AuAugggustust 22000005 mmberber 1 Robert D. Ingram 43rd State Bar President Do you know what it feels like to shake your insurance agent’s hand? Oh my, don’t tell me you’ve never actually shaken his hand. Or looked him in the eye. Why, don’t you think it’s important to know the people who may one day come to your defense in the case of a malpractice claim? Aubrey Smith, president of Georgia Lawyers Insurance Company, thinks so. He believes that you can’t build trust through e-mails and voice mails. He believes that a handshake and a human connection are the only real signs that someone understands your needs and is willing to stand behind you all the way. He believes that if you ever have a problem, question or concern, you should have not just a phone number, but a person to call. Because he believes that if you ever did face a malpractice claim, you ought to know the people who hold your career in his hands. If you’re ready for a different kind of insurance experience and a free policy review, or a “Quick Quote,” call Aubrey Smith or any member of the Georgia Lawyers team at: 770-486-3435 or toll-free, 866-372-3435. Visit us online at: www.GaLawIC.com. "RINGINGTHEFOLLOWING -EMBER"ENElTSTO'EORGIA!TTORNEYS ,ONG4ERM$ISABILITY 3IMPLIFIED)SSUE!CCIDENTAND3ICKNESS$ISABILITY 'UARANTEED!CCEPTANCE!CCIDENT/NLY$ISABILITY "USINESS/VERHEAD%XPENSE (OSPITAL)NCOME0LAN (EALTH3AVINGS!CCOUNT%LIGIBLE-AJOR-EDICAL &IVE9EAR'ROUP4ERM,IFE )NDIVIDUAL4ERM,IFE 4EN9EAR,EVEL4ERM,IFE !CCIDENTAL$EATHAND$ISMEMBERMENT ,AWYERS0ROFESSIONAL,IABILITY 4OQUALIFYFORTHESEBENElTSYOUMUSTBEACURRENTMEMBEROF !UGUSTA "AR !SSOCIATION !TLANTA "AR !SSOCIATION $E+ALB "AR !SSOCIATION 'EORGIA$EFENSE,AWYERS!SSOCIATION 'EORGIA4RIAL ,AWYERS!SSOCIATIONORTHE3AVANNAH"AR!SSOCIATION #ALLTODAYTOTAKEADVANTAGEOFTHISVALUABLE BENEFITOFYOUR!SSOCIATION-EMBERSHIP )3)3!,%3$)2%#4 )3) AAuguggustust 22000005 mmberber 1 Legals 12 A Re-Evaluation of Arbitration In Light of Class Actions and Appeal Rights—Is It Still Worth It? On the Cover By Christopher P. Galanek and Jennifer B. Dempsey Incoming State Bar 20 Barnes v. Turner: President Robert D. Ingram, his wife Kelly An “E-Turner-ty” of Liability for Lawyers? and their children By J. Randolph Evans and Charles R. Adams III Ryan and Morgan. Cover photo by TCPICS. Features 26 Bar Returns to Georgia’s First City for 41st Annual Meeting By C. Tyler Jones Departments 34 Reinhardt Reflects on Successful Bar Year By Rob Reinhardt 4 From the President 40 First Bar President From Cobb County 8 From the Executive Director Has History on His Side 10 From the YLD President By C. Tyler Jones 64 Bench & Bar 42 Lawyers Foundation of Georgia at the 2005 Annual Meeting 70 Office of the General Counsel By Lauren Larmer Barrett 72 Lawyer Discipline 44 Local Bar Activities Committee Judge Applications 75 Law Practice Management for State Bar Annual Meeting Awards 80 Section News By Margaret Gettle Washburn 84 Professionalism Page 46 As Chief Justice Fletcher Reflects on Past, Chief 88 In Memoriam Justice Sears Prepares for Future By Jennifer N. Riley and Sarah I. Bartleson 90 Book Review 56 Atlanta Attorneys Serve 16,000 Needy Clients 92 CLE Calendar Through AVLF 96 Notices By Martin Ellin 99 Classified Resources 58 Coordinated Data Flow in Georgia Courts 100Advertisers Index Will Benefit the Bar By R. William Ide III, A. James Elliott, Rudolph N. Patterson and the Hon. Timothy A. Pape Editorial Board Quick Dial Marcus D. Liner Attorney Discipline (800) 334-6865 ext. 720 Editor-in-Chief (404) 527-8720 Robert Henry Beer Ronald Arthur Lowry Consumer Assistance Program (404) 527-8759 Donald P. Boyle Jr. J. Kevin Moore Conference Room Reservations (404) 527-8712 Fee Arbitration (404) 527-8750 Clayton Owen Carmack E. Peyton Nunez CLE Transcripts (404) 527-8710 Erin Reynolds Chance Stephanie Ann Paulk Diversity Program (404) 527-8754 Charles Madden Cork III Cynthia B. Smith ETHICS Hotline (800) 682-9806 Lynda Carney Crum Mary E. Staley (404) 527-8741 Georgia Bar Foundation/IOLTA (404) 588-2240 Diane Lea DeShazo Robert R. Stubbs Georgia Bar Journal (404) 527-8736 David A. Dodd Thomas W. Thrash Jr. Lawyer Assistance Program (800) 327-9631 Bridgette Elizabeth Eckerson Martin Enrique Valbuena Lawyers Foundation of Georgia (404) 659-6867 Law Practice Management (404) 527-8772 John Michael Gross Kristin H. West Membership Records (404) 527-8777 Jennifer Carpenter Kane Pamela Y. White-Colbert Meetings Information (404) 527-8790 Robert Richard Long IV W. Scott Wright Pro Bono Project (404) 527-8763 Professionalism (404) 225-5040 Executive Committee Liaison Sections (404) 527-8774 Laurel Payne Landon Unauthorized Practice of Law (404) 526-8603 Young Lawyers Division (404) 527-8778 Advisor Rebecca Ann Hoelting Manuscript Submissions The Georgia Bar Journal welcomes the submission of Editors Emeritus unsolicited legal manuscripts on topics of interest to the State Bar of