Hon. Thomas E. Cauthorn III Related Seminars and Products

Cauthorn Owen & Sanders

Tom (“T.E.”) Cauthorn is the founder of Cauthorn Owen & Sanders. He is an experienced trial lawyer and judge, and has participated in hundreds of jury and non-jury trials in his more than 50 years practicing law.

T.E.’s professional experience includes Court America as a mediator, arbitrator and case evaluator; Georgia Supreme Court Special Master; Georgia Office of Dispute Resolution as a registered mediator and arbitrator for general civil and domestic relations; and Cobb County Office of Alternative Dispute Resolution as an approved panelist for court annexed mediation and case evaluation.

He served as a judge in the State Court of Cobb County and the Georgia Superior Courts, Cobb Judicial Circuit. T.E. is a former president of the Council of State Court Judges of Georgia and former member of the Judicial Council of Georgia. He is a past member of the Georgia House of Representatives, and during his tenure served on numerous Legislative Committees and Commissions, including the Georgia Commission on Family Violence and the Georgia Child Support Commission.

T.E. currently serves on the Board of Trustees of the General Practice and Trial Section of the State Bar of Georgia and formerly served on the Board of Visitors for Mercer University’s Walter F. George School of Law. He served on the President’s Advisory Committee on Legislation from 2009-2013, and chaired that committee from 2010-2011.

T.E.’s honors include the Robert H. Cleveland Award of Professionalism from the Cobb County Bar Association and a Resolution of Appreciation from the Board of Human Resources of Georgia and the Gideon’s Trumpet Award from the Georgia Indigent Defense Council.

He served in the U.S. Army Reserve, and retired as a Captain. T.E. currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Cobb County Youth Museum and is a 40+ year member of the Marietta Kiwanis Club.

Education
- Mercer University, Walter F. George School of Law

Bar Admissions
Georgia, State and Federal Courts 1972

Prof. Patrick E. Longan Related Seminars and Products

Mercer University School of Law

Professor Patrick E. Longan holds the William Augustus Bootle Chair in Ethics and Professionalism at the Mercer University School of Law, where he has taught since 2000. Professor Longan also serves as the Director of the Mercer Center for Legal Ethics and Professionalism, as a Special Master for disciplinary cases, and as a member of the State Bar of Georgia’s Disciplinary Rules and Procedures Committee and Formal Advisory Opinion Board. He has been a member of the Georgia Chief Justice’s Commission on Professionalism since 2000.

Professor Longan is the author, coauthor, or editor of more than 60 publications and has given more than 150 lectures, speeches, or panel presentations regarding legal ethics and professionalism. He was the second recipient of the National Award for Innovation and Excellence in Teaching Professionalism from the American Bar Association Standing Committee on Professionalism, the Conference of Chief Justices, and the Burge Endowment for Legal Ethics. In 2014, Mercer Law School received the E. Smythe Gambrell Professionalism Award from the ABA Standing Committee on Professionalism for one of Professor Longan’s programs. Professor Longan has received the Mercer University Law School Board of Visitors Awards for Excellence in Teaching (2022) and Excellence in Scholarship (2021).

Professor Longan was on the faculty of Stetson University College of Law from 1991 to 2000. Before entering law teaching, Professor Longan served as a law clerk to Senior United States District Judge Bernard M. Decker in Chicago and practiced law with the firm of Andrews & Kurth in Dallas, Texas. Professor Longan is a 1983 graduate of the University of Chicago Law School.

Ms. Anece Baxter White Related Seminars and Products

Defense Forensic Science Center and USACIL

Attorney Anece Baxter White currently serves as the principal legal advisor for the Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division – Gillem Enclave (DACID) and U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Laboratory (USACIL). There she provides legal advice and support to criminal investigation organizations and legal agencies of the U.S. Department of Defense.  Prior to working at USACIL, Ms. Baxter White served as a Deputy Chief Assistant District Attorney in Clayton County, Georgia where she handled felony criminal cases ranging from forgeries to murders. She is admitted to the State Bars of Georgia and Florida, the Georgia Court of Appeals, the Supreme Court of Georgia, the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces and the United States District Court, Northern District of Georgia. Her prior and current memberships include the American Bar Association, the National Bar Association, the Georgia Association of Women Lawyers, the Atlanta Bar Association, the Georgia Association of Black Women Attorneys, American Business Women’s Association, and the American Academy of Forensic Scientists (2016-2019).

