Professionalism, Ethics and Malpractice

Mr. Jeffrey M. Smith Related Seminars and Products

Greenberg Traurig LLP

A.  PRACTICE

Securities law, including ethics and malpractice litigation involving attorneys and accountants; entertainment industry joint ventures and audits; and food and beverage industry joint ventures and audits. 

B.  EDUCATION

Bachelor of Arts, summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, University of Minnesota, 1970.  University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 1966-67.  Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, Order of the Coif, University of Minnesota, 1973. Member, 1971-72, and President 1972-73, Minnesota Law Review.

 C.  HONORS AND AWARDS

1. The Best Lawyers in America: Plaintiffs’ Legal Malpractice;
2. The Best Lawyers in America: Defendants’ Legal Malpractice;
3. The Best Lawyers in America: Corporate Law;
4.   Who’s Who in American Law;
5.  Who’s Who in America and;
6.  Who’s Who in the World.

D.  SUMMARY OF TEACHING ACTIVITIES

1. Semester courses in Ethics and Legal Malpractice at Duke, Emory and Vanderbilt Law Schools.
2. Chair, 1983 – 2022, Georgia ICLE Professionalism, Ethics and Malpractice Seminar.
3. Southwestern University of Finance and Economics: Guest Lecturer, English Language Instruction, 2013 (Chengdue, China).   
4. Central University of Finance and Economics:  Honorary Professor and Guest Lecturer, Securities Laws, and Legal Opinions, 2008-present (Beijing, China).
5. Suzhou Institute:  Guest Lecturer, Securities Regulation, 2009 (Suzhou, China).
6. China Supreme Court: Guest Lecturer, Evolution of the Federal Securities Laws in the United States and comparison to China’s Securities Laws, May 13, 2008 (Beijing, China).   

E. PUBLICATION

1.  1976: Author, Preventing Legal Malpractice (West Publishing), the first book on this subject.
2.  1981:  Editor and reviewer, Levinson, Accountant’s Legal Liability (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc.).
3.  1999: Co-author, Fourth Edition of Preventing Legal Malpractice (Thomson/West).  4.  1985-2015:  Co-author, Legal Malpractice (Thomson/West), a five-volume, 7,000-page treatise.           
5.   2007-Present:  Co-author, Second, Third and Fourth Editions, Legal Opinions In Business   Transactions (American Bar Association), a three-volume, 2,000-page treatise. 
6.   2021: Co-editor, Harvard Professor Michael Witzel, The Veda in Kashmir (Harvard Press). 
7.   2023: (estimated):  Co-author with Harvard Professor Michael Witzel, Teaching English Strategically to Native Mandarin Speakers.

Judge Kimberly A. Childs Related Seminars and Products

Cobb County Superior Court

Judge Kimberly A. Childs was elected in May 2016, winning a contested three-way race for an open seat on the Cobb County Judicial Circuit Superior Court bench.  She was re-elected again in 2020 and qualified in 2024 with no opposition.

Before her election, Judge Childs represented businesses and their owners in a variety of commercial disputes. She routinely litigated complex matters in courtrooms across metro-Atlanta.

Between her undergraduate studies and law school, Judge Childs worked as a guard at the DeKalb County Jail and later as a paralegal at a small law firm in Cobb County.  These experiences inspired her to further her education and provided a “real world” foundation for her commitment to our justice system.

Judge Childs has been active in the local bar for many years. She served as President of the Cobb County Bar Association in 2017-20018. Before that, she was the President-Elect, Treasurer,Secretary, Trustee, Business Law & Litigation Section President, Solo/Small Firm Section Secretary, Women of the Bar Section President.  In 2015, she received the President’s Award from the Cobb Bar.

Judge Childs is a member of Lawyers Club of Atlanta.  She serves on the State Bar of Georgia’s Bench & Bar Committee, Court Technology Justice Committee, and the Uniform Superior Court Rules Committee of the Council of Superior Court Judges.  She currently represents the Cobb Judicial Circuit on the State Bar Board of Governors.  

Judge Childs presides over the Cobb County Drug Treatment Court. DTC is an accountability court designed to manage individuals with substance addiction by providing an alternative to the traditional justice system. DTC is designed to improve the health of our participants, not only by addressing the immediate symptoms of their addiction but also orienting participants to a new way of healthier living that can be continued for the rest of their life.

Judge Childs graduated magna cum laude from Georgia State University College of Law. At Georgia State, she was on the editorial board of Law Review and received numerous academic honors.  She obtained her undergraduate degree in criminal justice from North Georgia College. 

