Judge Wong serves the ABA Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility – Judges Advisory Committee and as a Fernbank Museum of Natural History trustee and NAPABA (the National Asian Bar) Law Foundation board member, mentoring future leaders as co-director of its Thomas Tang National Moot Court Competition.
Today on the podcast, Robin and Lester reflect on the rare Presidential Pardon successfully obtained for Peter Heidgerd. Robin Frazer Clark is a trial lawyer. She was the 50th President of the State Bar of Georgia, is a Past President of Georgia Trial Lawyers Association, a Past President of the Lawyers Club of Atlanta and has practiced law in Georgia for 36 years. She is a member of the International Society of Barristers and of the American Board of Trial Advocates. She is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. Robin has tried over 75 jury trials and argued in Georgia Appellate Courts over 45 times.
https://www.gatriallawyers.net
See You In Court (seeyouincourtpodcast.org)
To learn more about the Georgia Civil Justice Foundation, visit fairplay.org
McCracken “Ken” Poston, Jr. is a Georgia trial lawyer, practicing criminal defense in Ringgold, Georgia. He is a former 4 term legislator in the Georgia House of Representatives. He is a graduate of the The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and is a 1985 graduate of The University of Georgia School of Law. He has practiced law for 39 years in Georgia. He gained national attention for his handling of several notable cases that were featured on CNN Presents, Dateline NBC, A&E’s American Justice and Forensic Files. Ken’s new book “Zenith Man: Death, Love and Redemption in a Georgia Courtroom” tells the tale of Alvin Ridley, accused of murdering his wife, and Ken’s courtroom battle for Justice for Alvin.
https://www.mccrackenpostonjr.com
https://www.gatriallawyers.net/
See You In Court (seeyouincourtpodcast.org)
To learn more about the Georgia Civil Justice Foundation, visit fairplay.org
Today on the podcast, Robin and Lester discuss negligent security with Gilbert Deitch and Andrew Rogers
Gil Deitch is widely recognized as a leading advocate for the rights of crime victims and an expert on civil cases arising from rapes and other criminal assaults occurring on private and public property. For decades he has been known by lawyers and judges as a pioneering force in the field of premises liability and has handled more negligent security cases than any other attorney in the State of Georgia and throughout the Southeast. Gil Deitch is a member of the Georgia and Tennessee Bar Associations. He belongs to the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association. He received his law degree (J.D.) from the University of Tennessee in 1970 and his undergraduate degree (B.B.A.) from the University of Georgia in 1967. Andy Rogers has worked tirelessly for crime victims since 1988. After beginning his career as criminal prosecutor, Mr. Rogers has concentrated exclusively on representing crime victims in civil cases for over 20 years.
Atlanta Crime Victim Attorneys – Deitch + Rogers
https://www.gatriallawyers.net/
See You In Court (seeyouincourtpodcast.org)
To learn more about the Georgia Civil Justice Foundation, visit fairplay.org
Today on the podcast, Robin and Lester flashback to previous guests answers on the ultimate question: What is Justice?
http://www.akintate.com/
https://www.gatriallawyers.net/
See You In Court (seeyouincourtpodcast.org)
To learn more about the Georgia Civil Justice Foundation, visit fairplay.org
Today on the podcast, Robin and Lester interview author and lawyer Martin Siegel
Guest Bio
Martin Siegel’s law practice focuses on briefing and arguing complex appeals in federal and state courts. He also handles critical motions in trial courts and consults on legal analysis and strategy. Siegel has won appeals in the U.S. Supreme Court, federal appellate courts around the country, and the Texas Supreme Court, and has repeatedly earned recognition from peers.
In 2012, he was elected to the Texas Bar Foundation, a fellowship limited to 0.3% of federal civil appeals | Houston | Law Offices of Martin J. Siege (siegelfirm.com)licensed Texas attorneys each year based on regional peer nomination. The Texas Bar Foundation supports projects providing affordable legal services for underserved communities, promotes professionalism, and educates the public about the justice system. Martin graduated from the University of Texas as an undergrad and then Harvard Law School.
After graduating from Harvard Law School, Martin J. Siegel was the last law clerk for Judge Irving R. Kaufman, the subject of Martin’s new book, who served on the Second Circuit. Martin then served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York and as Special Counsel on the staff of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee from 2000-2001.
He now practices law in Houston, Texas and teaches American Legal History at the University of Houston Law Center, where he also directs the Appellate Civil Rights Clinic. He also serves on the board of the Anti-Defamation League, Southwest Region, and has drafted state legislative testimony and amicus briefing for the ADL. Martin is also a Senior Editor of Litigation, a quarterly publication of the American Bar Association’s Section on Litigation.
Links:
Houston | Law Offices of Martin J. Siege (siegelfirm.com)
https://www.martinjsiegel.com/
https://www.gatriallawyers.net/
See You In Court (seeyouincourtpodcast.org)
To learn more about the Georgia Civil Justice Foundation, visit fairplay.org
Craig Jones is a North Carolina native who is a graduate of Brown University and Wake Forest University School of Law. He has been handling cases of governmental liability since the 1980’s—including two civil rights cases that Craig personally argued in the United States Supreme Court: Hope v. Pelzer (2002) and Scott v. Harris (2007). In addition to representing plaintiffs in police misconduct and other governmental liability cases, Craig has practiced extensively in the areas of personal injury, medical malpractice, product liability, and premises liability.
