Alex is a trial lawyer at Weatherby Law Firm based in Atlanta, Georgia. He works to make lives better with honor, efficiency, and effectiveness. He offers legal representation for folks in catastrophic injury, truck accident, class action, and professional malpractice cases. Alex recovers millions of dollars for genuinely injured folks, and he defends honorable companies in need of legal help.

Recently, he was a lead attorney in a wrongful death trial from a car accident that resulted in a verdict in excess of $27,000,000, which was one of the Top 20 verdicts in the nation for car accidents.

Alex is the first lawyer in his family. His father is a plumbing contractor, and he encouraged Alex at a young age to go to college and graduate school. After working summers for his dad’s plumbing company, Alex was not hard to convince!

Alex has a great respect for construction workers, and those summers taught him a lot about a strong work ethic.

Alex graduated from Samford University, in Birmingham AL, and majored in Communication Studies. He focused on public speaking and critical writing, skills he still uses as a trial lawyer.

Alex is a seventh-generation Georgia and an Atlanta native, so he knew he wanted to come back home. Alex went to the University of Georgia School of Law. At Georgia Law School, Alex was a member of the mock trial board which helps law students with trial advocacy. Alex was also a member of the moot court board which focuses on appellate arguments. During his final year of law school, Alex received the “William King Meadow Award.”

Students and faculty vote to provide this award to “one student in the graduating class best-exemplifying integrity, responsibility, and high legal ethics, and who has the keen sense of humor necessary to bring a proper perspective to solving legal issues.” Alex still works to keep his sense of humor at all times and under all circumstances, which jurors, judges, and clients tend to like!

Alex began working with Pitts Carr in 2010 and opened his own firm in 2021. His practice focuses on helping folks who truly need it, in the most honorable way possible. Alex has extensive experience with catastrophic injury cases, including brain injury, spinal cord injury, wrongful death, truck accident, bus accident, bicycle accident, inadequate security (shooting at an apartment complex), legal malpractice, and medical malpractice.

When he is not lawyering, Alex works to give back to his community. He is a Board Member of the Professional Liability Section of the Georgia State Bar. He has taught several years as an adjunct professor at Georgia State University. He serves as the President of his Neighborhood Association, and he serves on the Administrative Council of his Church. Alex’s favorite thing to do is spend time with his two daughters, wife, and dog in their home in Decatur, Georgia.

Elizabeth B. (“Betsy”) Hodges is Associate General Counsel - Conflicts at Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP in Atlanta, Georgia.  She is also the current Chair of the State Bar’s Professional Liability Section.  After graduating from the University of Georgia School of Law, Betsy began her career at the State Bar of Georgia’s Office of General Counsel, where she prosecuted attorneys for disciplinary violations, gave ethics advice to attorneys and helped revise the rules for the State Disciplinary Board.  Betsy then practiced as a litigator for many years and focused on construction litigation for the last years of her practice.  She served on the Investigative and Review Panels of the State Disciplinary Board in conjunction with her YLS Presidency.  Throughout her career, Betsy has represented lawyers charged with disciplinary violations and provided in-house ethics advice to colleagues and to lawyer clients. 

Judge Shondeana Morris was appointed to the DeKalb County Superior Court on June 17, 2019. Prior to Judge Morris’ appointment, she served as a DeKalb County State Court Judge.

Judge Morris earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from The University of Georgia and a Master’s degree in Criminal Justice from Albany State University. She graduated from Mercer University’s Walter F. George School of Law in 1997 and was admitted to the Georgia Bar that same year.

After graduating from law school, Judge Morris served as an Assistant Solicitor in Atlanta, Georgia. In 1999, she joined the Fulton County Office of the District Attorney and was promoted to Deputy District Attorney. As Deputy District Attorney, Judge Morris provided leadership to the Public Integrity Unit, where she worked to ensure public trust in local government and law enforcement; the Crimes Against Women and Children Unit, where she worked to protect families and children; and the Community Prosecution Unit, where she worked with communities and criminal justice partners to provide safe neighborhoods. In recognition of her outstanding trial expertise, Judge Morris received the Association of Government Attorneys in Capital Litigation Trial Advocacy Award in 2009.

