Mountain City Lawyers

Jessica graduated from law school and passed the bar in 2010 and served as the staff attorney for the State Court Judges of Cherokee County until she opened up her own practice in Canton, Georgia in 2012. Jessica was an active law student, serving as a student bar representative, Moot Court Board member, and President as well as national competitor, her passion for the law and helping others shown in all that she did. As a practitioner, her passion for helping individuals and families remains and behind all of her work is her genuine concern for...

Kourtney Bernard-Rance was born and raised in East Brunswick, New Jersey. Although originally intending to study child psychology, Kourtney ultimately received her B.A. in family and child Studies from Montclair State University. Between her newly-recognized passion for working with families and children, and an internship with a nonprofit child advocacy organization as an assistant policy analyst, Kourtney decided her true career aspirations resided in the practice of law. Kourtney attended the Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York. Believing that family law was destined to be her specialty, Kourtney took advantage of...

Welcome. At Riley Law Firm, I work with clients in the areas of wills, trusts, estate planning, real estate closings, and general business matters. With offices in Buford (Hamilton Mill) and Johns Creek, I offer my experience and dedication to build lasting client relationships in order to better serve my clients and help them make informed legal and financial decisions.

Jeremy Akin is a Litigation Associate at Johnson Marlowe, LLP in Athens, Georgia. He represents clients in construction, zoning, and land use matters related to development projects.

Jeremy graduated cum laude from the University of Georgia School of Law, where he founded the school’s Alternative Dispute Resolution Society. During law school, he served as Conference Editor for the Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law, a Student Ambassador of the Rusk International Law Center, and externes with the Athens-Clarke County Superior Court and Public Defender’s Office, as well as the Georgia River Basin Center. Jeremy is recipient of the Atlanta Bar...

Matt has been a litigator for 15 years. He started his career as an Assistant District Attorney in Athens, Georgia, where he spent several years prosecuting felony crimes. He then moved to Atlanta and spent the next five years at two of Georgia's most respected defense firms, where he handled workers' compensation, trucking, premises liability, and general liability litigation.

In 2012, Matt chose to focus his law practice exclusively on the representation of injured workers in Georgia. In this capacity, he has helped hundreds of Georgia workers navigate the complicated and confusing workers' compensation system. In addition to his law practice,...

Lisa’s client-centered law practice includes advice, counseling, and litigation in all aspects of labor and employment law as well as general business law advice, document drafting and litigation of business disputes. She also utilizes her expertise in legal research and writing and knowledge of the appellate process to provide top-notch representation in civil appeals in both state and federal courts. Most recently, Lisa became registered through the Georgia Office of Dispute Resolution as a mediator and arbitrator, and she brings her wide range of legal experience and her ability to see and understand all sides of a dispute to assist...

James Imbriale has handled hundreds of personal injury cases over the past 25 years. A zealous yet compassionate advocate, he is focused on serving the needs of his clients without allowing “attorney ego” to get in the way. James is a graduate of Emory Law School. After graduation, he had the opportunity to work with some of Atlanta’s top injury attorneys. Today, he defends the rights of clients against large insurance companies and corporations. He is well versed in all areas of personal injury law ranging from medical negligence to product liability. He has been a speaker for The...

With a wealth of experience in criminal defense, family law, and mediation, Kristal brings a unique perspective to her practice. She graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. in Political Science from Spelman College and later earned her Doctor of Law from Emory University. Kristal's passion for understanding legal systems across borders led her to Sydney, Australia, where she studied comparative international health and environmental law while in law school. Following her graduation, Kristal served as a law clerk for The Honorable Lenwood A. Jackson and worked as a prosecuting attorney before establishing her own successful practice. With a deep...

A native of Thomasville, Georgia, Jesse grew up watching his father and grandfather run a small business on the family farm. Jesse learned at a young age that exceptional quality and a friendly, "service first" approach are the keys to making clients happy; that's why client satisfaction is always the top priority at The Law Office of Jesse Adams.

Jesse earned his law degree from Florida State University in 2010. While in law school, he served in student government, worked in the Florida House of Representatives, interned with the Innocence Project of Florida, clerked for a prominent Tampa attorney, and studied...

After defending insurance companies for over ten years, Laura ("Laurie") Vickery Benesh formed Vickery Benesh Law, P.C. to assist victims and their families who have experienced personal injury or wrongful death as a result of automobile accidents, slip and fall, and premises liability. She also assists businesses in disputes resulting from breach of agreements and other matters. Laurie earned her undergraduate and law degrees from Emory University and is AV-rated by Martindale Hubbell. She has successfully argued before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit and throughout Georgia’s state courts. She serves on the Board...

I am a 2008 graduate of Georgia State University’s College of Law. Prior to entering law school, I attended and graduated from Georgia Southern University, where I played offensive line for the Georgia Southern Eagles football team. I enjoy spending time with my wife (who is a Staff Attorney for Judge Fletcher Sams in Fayette County) and two children and watching the Georgia Southern Eagles and Atlanta Braves. I have taught Sunday School and served on Church Council at Christ Our Shepherd Lutheran Church in Peachtree City, Georgia. I am also currently the president of the Starr’s...

