Our History

From left to right: Aubrey Matthews, John Maddox, Ralph Ivey, Oscar Smith and Stokes Walton.

From left to right: Aubrey Matthews, John Maddox, Ralph Ivey, Oscar Smith and Stokes Walton.

While we are a firm focused on the future we are extremely proud of our long and distinguished firm history.  The firm was established in 1899 by George Edmondson Maddox and Colonel William S. McHenry and is the oldest firm in Floyd County.  The firm has been in continuous existence since that time.

For many years the firm operated under the name “Smith, Shaw, Maddox” in honor of long time partners Oscar M. Smith (1923-2010), Charles C. Shaw (1928-2014) and James D. Maddox (1921-2009).  During their years of active practice, these three attorneys, by exhibiting the highest level of professionalism, legal ability and service, and building on the foundation set by the firm’s founding lawyers, established MSP as the leading law firm in Northwest Georgia.

Over the years, attorneys affiliated with the firm have served in various capacities in the judicial, legislative and executive branches of both national and state government.  Members or lawyers who have practiced in this firm have gone on to be the Attorney General of the United States (Griffin Bell), Chief Justice of the Georgia Supreme Court (Norman Fletcher), Chief Judge of the Rome Judicial Circuit (Hon. Walter J. Matthews),  members of the State Board of Bar Examiners (Oscar M. Smith, Chairman and John M. Graham, III), Dean of the Emory University Law School (L. Ray Patterson), a member of the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia (James D. Maddox) and have served on the State Bar Disciplinary Board Review and Investigatory Panels (Virginia Barrow Harman).

 

Those named and other members have also served in leadership positions in other organizations, state-wide, for over 100 years.  In 1999, the firm added partners Michael D. McRae and Robert T. Monroe to establish its Cedartown, Polk County Georgia office and expand its geographic base.

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