After practicing for 29 years in Atlanta and 8 years in Washington, Georgia, Craig and his wife Sharon are in the process of moving their empty nest to Savannah, where he will continue to maintain a statewide tort practice with civil rights cases in all three federal districts of Georgia.
Craig T. Jones, P.C. – Trial Lawyer (craigtjones.com)
Scott v Harris (USSC 05-1631) Pursuit Video
https://www.gatriallawyers.net/
See You In Court (seeyouincourtpodcast.org)
To learn more about the Georgia Civil Justice Foundation, visit fairplay.org
Judge Mike Jacobs has served on the State Court of DeKalb County since June 2015. Mike is the first openly LGBTQ+ countywide elected official in DeKalb County history and the county’s first openly LGBTQ+ trial judge.
Mike serves on the board of directors of Leadership DeKalb, chairs Government Day for the program, and is a member of the Class of 2016, the best class ever. He also serves on the board of directors of the Stonewall Bar Association of Georgia and as secretary and a board member of the International Association of LGBTQ+ Judges.
Prior to his judicial service, Mike served ten and a half years in the Georgia House of Representatives, representing the DeKalb communities of Brookhaven, Chamblee, and Toco Hills. He was chairman of the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Oversight Committee (MARTOC), the joint House and Senate committee that oversees MARTA’s management, budget, and fiscal affairs. He also served as chairman of one of the two subcommittees of the House Judiciary Committee.
In 2010, Mike received the Allen Thornell Political Advancement Award from Georgia Equality for authoring and passing a stronger anti-bullying law for public schools. In 2012, Mike served on the Special Joint Committee on Criminal Justice Reform, which vetted major reforms that place greater emphasis on rehabilitating non-violent offenders to lead productive lives.
In 2014, Interim CEO Lee May appointed Mike to the DeKalb Operations Task Force (OTF). The OTF recommended county government reforms that the General Assembly enacted to help our county function better, including DeKalb’s SPLOST, which Mike authored and passed in 2015.
In 2019, Mike was recognized by the Stonewall Bar Association of Georgia at its annual awards gala with the award for Outstanding Service to the Stonewall Community.
Before joining the bench, Mike was a solo practitioner for four years, focusing his practice on consumer bankruptcy and debtor-creditor litigation. Mike received his law degree, magna cum laude, from the University of Georgia School of Law in 2003. While at UGA Law, he served as Executive Articles Editor of the Georgia Law Review. In 1997, Mike received his bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. Mike is the proud parent of three children, Jonah, Eli, and Samantha.
https://www.gatriallawyers.net/
To learn more about the Georgia Civil Justice Foundation, visit fairplay.org
Presiding Justice Nels S.D. Peterson was appointed by Governor Nathan Deal to the Supreme Court of Georgia, effective January 1, 2017. He was re-elected statewide for a six-year term in 2018. He previously served as a judge of the Georgia Court of Appeals, to which he was appointed by Governor Deal effective January 1, 2016.
Presiding Justice Peterson graduated from Kennesaw State University with a B.S. in political science and a minor in economics. While at KSU, he served as President of Student Government and Chair of the Student Advisory Counsel to the Board of Regents and was named KSU Student of the Year and Outstanding Senior in Political Science. Presiding Justice Peterson received his J. D. from Harvard Law School. At Harvard, he was Executive Editor of the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy, Executive Vice-President of the Federalist Society, and a finalist in the Ames Moot Court Competition.
Upon graduation from law school, Presiding Justice Peterson served as a law clerk to Judge William H. Pryor Jr. of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Presiding Justice Peterson then practiced at King & Spalding LLP in Atlanta, where he focused on securities litigation, corporate governance litigation, merger-related litigation, and appellate litigation. Presiding Justice Peterson then moved to the Governor’s Office, where he served as Executive Counsel and Deputy Executive Counsel to Governor Sonny Perdue.
In addition to his role as the Governor’s chief legal advisor, Presiding Justice Peterson also served as a senior advisor on a broad array of policy issues, including water, natural resources, education, the judiciary, and criminal justice. At the expiration of Governor Perdue’s term, Presiding Justice Peterson moved to the Attorney General’s Office as Counsel for Legal Policy, where he oversaw major policy issues and litigation, as well as the rewrite of the state’s Open Records and Open Meetings Acts.
In 2012, the Attorney General appointed Presiding Justice Peterson as Georgia’s first Solicitor General. In that position, he oversaw all of the state’s civil appellate litigation, played a lead role in all policy-related litigation, and served as a senior advisor to the Attorney General. Presiding Justice Peterson was then appointed Vice Chancellor for Legal Affairs and Secretary to the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia, a position he held until his appointment to the Court of Appeals.
Presiding Justice Peterson has served on numerous government and non-profit boards and committees, has received a variety of honors and awards, lives with his wife Jennifer and two children in Cobb County, and is an active member of Johnson Ferry Baptist Church.
Presiding Justice Nels S.D. Peterson – Supreme Court of Georgia (gasupreme.us)
To learn more about the Georgia Civil Justice Foundation, visit fairplay.org
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 the 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.
Cornelia Personal Injury Lawyers | Cathey & Strain, LLC
https://www.gatriallawyers.net/
To learn more about the Georgia Civil Justice Foundation, visit fairplay.org