Michael is an award winning attorney with a broad set of skills to assist clients in need of aggressive and effective representation. With an expert level of computer knowledge, he often obtains the strong digital evidence necessary to pressure large insurance companies to meet his demands. When necessary, he will present his case to the jury in order to obtain the maximum award possible for his clients.

Prior to founding The Gumprecht Law Firm, Michael first represented a broad spectrum of clients at a small general practice firm outside Atlanta. From small conflicts to emergency court hearings, Michael fought for the...

NANCY J. MARTIN ESQ. was born in Syracuse, New York. She earned a BA in Education with emphasis on English as a Second Language at the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana (The Javeriana University), She moved to Georgia four (4) decades ago. Since that time, she has dedicated herself to the assistance of others. As a former paralegal, she provided legal assistance through Georgia Legal Services Migrant Farmworkers Division in Tifton, Georgia where she was trained in Administrative and Immigration Law. While in their employ, she was elected the National Co-Chairperson of WIC, the Special Supplemental...

Attorney Emanuel Dressie is a long-time resident of Atlanta, GA and is passionate about helping his fellow Georgians, which is why he decided to attend law school after a successful career in accounting and finance. While attending Georgia State University College of Law, Emanuel clerked for the Honorable Judge Kimberly M. Esmond Adams of the Superior Court of Fulton County and interned at the DeKalb County Public Defender’s Office and with the Georgia Justice Project. He graduated law school with distinction for his dedication to community service. Since graduating law school, Emanuel has quickly become known as one of the most...

John W. Chambers, Jr. is a graduate of Emory University and Emory University School of Law. He graduated with distinction from the Emory University School of Law in 1979 with a Doctor of Law degree and was a member of the Order of the Coif. John W. Chambers, Jr. has an AV (R) Martindale-Hubbell Lawyer Rating. ("CV, BV and AV are registered certification marks of Reed Elsevier Properties Inc., used in accordance with the Martindale-Hubbell certification procedures, standards and policies."

Teresa Garcia's practice concentrates in the field of Family Law and Adoptions. She handles contested and uncontested divorces, child custody, child support, alimony, visitation, paternity/legitimation, amendment of birth certificates, name changes, enforcement of judicial orders, post-judgment agreements, family violence protective orders and prenuptial agreements. Ms. Garcia handles contested and uncontested adoptions for relative adoptions, step-parent adoptions, independent adoptions (where adoptive parents are not related to the child), agency adoptions, adult adoptions, domestication of foreign adoptions, and re-adoptions. She represents clients in all metro-Atlanta counties including the outer counties of Georgia. She is fluent in Spanish.

M. Brandon Smith is a partner with Childers, Schlueter & Smith, LLC where his practice focuses on the rights and interests of individuals seriously injured through the negligence and omissions of others. Brandon’s practice is devoted to pharmaceutical litigation, mass torts, products liability, and serious personal injury. Following law school, Brandon was an assistant district attorney in the Alcovy Circuit, where he gained valuable trial experience and a desire to help individuals harmed by the careless actions of others. Today Brandon utilizes his skills to help injured victims nationwide, and he is a frequent guest speaker at legal seminars all...

Ronna grew up in the metro-Atlanta area and graduated from John Marshall Law School – Atlanta (J.D.) and Georgia State University (B.B.A., Finance, Cum Laude). During her academic career, Ronna worked for a local law firm, Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice as a senior paralegal in the Capital Markets Practice Group. Ronna has two grown children and lives in Atlanta with her husband and two dogs. After more than twenty years experience working as a senior paralegal with a commercial finance company, where Ronna dealt with commercial lending contracts in which large amounts of money were involved, Ronna went...

Ron is a native of Atlanta and graduated from Emory University and Emory University School of Law. He has practiced for over 30 years in all areas of personal injury including workers' compensation, premises liability, and medical negligence. Ron is one of only handful of attorneys who represent physicians and other professionals to recover Long Term Disability Benefits from Insurance Carriers including Provident, Paul Revere, AIG, MetLife, Liberty Mutual, The Standard Plan, Jefferson Pilot and others. Ron has been lead counsel in trials and appeared in the Georgia Supreme Court, Georgia Court of Appeals, United States Court of Appeals for...

Mia Ilene-Beth Frieder is the author of two books which have been the subject of accredited seminars in Georgia and throughout the southeast including Alabama and Tennessee. Mia has been a featured speaker at Bridge the Gap, a required seminar for all new members of the Georgia Bar for over a decade, and spoken at the national level at the annual convention for the American Association for Justice on the topic of Failure to Diagnose Breast Cancer. In addition to her books, Mia has authored numerous articles which have been published nationally.

As the founder of The Sylvan Firm, LLC, Atlanta criminal attorney Coleman Sylvan represents people who are accused of criminal offenses. He has been practicing as an attorney for ten years, and been licensed to practice in multiple jurisdictions. Before the establishment of his current solo practice, Attorney Sylvan spent time as a prosecutor and partner at another firm. Mr. Sylvan received his undergraduate degree from Furman University and his Juris Doctor from the Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law. Contact his firm for a no-cost case evaluation.

