Archive for year: 2017

November 17, 2017

McRae, Smith, Peek is pleased to announce the addition of Benjamin P. Stell as a new associate to the firm. Ben has already clerked for the firm for two summers during law school before starting full time in 2017. Ben received his Juris Doctorate from The University of Georgia School of Law, graduating cum laude, and very recently passed the Georgia Bar Exam.

Ben excelled as a law school student, competing on both the Moot Court and Mock Trial teams. Ben’s team won the 2016 Intrastate Moot Court Competition and took home the award for “Best Brief”. In his third year of law school, Ben’s advocacy experience earned him a selection into the Joseph Henry Lumpkin American Inn of Court. Ben was also sworn in under the Third Year Practice Act during his final year of law school, allowing him to work in the Newton County District Attorney’s Office where he helped prosecute both misdemeanors and felonies. Ben was presented with the Georgia Defense Lawyers Association Willis J. “Dick” Richardson, Jr. Student Award for Outstanding Trial Advocacy.

Ben is married to Abby Stell, a fourth grade teacher and Rome native.

October 20, 2017

Congratulations to MSP Partner Jule Peek who in September of 2017 was admitted as a Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers, one of the premier legal associations in North America. Founded in 1950, the College is a professional association of trial lawyers throughout the United States and Canada. The College maintains and seeks to improve the standards of trial practice, professionalism, ethics, and the administration of justice through education and public statements on important legal issues relating to its mission.

Fellowship in the College is limited to, at most, one percent of the lawyers in any individual State. In practice, far less than one percent of attorneys ever qualifies for this honor, and Fellows are chosen strictly by invitation and only after a rigorous, confidential investigation. Membership is only extended to those whose professional careers are marked by the highest standards of ethical conduct, professionalism, civility, and collegiality.

Jule is the third MSP attorney to be invited into the College. Former MSP attorney Bill Davidson was a Fellow of the College, as well as former MSP attorney and former U.S. Attorney General Griffin Bell (1918-2009), who also served as President of the College. Established in his name, the Griffin Bell Award for Courageous Advocacy is the highest honor conferred on a single individual by the College. In its 53 years of existence, the award has been extended previously only 14 times.

August 7, 2017

Congratulations to MSP’s Chris Jackson, who competed over the weekend in the Rome Celebrity Dance Challenge benefiting the Sexual Assault Center of Northwest Georgia. Team Jackson, consisting of Chris and his partner Tahnya Jones, won the People’s Choice Vote for raising an incredible $38,939. Chris follows in the footsteps of his mother, Christa Jackson, who also won the People’s Choice Vote in 2015, raising $32,354. Way to go Chris!

July 20, 2017

MSP partner Mike McRae was recently re-elected to the Board of Governors of the State Bar of Georgia and was installed during the Bar’s Annual Meeting in June. Mike will continue his service to the Bar on the Board of Governors as a representative of the Tallapoosa Judicial Circuit. The Board of Governors is the 160 member policy making authority for the State Bar with representatives elected from each of Georgia’s judicial districts. Mike heads MSP’s Cedartown, Polk County office where his practice focuses on a wide range of areas from general litigation, including personal injury and wrongful death, to estate planning, government law, mediation and labor and employment law. Congratulations to Mike and thank you for your service to the State Bar!