Before serving on the bench, her skills in and out of the courtroom earned her top honors, including being recognized as a Georgia Super Lawyer, a Georgia Super Lawyer Rising Star, and one of the Business Law Legal Elite.  In 2016, Judge Childs was named to the Top 100 Georgia Super Lawyers list, as well as one of the Top 50 Women Super Lawyers in both 2015 & 2016. 

On a personal note, Judge Childs is a steadfast and passionate fan of the Atlanta Falcons. She also enjoys watching Atlanta United, the Hawks, and the Braves.  

Ms. Karlise Yvette Grier Related Seminars and Products

Executive Director

Chief Justice's Commission on Professionalism

In September 2017, Karlise Yvette Grier became the Executive Director of the Chief Justice’s Commission on Professionalism. Prior to assuming her current position, Ms. Grier worked as the managing attorney of Grier Law Office, P.C., an Atlanta law firm that concentrated in the areas of adoption, divorce, and family law. Ms. Grier was appointed to serve as a part-time Magistrate Court judge in Fulton County and served as a Judicial Officer in the Fulton County Superior Court Family Division from May 2006 through December 2008.  From March 2000 until June 2005, Ms. Grier served as a Judge Pro Hac Vice in the former City Court of Atlanta (“Traffic Court”).

Ms. Grier served as the Vice Chair of the State Bar of Georgia’s Child Protection and Advocacy Section and the founding chair of the GABWA Family Law Section.  She is a past president of the Georgia Association of Black Women Attorneys and of the League of Women Voters of Atlanta-Fulton County.  She is a member of the 2015 Class (BCE) of Leadership Atlanta.

Ms. Grier received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Computer Science from Dartmouth College in 1986, and her law degree from the Emory University School of Law in 1992. She was admitted to the State Bar of Georgia in that same year.

Ms. Grier was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, where she was graduated from Frederick Douglass High School.  She is a member of Ben Hill United Methodist Church.

Ms. Elizabeth Green Lindsey Related Seminars and Products

Harrison LLP

Elizabeth Green Lindsey is a partner in Harrison LLP and practices exclusively in the area of family law.  Ms. Lindsey is a Fellow in the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML) and is a Past President of AAML, a Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers, a Past President of the Georgia Chapter of the AAML, a Fellow in the International Academy of Family Lawyers, a Diplomate in The American College of Family Trial Lawyers, a former Chair of the Family Law Section of the State Bar of Georgia, served on the Rules Committee for the Family Division of the Superior Court of Fulton County and the Task Force for the Family Division, and is a Master in the Charles Longstreet Weltner Family Law Inn of Court.   She now serves as President of the National Board of Trial Advocacy and is board certified by the NBTA in family law trial advocacy.

Ms. Lindsey was named the “2022 Lawyer of the Year in Family Law in Atlanta” by Best Lawyers in America. She received the AAML Fellow of the Year in 2018.  Ms. Lindsey is listed in the 2025 Chambers High New Worth Guide: High New Worth in Georgia,  2025 Lawdragon 500 Leading Family Lawyers, Best Lawyers in America, in Atlanta Magazine’s “Georgia Super Lawyers” Top 50 Women Lawyers, Georgia’s Best Lawyers, and in Georgia’s Top Rated Lawyers.  In addition, she is a frequent lecturer on family law matters.

Ms. Lindsey attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina where she received a Bachelor of Arts degree with Honors in Religion in 1982.  She double majored in Religion and Psychology.  In 1985, she received her Juris Doctorate from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Ms. Lindsey was admitted to the North Carolina Bar in 1985 and to the Georgia Bar in 1989.

Ms. Paula J. Frederick Related Seminars and Products

General Counsel

State Bar of Georgia

Paula Frederick is General Counsel for the State Bar of Georgia, a unified bar organization with 54,000 members. As general counsel, 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 35 years, and was Deputy General Counsel for Discipline before assuming the General Counsel role.

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.

Frederick is a past president of 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 is chair of the Center for Professional Responsibility.  In the past she has served the ABA as chair of its Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility, chair of the Standing Committee on Lawyer Regulation, as a member of the Board of Governors, and as chair of the Center for Racial and Ethnic Diversity. 

Mr. David Neal Lefkowitz Related Seminars and Products

The Lefkowitz Firm LLC

David Lefkowitz graduated from Columbia University with a B.A. and earned his J.D. from Emory University School of Law. The Lefkowitz Firm, LLC, represents individuals and corporations in their claims for legal malpractice (legal negligence) and similar claims such as breach of fiduciary duty, executor misconduct and ethical misconduct by attorneys and other fiduciaries. The firm also represents attorneys and law firms with regard to risk management and attorney’s fee disputes. David is an adjunct professor of legal malpractice law, ethics, and risk management at the University of Georgia School of Law and is a frequent speaker at continuing legal education seminars. David has offices in Atlanta, Georgia and Athens, Georgia.