More than 100 attorneys have been nominated as new judges for the Georgia Court of Appeals.
The Judicial Nominating Commission of Georgia announced it has received the names of 113 judges and attorneys interested in filling a vacancy created by the sudden death of Judge Clyde L. Reese last December.
Nominees range from Chief Justices, State and Municipal Judges to Trial Attorneys, Appellate Attorneys and Attorneys General’s Offices.
“No More Than Four”
Vincent Robert Russo Jr. (Photo: Rebecca Breyer/ALM)
A day after the list of nominees was released, JNC co-chair Vincent Russo said the commission would soon review selected justice nominees with a view to suggesting several for the governor’s nomination.
“The shortlist will be released soon after we interview the candidates later this month,” Russo said via email on Tuesday. “We will not run more than four candidates for governor [Brian] Kemp.”
However, the interviews only begin when the JNC has also had the opportunity to examine the applications that other lawyers have submitted themselves.
Russo said applications for all potential candidates should be submitted to the JNC by Friday.
“Candidates are selected for interviews after we review their applications,” Russo told the Daily Report. “We will not interview all 113 nominees.”
Russo said the JNC rarely interviewed all applicants for a job, except when “there are only a handful of applicants.” He noted that this is sometimes the case with court job offers in more rural and remote areas of the state.
Candidates for the vacancy of the Georgia Court of Appeals
- Amen Bakari
- David N Baker
- Ronald Baker
- Karen Bartour
- Ross W. Bergethon
- Tonya C Boga
- Ronald S Boyter
- John G Bruchfeld
- Bennett Bryan
- Dean C. Bucci
- Brandon Bullard
- Carolyn “Tippi” Burch
- David Cannon
- Matthew Cavedon
- Rita M. Cherry
- Christopher S Connelly
- Susan Coppedge
- Veronica R. Cox
- Daniel J Craig
- Christina Kribbs
- Robyn A Crittenden
- Melanie Cross
- Ronald E Daniels
- Victoria Darrisaw
- Michael Dennard
- David B Taube
- David Emadi
- Jena Emory
- Amanda Flora
- Christian Fuller
- Sarah Gerwig
- Robert D. Goldsmith
- Alaina S. Granade
- William H Gregory
- Thomas “Britt” Hammond
- David C Hanson
- Bruce S Harvey
- Elissa B Haynes
- And DalyHeap
- Amanda Heide
- Joyette M Holmes
- Brandon Howard
- Stacey Hydrick
- Michael J Jacobs
- Bryce Johnson
- Harold Jones
- Megan Kelly
- Cassandra Kirk
- Patty Walters-Laine
- Wesley Lambert
- Heather H Lanier
- Nicole Leet
- Melissa Lawrence
- Sharell Lewis
- Jeremy U. Littlefield
- Omeeka P. Loggins
- Van’Nessa Lotson
- Jacquelyn F Luther
- Blair Douglas Mahaffey
- Ana Maria Martinez
- Aaron B Mason
- Bemon “Gil” McBride
- Ellen McElyea
- John S Melvin
- Jay Mitchell
- Jeffrey Monroe
- Shondeana C.Morris
- Bert Norton
- J Wade Padgett
- Pandora Palmer
- B.T. Parker
- Andrea L Pawlak
- Tabitha thinking
- We are Popoola
- Regina M. fast
- Naveen Ramachandrappa
- Joseph Randazzo
- John A Regan
- Bonnie Rich
- John F Salter
- Gregory V. Sapp
- Juliette W. Scales
- Carolyn D Shervette
- Brooke Silberthorn
- Nhan Ai Simms
- ArthurSmith
- David G Smith
- JoshuaSmith
- Aimee Sobhani
- Evan Stapler
- Rick step
- D Jay Stewart
- Peter Temesgen
- Alicia H Thomas
- Maria Beth Tolle
- Christopher P. Twyman
- Ben Vinson
- David C Walker
- Thomas L. Walker
- Shannon Wallace
- Jeff Watkins
- Jennifer Watts
- George L Welborn
- Chris West
- Paige R Whitaker
- Russ Willard
- Shermela J Williams
- Connie Williford
- bobby wolf
- Kelli L. Wolk
- Ashley Wright
- che young
- Scott Zweigel
candidate considerations
Lawyers interested in becoming the next judge on the Georgia Court of Appeals must meet statutory licensing requirements, including being a Georgia resident and having been licensed to practice law for at least seven years.
Aside from legal requirements, Russo said, “there are no pre-requisites or litmus tests” for interested candidates, but the JNC considers additional information included in applicants’ applications when deciding which lawyers to extend interviews to.
“The application questionnaire is lengthy and designed to collect a wide range of information from each candidate, such as: Professionalism, opinions on court-related issues and writing skills,” Russo said. “When selecting interviews, we consider each candidate’s entire application and work.”
The sudden death of the judge
The late Judge Clyde Reese, Georgia Court of Appeals. (Photo: John Disney/ALM)
The search for a new Georgia Circuit Court of Appeals judge follows the death of Judge Clyde L. Reese on December 17, 2022.
Reese died at the age of 64 after a brief hospital stay, according to a statement from the Intermediate Circuit Court of Appeals.
After serving on the court for the past six years, Reese’s unexpected death took its toll on his court colleagues, they said in a press release issued at the time.
“Judge Reese was as wonderful a colleague and member of our court family as anyone could be. He was kind, kind, hardworking and a gentleman in every sense of the word,” said Chief Judge Brian Rickman. “He will be greatly missed.”
Assistant Chief Justice Amanda Mercier echoed the sentiment, noting that Reese was “one of the kindest, most compassionate people” she’s known.
A timeline for filling the position created by Reese’s death has not been announced, but Kemp will decide on the successor.
