Ken Shigley

My other gig is serving as a mediator, helping other lawyers get their cases settled.

Another heavily advertised "billboard lawyer" bites the dust. Do your independent research on qualifications before hiring a lawyer.

Kenneth L. Shigley as been reappointed to the Board of Trustees for the Georgia Institute of Continuing Legal Education (ICLE). Shigley has served on the Board for twelve years and has previously served as Chairman of the Board. He is also a former president of the State Bar of Georgia and received the "Traditions of Excellence" Award from the Bar in 2019. The Georgia Institute of Continuing Legal Education is a not-for-profit educational service of the State Bar of Georgia a...nd is responsible for providing continuing legal education for all lawyers in the State of Georgia. The Institute is a consortium of the Bar and the Law Schools of the Universities of Georgia, Emory, Mercer, Georgia State, and Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School. The Institute provides over 300 seminars, webinars, and video seminars to the members of the State Bar of Georgia each year. The Supreme Court of Georgia requires that every active member of the State Bar successfully complete at least 12 hours of legal education in order to maintain their license to practice law. The twelve trustees of the Institute of Continuing Legal Education are charged with the responsibility of developing programs and instituting policies that will provide legal education for members of the State Bar of Georgia.

Stay safe, folks!

Young lawyers could do worse than to get concentrated trial experience as an Assistant District Attorney. After I graduated from law school in '77, I got about 50 jury trials in a couple of years as an ADA. You simply can't get that in a private firm these days. Here is an announcement for ADA opportunities in the Eastern Circuit (Savannah) and Enotah Circuit (Lumpkin, Towns, Union and White counties in the mountains).

Judge Johnson was a candidate for the Georgia Supreme Court until that election was cancelled by gubernatorial appointment. Now he has died of an apparent heart attack after after testing positive for COVID-19. What a sad, untimely loss!

When can we resume normal jury trials? We can use Zoom for nonjury hearings, depositions and mediations, but I can't see that working for jury trials.

Court conferences and motion hearings, with just the judge and lawyers, can work on Zoom. However, I am extremely skeptical about the idea of virtual jury trials. Some of the reasons are covered in this article.

Put on a decent shirt for Zoom court hearings, folks, even if wearing only boxers below. :)

Civil immunity for Covered Countermeasures in fight against COVID-19 https://www.atlantainjurylawblog.com//civil-immunity-for-c

Judge Andrews was a reserved and deeply conservative man with a biting wit best known to those closest to him. In the "small world" category, my great-aunt Stella Silk became his father's godmother when she taught school in his hometown of LaFayette close to a century ago. When he was moving from Superior Court Judge in the Lookout Mountain Circuit to the Georgia Public Service Commission in 1985, Aunt Stella called me. Then in her nineties and living in a farmhouse at Menlo with Uncle Roy, she said they didn't drive in Atlanta and gave me marching orders to attend his swearing in on her behalf. I dutifully obeyed and did the same when he moved to the Court of Appeals. Rest in peace, Judge.

Congratulations to three judges promoted by Gov. Brian Kemp. Judge Carla Wong McMillian is promoted from the Court of Appeals to the Supreme Court. Promoted to the Court of Appeals are Judge Verda Colvin of Bibb Superior Court in Macon, and Judge Trea Pipkin of Henry Superior Court in McDonough. I am confident that all will do a good job. Judge McMillian was appointed to the Court of Appeals in 2012, at a time when I held the delusion that I might get that post after complet...ing my term as State Bar president. Judge Colvin and I both received the "Tradition of Excellence" Award at the 2019 State Bar convention; she became a Superior Court judge in 2014. Judge Pipkin was admitted to practice in 2005, was appointed Solicitor of the State Court of Henry County in 2012 and appointed to Superior Court in 2018. That ship sailed without me. Before nominations closed for this round, I got confirmation that no one my age would be appointed. https://news.uga.edu/alumni-named-to-georgias-highest-cour/