Anece Baxter White attended Florida A&M University where she earned a B.S. in Business Administration. Following graduation she attended Indiana University School of Law – Indianapolis where she obtained a Juris Doctorate.  After law school Ms. Baxter White entered the United States Army’s Judge Advocate General’s Corps attending the Judge Advocate General’s School in Charlottesville, VA. As an Army lawyer she handled civil, administrative and criminal cases. Her assignments included legal assistance attorney, trial defense attorney, administrative law attorney, and being the advisor to the 3^rd Military Police Group, U. S. Army Criminal Investigations Division where she advised on criminal investigations throughout the eastern United States, South America and the Middle East. Ms. Baxter White completed eight years of active service. She currently also serves in the U.S. Army Reserves.  

Ms. Baxter White has presented numerous cases and argued before the Appellate Courts of the State of Georgia. With the assistance of the Georgia Attorney General’s office, she successfully presented the case of State v. Mayze, to the Georgia Supreme Court that upheld the constitutionality of Georgia’s Identity Theft law. Her amicus brief in U.S. v. Katso, filed in the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces was instrumental in re-establishing the requirements for the admission of substitute expert witness testimony at trial.

Anece is happily married and is the mother of two wonderful children.  

Jessica Lecroy Related Seminars and Products

Latent Print Technical Leader

United States Army Criminal Investigation Laboratory

Jessica LeCroy is the Latent Print Technical Leader at the United States Army Criminal Investigation Laboratory (USACIL). Ms. LeCroy graduated from Samford University in 2002 and began her career in forensics at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Ms. LeCroy worked as the Impressions Technical Lead at GBI before transitioning to USACIL in 2011. Ms. LeCroy is an Active Member of the International Association for Identification and is certified in latent print examination.

Ms. Kimberly Charles Related Seminars and Products

Atlanta Legal Aid Society

Kimberly Charles serves as the Deputy Director of Atlanta Legal Aid.  She went to law school to represent tenants facing eviction, and she has dedicated her entire career to civil legal services.  In her role as Deputy Director, Kimberly acts as a liaison between clients, staff, the Board of Directors and Legal Aid's justice partners.  Kimberly has worked with Atlanta Legal Aid for over nineteen years, and she previously served as the managing attorney of the Clayton & South Fulton Office for over seven years. Kimberly also serves as a Fulton County Magistrate Judge in a part-time capacity.  

Mr. Brandon Alexander Bullard Related Seminars and Products

The Bullard Firm LLC

Appellate lawyer Brandon Bullard has been briefing and arguing com- plex matters since he graduated 
Emory Law in 2007. He began his career in Georgia’s then-nascent public-defender system, where he 
held several titles, including Chief Legal Officer and State Appellate Defender.
Brandon left public service in 2020 and founded The Bullard Firm, LLC, a boutique firm that 
specializes in appellate and post-conviction liti- gation He is a member of the State Bar of 
Georgia, and the bars of the Su- preme Court of the United States; the United States Courts of 
Appeals for the 1st, 2d, 3d, 4th, 5th, 6th, 9th, 10th, 11th, and D.C. Circuits. He is respon- sible 
for several noteworthy precedents, which he obtained on behalf of a party or as amicus curiae, 
including: And He was either counsel or amicus curiae on several cases of note in Georgia, 
including in the last few years:
•  In re Muse,     S.E.2d    , No. A24A0647 (Ga.App. Aug. 13, 2024);
•  Tatum v. State, 903 S.E.2d 109 (Ga. 2024);
•  Ridley v. State, 890 S.E.2d 385 (Ga.App. 2023);
•  Chapman v. State, 890 S.E.2d 313 (Ga.App. 2023);
•  Johnson v. State, 885 S.E.2d 725 (Ga. 2023);
•  Gonzales v. State, 884 S.E.2d 319 (Ga. 2023);
•  Langley v. State, 868 S.E.2d 759 (Ga. 2022);
•  Jordan v. State, 854 S.E.2d 584 (Ga. 2021);
•  Gray v. State, 850 S.E.2d 36 (Ga. 2020);
•  State v. Remy, 840 S.E.2d 385 (Ga. 2020);
•  Debelbot v. State, 839 S.E.2d 513 (Ga. 2020); and
•  Mobley v. State, 834 S.E.2d 785 (2019).
Brandon is past chair of the State Bar of Georgia’s appellate practice section. He is a member of 
the Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers’ Amicus Curiae and regularly appears on behalf 
of that organiza- tion before the state’s appellate courts. Brandon is a frequent commentator on 
issues of criminal law and procedure in the news. And he is member of
the American Bar Association, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the Federal Bar Association, the, the Clarence Cooper Inn of Court, and the Lawyers’ Club of Atlanta.
Brandon is married to Margaret Bullard, a staff attorney at the Court of Appeals of Georgia, who is a smarter lawyer and better writer than he. Brandon and Margaret are parents to one dog, Radar, who neither practices nor writes, and a human son, Oliver, age 4, who is cleverer than either of his parents.

