The Georgia Supreme Court is seeking a new generation of appellate attorneys.
The Supreme Court announced on Monday that it has welcomed a new class of trainee lawyers for 2021-22. The program began in 2018 and was funded by the Georgia General Assembly. Legal trainees are in office for one year and support their assigned judges with legal research, drafting and reviewing reports, preparing for oral arguments and other important tasks.
“Our hope is to provide valuable hands-on experience to new attorneys so that they are better positioned for careers in the appeal practice,” said Chief Justice David Nahmias. “We also hope that these attorneys will share the skills and knowledge they acquired during their legal clerkship with their fellow practitioners to enhance the expertise and readiness of appeal attorneys across Georgia.”
This year’s course for clerks includes:
• Matthew Cavedon, a graduate of Emory University School of Law, is a trainee lawyer for Judge Nels Peterson. Previously, he was a trainee lawyer for Judge Lisa Godbey Wood at the US District Court for the Southern District of Georgia and served as an assistant public defender for the Northeastern Judicial Circuit. Originally from Berlin, Connecticut, Cavedon earned his bachelor’s degree in religion from Harvard University and his master’s of theological studies from Emory University.
• Tyler Fabbri, a cum laude graduate from the University of Georgia School of Law, is a trainee lawyer for Judge Verda Colvin. Fabbri, a first-generation college student from Chesterton, Indiana, taught middle school in Memphis, Tennessee as a member of the Teach for America Corps before studying law. While at UGA Law, he was inducted into the Order of Barristers and served on the moot court team and was named a national semi-finalist. He received his bachelor’s degree in English from Loyola University Chicago.
• Michael Foo, a magna cum laude graduate of Georgia State University College of Law, is a trainee lawyer for Judge Shawn Ellen LaGrua. Born in Singapore and raised in Marietta, Foo holds a bachelor’s degree in international affairs and broadcast journalism from the University of Georgia. While undergrad, he was a drum major for the Redcoat Marching Band, and while attending law school, he served on the editorial board of the Georgia State University Law Review and president of the Asian American Law Students Association.
• Cameron Keen, a cum laude graduate from the University of Georgia School of Law, is a trainee lawyer for Judge Charlie Bethel. Prior to that, he served outside Justice Peterson’s law firm and the Attorney General’s Office of the Georgia Attorney General. Keen, of Dublin, Georgia, earned his bachelor’s degree in Political Science and International Affairs from UGA, where he was President of the Student Government Association. While studying law, he was a finalist on the National Online Moot Court and editor-in-chief of the Georgia Journal of International and Comparative Law.
• John Lex Kenerly IV, a cum laude graduate from the University of Georgia School of Law, is a trainee lawyer for Judge Sarah Hawkins Warren. He previously worked for Judge Tilman E. “Tripp” Self III at the US District Court for the Middle District of Georgia. Kenerly, of Jesup, Georgia, holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accounting from the University of Alabama and UGA, respectively, and has worked as a certified public accountant for PwC. While attending law school, he served on the editorial board of the Georgia Law Review and president of the federalist society chapter of the faculty. Kenerly was also the UGA’s first law student to argue a case in the Georgia Supreme Court and win the 2020 National Moot Court Competition.
• Leila Knox, a magna cum laude graduate of the University of Georgia School of Law, is a trainee lawyer for Judge Carla Wong McMillian. While attending law school, she served on the editorial board of the Georgia Law Review. She also got her bachelor’s degree in public relations from UGA and counts extreme sports – skydiving, bungee jumping, and shark cage diving – among her interests.
• Lucy Ratchford, who graduated with honors from Emory University School of Law, is a trainee lawyer for Chief Justice David Nahmias. She previously served as an associate at King & Spalding and as a trainee lawyer for Judge Karon Bowdre at the US District Court for the Northern District of Alabama. Ratchford, of Sandwich, Massachusetts, received her bachelor’s degree in letters, majoring in constitutional science, from the University of Oklahoma. While studying law, she was accepted into the Order of the Coif and named a Robert W. Woodruff Fellow.
• Chandler Ray, a graduate of Vanderbilt University Law School, is clerk for Justice Department President Michael Boggs. Following this legal traineeship, he is a trainee lawyer for Judge Elizabeth Branch of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the eleventh district. Ray, of Grayson, Georgia, was a champion of the 1L Intramural Mock Trial and 2L Intramural Moot Court Competitions at Vanderbilt Law School and President of his school’s Chapter of the Federalist Society. He received his bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Georgia.