Georgia or written by members of the State Rebecca Ann Hoelting, 02-04 Charles R. Adams III, 89-91 Bar of Georgia. Submissions should be 10 to 12 pages, Marisa Anne Pagnattaro, 01-02 L. Dale Owens, 87-89 double-spaced (including endnotes) and on letter-size paper. Citations should conform to A UNIFORM SYSTEM D. Scott Murray, 00-01 Donna G. Barwick, 86-87 OF CITATION (17th ed. 2000). Please address unsolicited articles to: Marcus David Liner, State Bar of Georgia, William Wall Sapp, 99-00 James C. Gaulden Jr., 85-86 Communications Department, 104 Marietta St. NW, Suite Theodore H. Davis Jr., 97-99 Jerry B. Blackstock, 84-85 100, Atlanta, GA 30303. Authors will be notified of the Editorial Board’s decision regarding publication. L. Brett Lockwood, 95-97 Steven M. Collins, 82-84 The Georgia Bar Journal welcomes the submission of news Stephanie B. Manis, 93-95 Walter M. Grant, 79-82 about local and circuit bar association happenings, Bar William L. Bost Jr., 91-93 Stephen E. Raville, 77-79 members, law firms and topics of interest to attorneys in Georgia. Please send news releases and other information to: C. Tyler Jones, Director of Communications, 104 Officers of the State Bar of Georgia Marietta St. NW, Suite 100, Atlanta, GA 30303; phone: Robert D. Ingram President (404) 527-8736; [email protected]. J. Vincent Cook President-elect Disabilities Gerald M. Edenfield Secretary If you have a disability which requires printed materials in alternate formats, please contact the ADA Bryan M. Caven Treasurer coordinator at (404) 527-8700 or (800) 334-6865. Rob Reinhardt Immediate Past President Damon E. Elmore YLD President Headquarters 104 Marietta St. NW, Suite 100, Atlanta, GA 30303 Jonathan A. Pope YLD President-elect (800) 334-6865, (404) 527-8700, FAX (404) 527-8717 Laurel Payne Landon YLD Past President Visit us on the Internet at www.gabar.org. South Georgia Office Communications Committee 244 E. Second St. (31794) P.O. Box 1390 S. Lester Tate III Chairperson Tifton, GA 31793-1390 (800) 330-0446, (229) 387-0446, FAX (229) 382-7435 S. Kendall Butterworth Co-Vice Chairperson Nancy Jean Whaley Co-Vice Chairperson Publisher’s Statement The Georgia Bar Journal (ISSN-1085-1437) is published six times per year (February, April, June, August, October, Communications Staff December) with a special issue in November by the State C. Tyler Jones Director Bar of Georgia, 104 Marietta St. NW, Suite 100, Atlanta, Sarah I. Bartleson Assistant Director Georgia 30303. © State Bar of Georgia 2005. One copy of each issue is furnished to members as part of their State Bar Johanna B. Merrill Section Liaison dues. Subscriptions: $36 to non-members. Single copies: Jennifer N. Riley Administrative Assistant $6. Periodicals postage paid in Atlanta, Georgia and addi- tional mailing offices. Opinions and conclusions expressed in articles herein are those of the authors and not necessar- ily those of the Editorial Board, Communications Committee, Officers or Board of Governors of the State Bar of Georgia. Advertising rate card will be furnished upon request. Publishing of an advertisement does not imply endorsement of any product or service offered. POSTMAS- TER: Send address changes to same address. State Bar Annual Meeting, Savannah The following is excerpted from Robert D. Ingram’s Presidential Speech at the President 2005 Annual Meeting in Savannah, Ga. By Robert D. Ingram Greetings with Sen. Saxby Chambliss in Washington D.C., was in the third ustices of the Georgia grade. My daughter, who is now a rising high school senior, and who Supreme Court, members was recently elected as the from the Kennesaw Mountain High School of the judiciary, members J president, had yet to start kinder- of the Board of Governors, and all garten. I remember how excited Kelly and I were when we loaded “Over the last several Georgia lawyers, thanks for giving Ryan and Morgan in the car and headed off to Callaway Gardens to me the privilege of serving this next years, and particularly attend our first Board of Governors last year, there has year as the president of the State meeting. At the time, I was a young part- been a lot of chatter Bar of Georgia. I am both humbled ner in a relatively new Marietta law firm, which I had joined in 1986, and gratified by the opportunity to about the legal two and a half years out of law profession and the lead Georgia lawyers, and agree school. John Moore, Bill Johnson and my father had persuaded me to judiciary. with lawyer Harrison Tweed who leave an Atlanta insurance defense firm to move back to Marietta once said: Unfortunately, that where my family had lived and chatter has caused I have a high opinion of lawyers. worked for four generations. Even with all their faults, they stack I remember being anxious that many to develop up well against those in every other no one would want to hire me to occupation and profession.