Judge Morris is involved with many professional, civic, and religious organizations. She is a member of the State Bar of Georgia, the American Bar Association, the Georgia Association of Black Women Attorneys, the DeKalb Bar Association, the DeKalb Lawyers Association, the Gate City Bar Association, and the Lawyers Club of Georgia. She serves on several committees for the State Bar of Georgia. Judge Morris also served on the Georgia Judicial Nominating Commission, and she is the former chair of the Gate City Bar Association Judicial Section. Judge Morris serves as a proud member of the University of Georgia Alumni Board of Directors and Mercer University Law School Alumni BALSA Council.

An alumnus of Leadership DeKalb, Judge Morris served for nearly a decade as an Executive Board Member of the International Women’s House, a non-profit domestic violence shelter, a member of the Stone Mountain-Lithonia chapter of Jack and Jill of America, Inc., and a member of the Lions Club. Committed to the development of young people, she is a member of the Criminal Justice Advisory Board for Atlanta Technical College and frequently serves as a mentor and speaker on topics ranging from law and ethics to mental and physical wellness. Judge Morris is the State Bar of Georgia Suicide Awareness and Prevention committee chairperson and travels the country providing education and awareness to end deaths by suicide. Judge Morris also serves as the past chairperson of DeKalb County CASA.

Judge Wesley B. “Wes” Tailor was appointed to the State Court of Fulton County in December of 2010.  He currently serves as Chief Judge.  In addition to his regular criminal and civil matters, Judge Tailor presides over the Fulton County Recovery Treatment Court Program and hears cases docketed in the Metro Atlanta Business Case Division of the Superior Court of Fulton County.

In 2021, Judge Tailor served as President of the Executive Committee of the Council of State Court Judges and was a member of the Judicial Council of Georgia.  During his tenure, Judge Tailor created an ad hoc committee to work with the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities to address competency evaluations in misdemeanor cases statewide.  He currently is the Co-Chair of the Uniform Court Rules Committee.

Judge Tailor previously served as Chair of the Joint Governance Committee for the Fulton County State and Superior Courts; Chair of the Judicial Section for the State Bar of Georgia; Chair of the Lawyer Referral Information Services Board of Trustees for the Atlanta Bar Association; and as a Board Member of the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation.

Judge Tailor began his legal career in 1999 as a litigation attorney with Troutman Sanders LLP.  He then served as a prosecutor in the Office of the Solicitor-General for DeKalb County.  From 2007 to 2010, Judge Tailor served as General Counsel to the Georgia Secretary of State, Director of Elections for the State of Georgia, and Assistant Secretary of State.

Judge Tailor earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration, with concentrations in Finance and Economics, at the University of Richmond. After working for four years in the private sector, he then decided to go to law school and graduated summa cum laude and Order of the Coif from the University of Kentucky School of Law, where he was Associate Editor of the Kentucky Law Journal and served on the Honor Council.

https://trellis.law/judge/wesley.b.tailor

L. Chris Stewart is the Managing Partner of Stewart Miller Simmons Trial Attorneys, a serious injury and wrongful death law firm. Chris handles a variety of cases including wrongful death, civil rights, premises liability, mass torts and sexual assaults. Chris has won numerous record setting jury verdicts and made U.S history when he won the first billion dollar jury verdict for a rape victim. Chris is also recognized worldwide as one of the top civil rights lawyers of his generation. He has represented some of the most famous civil rights cases of this century that were captured on video including Walter Scott, Alton Sterling, Gregory Towns, Chase Sherman, and Deaundre Phillips. Attorney Stewart demands not just a monetary award for his clients, but also policing reform to prevent future abuse. Stewart also represents 4 of the most famous cases of 2020 including Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, Rayshard Brooks, and Taniyah Pilgrim (student who was tased during a peaceful protest in Atlanta).

Attorney Stewart is one of the most decorated African-American lawyers in the country having received the Julia Humbles’ Civil Rights Award, the Wiley Branton Award for Leadership, the Outstanding Citizen Award for the State of Georgia, the Georgia Senate Outstanding Public Service Proclamation, the Pinnacle Leadership Award, the Georgia Legislative Black Caucus Chairman’s Award, the Esquire Award, the R.E. Thomas Civil Rights Award, the first and only African-American voted Attorney of the Year for the State of Georgia.