Jeff’s practice is limited to serious personal injury cases of all types. For over a decade before co-founding Shiver Hamilton, Jeff trained under some of the state’s best trial attorneys. From the moment he decided to become a lawyer, Jeff knew he wanted to become a personal injury specialist and carefully tailored his education and professional experience to learn how to effectively represent plaintiffs.

Jeff Bekiares is an attorney with over ten years of experience in general corporate, capital raising and securities laws practice. He began his career at a great Atlanta law firm, practicing there for over six years before leaving large firm life to become the Co-founder, COO and General Counsel of SparkMarket, a Georgia based crowdfunding platform. He has worked with clients at a variety of stages: from start-ups, to emerging growth to exchange listed public companies. He specializes in entity formation, governance, operating and shareholders agreement, commercial contract drafting, mergers & acquisitions, capital raising and all manner of transactional...

My intellectual property practice specializes in trademark brand protection, patent drafting, prosecution, and portfolio development, and business launch and organization. My practice further includes trade secret development and management, and copyright protection for Fortune 100 companies, small businesses, and emerging enterprises. If you are an emerging enterprise seeking brand development and protection of your core technologies, take advantage of my free consultation. I have drafted hundreds of patent applications covering emerging technologies in electromechanical systems, automotive, computer hardware, and cloud-based software and content delivery. I have expertise in autonomous robotics, machine learning, mobile telecommunications, medical devices, and automotive...

Attorney Ryan A. Rucker is an Atlanta native. He graduated from Georgia State University’s College of Law and earned his Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from Clark Atlanta University, where he studied on a full academic scholarship. Focused on litigation and advocacy, Ryan began his legal career during law school as an intern prosecutor with the Fulton County Solicitor’s Office. There he conducted numerous hearings and discovered his intense love for the courtroom. Upon graduating, Ryan was immediately offered a position with the Fulton County Solicitor’s Office, where he worked tirelessly with a passion for justice, successfully litigating countless cases while obtaining...

Steve McConnell of McConnell Law LLC has over twenty-five (25) years of litigation experience. His primary focus of practice is in the area of personal injury and wrongful death, products and premises liability, and general tort litigation. He is admitted to practice in all Georgia State and Superior Courts, and is a retired Colonel, U.S. Marine Corps, Reserve.

Office- (404) 220-9998; Email- Steve@McConnellLaw.com

Admitted / Affiliations and Memberships
State Bar of Georgia
State Bar of Connecticut
State Bar of Pennsylvania (inactive)
Supreme Court of the State of Georgia
Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia
Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces
United States District Court for the...

Paula McGill provides personal service to a variety of clients. She is comfortable representing individuals and small to medium sized businesses. Moreover, Attorney McGill is not afraid to go after large corporations to force them to take personal responsibility for damages they cause. Her confidence in pursuing these companies comes from her 20+ years of experience. Furthermore, she is skilled in efficiently and effectively representing clients of most budgets. Many clients return for additional services or recommend her to family and friends. Her experience spans small claims matters, contract disputes, consumer...

After spending years defending large corporations, doctors, hospitals, nursing homes, and insurance companies in serious injury and wrongful death cases, I left behind a partnership in an insurance defense firm to fight for justice for the families of those tragically hurt or killed because of the carelessness or wrongdoing of others. I have personally recovered over $60 million for my injured clients and their families, and have a proven track record in the courtroom with victories in jury trials involving allegations of medical malpractice, products liability, negligent security, premises liability, and motor vehicle negligence. I have been recognized by the National...

Robert Sneed has more than eleven (11) years' of experience in all aspects of litigation. Robertâs primary focus of practice is in the area of personal injury and wrongful death, products and premises liability, insurance coverage disputes, estates, domestic matters, general tort litigation, and corporate formation and representation. Robert has tried numerous jury and non-jury trials, representing plaintiffs and defendants in state and federal courts in Georgia and other jurisdictions. He has appeared before arbitral forums such as the American Arbitration Association, and has successfully mediated hundreds of civil cases in Georgia. Prior to forming McConnell & Sneed, Robert previously served...

Scott understands that businesses approach the legal world from a different perspective than most people do. Having worked for a mutual fund company before attending law school, Scott was able to learn how businesses approach their legal obligations. While in law school, Scott learned the importance of conveying complex ideas in an understandable manner. During law school Scott learned how to speak to diverse audiences. He competed as a member of the Emory Moot Court Society arguing before judges and attorneys from all over Georgia and completed coursework trying cases before real juries. The combination of Scott’s background in business...

"Business owners are hard-working, innovative, optimistic, and inspiring people. I take pride in helping business owners resolve the legal disputes that stand between them and their success.”

Michael watched a childhood friend’s four-person start-up grow into a multi-million dollar success story, and has been inspired by the power of small business ever since. Unlike most attorneys, Michael listens more than he talks. He understands that every business is different, and he achieves better results for his clients by taking the time to analyze their unique objectives.

Michael won his first breach of contract case a month after he was admitted to the...