Mr. Jeremy Jamal Abernathy Related Seminars and Products

Abernathy Ditzel Hendrick, LLC.

Jeremy grew up in the west Cobb county area, and graduated from John McEachern High School in 1997.  He then graduated from Morehouse College (Bachelor of Arts, 2001), and Loyola University of New Orleans College of Law (Juris Doctorate, 2005).

Jeremy practices family law at the law firm, Abernathy, Ditzel, Hendrick, LLC. in Marietta, Georgia.  Jeremy has been named a Super Lawyer and Georgia Trend Legal Elite Attorney.  Jeremy is the vice chair Family Law Section for the State Bar of Georgia.  Jeremy also is a municipal court judge in Woodstock, Georgia.

Mr. Adam Lindsay Hebbard Related Seminars and Products

HY Law

Selected as Athens' Favorite Lawyer by Flagpole Magazine, Adam L. Hebbard has practiced in Athens since his graduation from UGA Law in 2008; a proud double dawg, Adam maintains a diverse practice including criminal, civil, and administrative litigation, juvenile and probate court work, and providing transactional services to individuals and small businesses.

In addition to his practice, Adam serves on the board of the General Practice and Trial Section of the State Bar of Georgia, teaches a pre-trial criminal litigation seminar as an adjunct professor at the University of Georgia School of Law, and enjoys spending time with his kids and playing in a handful of bands when he can find the time.

Hon. Joy Lampley-Fortson Related Seminars and Products

Assistant Chief Immigration Judge

US Department of Justice

Judge Joy Lampley-Fortson is an Assistant Chief Immigration Judge with the United States Department of Justice, Executive Office for Immigration Review. In March 2019, the United States Attorney General appointed her to become an Assistant Chief Immigration Judge.  In this capacity, Judge Lampley-Fortson serves as the Chief Judge of three federal immigration courts in the State of Georgia. She is responsible for providing overall leadership for the administration of the courts and the judges, law clerks and staff members within those courts. Furthermore, she presides over immigration cases and ensures that the legal proceedings before the court provides due process to all litigants. 

Prior to her appointment as a judge, Judge Lampley-Fortson served as the Executive Director of the Georgia Commission on Equal Opportunity, the State of Georgia’s civil rights agency.  In March 2017, Governor Nathan Deal appointed her to lead the agency and by doing so, entrusted her with the responsibility to work with the federal government to enforce the equal employment and fair housing laws across the State of Georgia.   Prior to her gubernatorial appointment, Judge Lampley-Fortson served as an Assistant Chief Counsel with the United States Department of Homeland Security, Immigration & Customs Enforcement, Office of the Chief Counsel, where she represented DHS before the U.S. Department of Justice Executive Office for Immigration Review (Immigration Court) and the U.S. Department of Justice Board of Immigration Appeals for ten years.  From 2001 until 2007, Judge Lampley-Fortson served as an Assistant United States Attorney with the United States Attorney’s Office in the Northern District of Georgia (Atlanta Office).  As an Assistant U.S. Attorney, she practiced in federal court where she prosecuted defendants in cases that ranged from white-collar crime to violent crime and litigated numerous appellate matters before the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals.  Prior to joining the United States Attorney’s Office, she represented the City of Atlanta as a prosecutor.  She served as an Assistant Solicitor with the City of Atlanta Solicitor’s Office from 1997 until 2001.   

A native of St. Petersburg, Florida, Judge Lampley-Fortson graduated magna cum laude from the University of Florida with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Public Relations and earned her Juris Doctor Degree from the University of Florida College of Law. 

Hon. Shondeana Crews Morris Related Seminars and Products

Judge

DeKalb County Superior Court

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.

