CLE Hours: 6 including 6 General, 0 Specialty Credits TBD
Agenda to be posted soon.
David Bouchard is an accomplished trial lawyer who represents victims and families in catastrophic injury and wrongful death cases resulting from the negligence of others. He has received high praise from clients, jurors, and judges for his courtroom advocacy and has been recognized by Chambers USA, Best Lawyers, and U.S. News and World Report as a premiere trial lawyer. According to Chambers, other lawyers have described David as a "tenacious trial lawyer" who "knows how to get to the truth," "extremely competent," and "the finest young trial lawyer seen in court in 10 years."
David and his colleagues have recovered tens of millions of dollars for clients in cases arising from medical malpractice, civil rights violations, premises liability, and negligent operation of a vehicle. David is one of the most experienced lawyers in the country in the representation of sex trafficking survivors in lawsuits against businesses that benefit from sex trafficking.
David began his legal career with a prominent international law firm, where he worked on major commercial litigation matters for some of the world's largest companies, including more than ten Fortune 500 companies.
In his free time, David is active in the Atlanta community. He currently serves on the Advisory Board for The Posse Foundation Atlanta. David is a graduate of the LEAD Atlanta program (2017), and he has mentored numerous law school students through the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity. David has also been called upon to lecture on trial advocacy and litigation strategy to law school students.
David received his law degree from New York University School of Law, and his undergraduate degree from Northwestern University. Prior to attending law school, David received a prestigious Fulbright Scholarship from the United States Department of State. David served in Haiphong, Vietnam.
Lee Gutschenritter is a trial lawyer dedicated to the representation of individuals and families who have suffered serious injuries or death due to the negligence of others. Lee has won numerous jury trials on behalf of his clients. His most recent trial resulted in a historic $38.6 million jury verdict against one of the largest hospitals systems in the State of Georgia.
In the past five years alone, Lee has recovered in excess of $100 million in verdicts and settlements. Every year since 2016, Lee has been selected as an Atlanta Magazine Super Lawyers' "Rising Star" & “Super Lawyer”, an award reserved for the top 2.5% of attorneys in Georgia. He has also been named in America's Top 100 Personal Injury Attorneys®.
Lee primarily handles cases in the areas of medical malpractice, tractor-trailer accidents, premises liability, and wrongful death cases. He has represented clients in cases throughout Georgia and has successfully litigated over one hundred cases in both state and federal courts. Lee limits his practice to handling a small number of cases at a time. This approach allows him to develop meaningful relationships with his clients and to invest substantial time and resources into every one of his cases.
Richard W. Hendrix
229 Peachtree St, NE, Suite 2500
Atlanta, GA 30303
rhendrix@finchmccranie.com
404.658.9070
Mr. Hendrix is the Senior partner at the Atlanta law firm, Finch McCranie, LLP. He has been a trial lawyer for over 45 years formerly serving as both a state and federal prosecutor. He has been in private practice for 38 years specializing in complex civil and criminal litigation. His trial practices focuses on Wrongful Death, Serious Injury Litigation, including medical malpractice; excessive force, civil rights, and police pursuit cases. He graduated from Davidson College, cum laude in 1974 and from Emory Law School in 1977. He has tried to a jury over 85 cases and his multiple million dollar plus jury verdicts including the largest ever medical malpractice verdict against Emory University ($38.6 million) returned in November, 2023.
Mr. Hendrix has served as an Adjunct Professor of Litigation at the Georgia State Law School in Atlanta for over 20 years.
Ruthann Lacey has been in private practice as an attorney for 30 years. From the inception of her practice she has concentrated in Elder Law and Special Needs Law – a practice that is dedicated to the unique and complex planning needs of seniors, their adult children, their grandchildren, and individuals of all ages with special needs.
Ruthann is an alumna of Trinity College where she earned a BA in piano performance, and Emory University School of Law, and is licensed to practice law in the State of Georgia and Washington, D.C. She is a member of the Special Needs Alliance, a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA), a member of the Council of Advanced Practitioners (CAP), and is a Certified Elder Law Attorney (CELA).
