Demystifying the Inner Working and Culture of the Georgia
Special Contribution Open Chambers Revisited: Demystifying the Inner Workings and Culture of the Georgia Court of Appeals by Stephen Louis A. Dillard* I was sitting in my cluttered but comfortable office, preparing for what would ultimately be my last hearing as a lawyer, when the phone rang. On the other end of the line was Governor Sonny Perdue's executive as- sistant: "Mr. Dillard, do you have time to speak with the governor?" I did, of course. And less than two weeks after that brief but life-changing conversation with Governor Perdue, I was one of Georgia's two newly- appointed appellate judges (and the seventy-third judge to serve on the court of appeals since 1906).1 * Vice Chief and Presiding Judge, Georgia Court of Appeals. Samford University (B.A., 1992); Mississippi College School of Law (J.D., cum laude, 1996). Member, State Bar of Georgia. I am grateful to my friends and colleagues Justice Keith Blackwell, Chief Judge Sara Doyle, and Judges Michael Boggs, Lisa Branch, Christopher McFadden, Carla McMillian, Billy Ray, and Nels Peterson for their thoughtful comments on earlier drafts of this essay. I am also indebted to my staff attorneys, P. Robert Elzey, Mary C. Davis, and Tiffany D. Gardner, as well as Michael B. Terry and Benjamin R. Dinges, for their invaluable feedback and helpful suggestions. I also offer my sincere gratitude to Lydia Cook, my administrative assistant, for her encouragement and support throughout this process and for everything she does to make my chambers run as smoothly as possible. Finally, I am eternally grateful for the patience and loving support of my wife (Krista) and children (Jackson, Lindley, and Mary Margaret) in this endeavor, as well as in everything I do in my capacity as a judge.
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