Chris has been featured in international media including CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, The New York Times, Fox News, Good Morning America, The Today Show, Forbes and is a contributor on various media outlets. He travels frequently speaking at a variety of events and schools as the key note speaker. Born and raised in southwest Atlanta, Chris is extremely active in the Atlanta community and is also a board member of the historic Southern Center for Human Rights. He is a double HBCU alumni, graduating from Xavier University (LA) with honors in English, Tulane University with a Master’s of Science in Public Health, and Howard University School of Law. Having overcome reading issues as a youth, Chris embodies his favorite motto “Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough.”

Patrick Cruise is Board Certified in Truck Accident Law by the National Board of Trial Advocacy. He focuses on serious injury and death cases. Patrick is a member of the Academy of Truck Accident Attorneys as well as the Trucking Litigation Group for AAJ.  He has earned Martindale Hubbell’s highest peer rating standard of AV Preeminent. Patrick is licensed in Tennessee, Georgia and Louisiana, and is the managing partner for The Hamilton Firm in Chattanooga, Tennessee.  

Andy is a partner in the Savannah office at Harris Lowry Manton LLP where he works in complex litigation matters including products liability, medical malpractice, heavy truck collisions, toxic torts, business torts, and others. Andy is a "Double Dawg" who obtained both his undergraduate and law school degrees from the University of Georgia. He is a member of the Executive Committee of the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association where he has served as the chair of Education, Membership, LEAD, NLD, Judicial Liaison, and Directed Giving. He is also a chair of the Civil Justice PAC.

In his last trial, Andy and his partner, Jeff Harris, successfully obtained a verdict in excess of $16 million in a medical malpractice case involving the negligent care of a primary care physician that led to the suicide of his patient. Andy is scheduled to try cases in the next several months in cases involving diverse causes of action, including a toxic tort, business tort, and two medical malpractice cases.

Andy lives in Savannah with his wife, Alex, and two kids, Liam and Charli. He was born and raised in Spartanburg, South Carolina but has lived in Georgia since first attending the University of Georgia.

Bianca Motley Broom has been a full-time mediator at Miles Mediation & Arbitration since 2017. She has also served as mayor of College Park, Georgia since January 2020. She is the first African-American and the first woman to be elected as mayor in the city.

Mayor Motley Broom served as a part-time judge in the Magistrate Court of Fulton County from 2017-2019. Prior to her appointment to the bench, she was a Senior Trial Attorney at a national insurance company. During that time, her practice was primarily focused on personal injury and premises liability matters. Her previous work experience also includes five years as an associate at a national defense firm, practicing toxic tort litigation. She started her career as an Assistant Prosecuting Attorney in Cuyahoga County, Ohio. Mayor Motley Broom is a registered arbitrator, civil mediator, and domestic relations mediator in Georgia.

Michael Kitchens began his law enforcement career with the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office in 1993. In 2002, Mr. Kitchens obtained his CVSA Certification through the North American Standard for Level I, II & III inspections and began conducting inspections of motor carriers and their drivers for compliance.

In 2003, Mr. Kitchens was employed by the Georgia Department of Motor Vehicle Safety, which later transitioned into what is now referred to as the Motor Carrier Compliance Division (MCCD) of the Georgia Department of Public Safety. In 2008, Mr. Kitchens was assigned to the Specialized Collision Reconstruction Team (SCRT) and obtained his certification in the field of accident reconstruction. While assigned to the SCRT, Mr. Kitchens utilized his vast knowledge of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations in the reconstruction of fatal commercial motor vehicle collisions.

During his 20+ year law enforcement career, Mr. Kitchens conducted over 2500 commercial motor vehicle inspections and aided in the reconstruction of hundreds of motor vehicle collisions. During his law enforcement career, Mr. Kitchens became a certified instructor, Field Training Officer (FTO), and even a K-9 handler.

In 2013, Mr. Kitchen’s accepted a position as Safety Manager for a large commercial motor carrier, and later was promoted to Safety Director. Mr. Kitchens over-saw the management of the fleet, which was nearly 500 trucks, and he remains a certified Safety Supervisor.

In 2017,Mr. Kitchens joined Collision Specialists, Inc. and brings his education, experience and training to the private sector. Beyond his accident reconstruction training, Mr. Kitchens applies his knowledge of State and Federal regulations applicable to commercial motor carrier employers, employees and commercial motor vehicles carriers involved in motor vehicle collisions.