Ruthann belongs to the DeKalb Estate Planning Council and is actively involved with several volunteer and charitable organizations including Special Olympics Georgia and ALTA Wheelchair Tennis Leagues. She serves on the Missions Committee at Westminster Presbyterian Church, is a past Director of the National Elder Law Foundation, a past Manager of the Special Needs Alliance, and for 17 years served as a Trustee on the Board of The Georgia Community Trust.
Ruthann is an active speaker on the local, state and national levels, to both professional and public groups and organizations, and is an editor and published author. Engagements include serving as Program Chair for the twentieth annual Institute of Continuing Legal Education in Georgia Special Needs Trust program; presenting at the Missouri NAELA Annual Elder Law Symposium; presenting at the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association Annual Convention; presenting at the Utah Elder Law, Estate Planning, and Medicaid Planning program; and presenting at Stetson University Special Needs Trusts - The National Conference. She also has been an Instructor of Estates, Trusts and Wills and Legal Research at the National Center for Paralegal Training, and is an editor and published writer.
Among other accomplishments, Ruthann has been published in the Georgia Bar Journal and Family Law Quarterly (a publication of the American Bar Association), has appeared as a guest on the Clark Howard Show, the Layman’s Lawyer, Money Matters, Inside Money, and Atlanta Issues, and has been quoted in The Wall Street Journal, The Atlanta Journal - Constitution and the American Bar Association Journal.
Eric has been practicing personal injury law in Georgia for over 15 years and handles compex and catastrophic commercial vehicle, ride-share, auto, and premises cases in federal and state court. Eric has dedicated his career to pursuing justice for people throughout Georgia and the southeast. While not practicing law, Eric enjoys spending time with his wife, Melinda and two beautiful daughters.
Madeleine Simmons is an equity partner with Stewart Miller Simmons Trial Attorneys, City Councilwoman in the City of Brookhaven and President of the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association. She is dedicated to representing individuals who have been injured due to the negligence of others and holding wrongdoers accountable for their actions. Mrs. Simmons has tried over 30 personal injury jury trials as lead counsel in 11 different counties within the State of Georgia. She focuses her trial practice on premises liability, sexual assault, motor vehicle and trucking cases. She is consistently selected to the Georgia Rising Stars list, an honor reserved for only 2.5% of attorneys in Georgia.
Mrs. Simmons assists in the management, training, and mentorship of lawyers within her office and early in her career, at Georgia State University College of law, by coaching mock trial for the law school. She is a board member of Georgia’s Civil Justice Political Action Committee and a fellow of the American Board of Trial Attorneys. Through her involvement with the trial bar and the State Bar, she often speaks at and is featured in Statewide broadcasts, educational seminars and conferences on topics ranging from leadership and management to trial strategy and complex motions and evidentiary practice. Mrs. Simmons truly believes that helping others is her professional and spiritual calling, and she is proud to call herself a trial lawyer on the side of justice.
Judge Bailey has the privilege of serving on the State Court of DeKalb County where he has also presided as an Assisting Superior Court Judge in the Superior Court of the Stone Mountain Judicial Circuit. He practiced family law for more than 20 years during which he served as guardian ad litem in cases before the Superior Courts of DeKalb County, Fulton County, Cobb County, Forsyth County, and Gwinnett County. He is a registered neutral with the Georgia Office of Dispute Resolution in the areas of General Civil Mediation, Non-Binding Arbitration, Domestic Relations Mediation, and Specialized Domestic Violence Mediation
An Atlanta native, Judge Bailey was born in DeKalb County, City of Decatur. He earned his Doctor of Jurisprudence from Vanderbilt Law School and is licensed to practice law in Georgia, Tennessee, and New York. His experience includes domestic relations law, criminal defense, juvenile delinquency, workers compensation, personal injury, and wrongful death litigation. Before pursuing a career in law, Judge Bailey worked for a community mental health center providing intensive case management services to people with chronic and severe mental illness. He also worked for several years in the field of higher education administration at his alma mater, Vanderbilt University.
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The information presented is solely for educational purposes. The opinions expressed by the faculty in their materials and presentations are their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the State Bar of Georgia, its officers, directors and/or employees. The faculty is not engaged in rendering legal or other professional advice and these presentations and publications are not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. All publications and presentations were created to serve the continuing legal education needs of practicing attorneys.
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