Ms. Patricia M. Murphy Related Seminars and Products

University of Georgia School of Law

Trish Murphy joined the University of Georgia School of Law in 2022 as an instructor.  She teaches ADR in the Workplace, Family Law, and the 1L Lawyering course (which meets the requirements of revised ABA 303). She comes to UGA after working at the Mediation Center of the Coastal Empire in Savannah, GA, since 2015, serving as director of family law services. While at the Mediation Center, she created and managed its Family Law Resource Center, Guardian Ad Litem Program, and Children 1st: High Conflict Parenting Class. In 2022, Murphy was appointed as an assistant juvenile court judge and hearing officer for the Superior Court of Chatham County wherein she heard cases involving domestic violence and temporary protective orders. In 2021, she received the John B. Miller Award from the Savannah Bar Association for her commitment to volunteer community service.

Murphy is a registered civil and domestic mediator and registered in specialized domestic violence. She is also a lead trainer with the Georgia Office of Dispute Resolution for civil and domestic mediation training. Active in the State Bar of Georgia, she has served on the Access to Justice Committee since 2016 and the Wellness Committee since 2024. Additionally, she is certified in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction from UMass Medical School and in Mindful Self-Compassion, trained in various forms of meditation, and she became a yoga teacher in 2003.

From 2008 to 2015, she operated her own law firm, specializing in high profile, large asset, long-term marriages in addition to the mediation of family law cases. Murphy’s other legal experience includes work in Savannah at Howard & Whatley and McCorkle and Pedigo & Johnson in the area of family law as well as at the McCallar Law Firm in commercial litigation and bankruptcy.

Murphy earned her bachelor’s degree with honors (Order of Omega) from the University of Central Florida and her law degree from Mercer University.

Mr. Andrew Joseph Conn Related Seminars and Products

Harris Lowry Manton LLP

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.

Ms. Anna Green Bolden Related Seminars and Products

Daniels & Rothman PC

Anna Bolden is a 2005 graduate of the University of Georgia School of Law.  She worked as a prosecutor in the Barrow County District Attorney's Office for eight years, and has been in private practice at Daniels & Rothman, P.C. in Athens, Georgia for over ten years.  Anna practices family law and criminal defense.  Anna is past president of the Piedmont Circuit Bar Association, served on the State Bar Investigative Panel, and has served as a part time Municipal Court judge since 2020.

Hon. Keegan Federal Jr Related Seminars and Products

R. Keegan Federal, Jr.
Judge Federal did his undergraduate work at Loyola University in New Orleans, majoring in Philosophy, where he financed his education by selling encyclopedias door-to-door, playing bit parts as an extra in movies, managing an inn in the French Quarter, and working at the Playboy Club (as a bartender). He graduated, with Honors, from Emory University Law School in 1966, having won three American Jurisprudence Awards, and was admitted to practice at the age of 22. While pursuing an M.B.A. part-time at Georgia State University, Keegan practiced litigation full-time with Shoob McLain & Jessee in downtown Atlanta until 1968 when the Army called. He served as a military lawyer defending court-martial cases at Ft. Gordon, GA, and then spent a year in Vietnam, where he was awarded the Bronze Star for Meritorious Service.
Upon returning, Keegan practiced insurance defense with Nall Miller & Cadenhead for two years, and then started a general litigation practice with Fred Orr in Decatur in 1972. Four years later, at the age of 33, he was elected to the Superior Court, a position he held for two terms, after which he chose not to run for reelection in order to accept a partnership at Dow Lohnes & Albertson where he successfully represented WSB, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and Cox Enterprises in several high-profile cases. In 1987, Keegan opened his own litigation firm again, and maintained an active and successful plaintiff’s practice in Atlanta for the next 30 years.
In 2016, Keegan and his wife Rebecca moved onto their boat and cruised the eastern seaboard for 3 years, and then in 2019 they bought the oldest house in St. Mary’s, GA, built in 1801 (when Thomas Jefferson became president), and converted it into an inn which they now operate there.
Keegan is now in his 59th year as a member of the Bar and maintains a part-time law practice at his office in St. Mary’s. He has continued the mediation and arbitration work he began as an adjunct to his trial work many years ago, and for the past ten years he has been acting as a Special Master in cases that are too time-consuming and problematic for the presiding judge. He is a long-time member of the Board of Councilors of The Carter Center, a Fellow in the Academy of Court-Appointed Neutrals, the Georgia Academy of Mediators and Arbitrators, and a number of other civic and professional organizations.