News Releases

Schiff Hardin LLP Honors the Life and Career of Supreme Court of Georgia Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears

In Conjunction with the Second Annual Wayne A. McCoy Memorial The History Makers Program

June 20, 2008

Schiff Hardin LLP in conjunction with the The HistoryMakers (www.thehistorymakers.com) announced today that Supreme Court of Georgia Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears will receive the second annual Wayne A. McCoy Memorial for distinguished African American leaders. Chief Justice Sears — the first African American female to serve as chief justice of a state supreme court — will receive the honor during a reception on July 10 at the Woodruff Arts Center in Atlanta.

Eric L. Barnum, a partner in Schiff Hardin's Atlanta office, is coordinating this event locally on behalf of Schiff Hardin LLP. "Chief Justice Sears' story is an inspiration — not just to both women and minorities, but to all people who strive to achieve great things. It's important to capture her story as part of The HistoryMakers project so it can be preserved for many future generations," Barnum said.

The host committee, a group of prominent Atlanta dignitaries that are friends and supporters of Chief Justice Sears, includes: Thurbert Baker, Georgia Attorney General; Xernona Clayton, President and CEO, Trumpet Awards Foundation, Inc.; Sadie Jo Dennard; Christian F. Torgrimson, President, Georgia Association for Women Lawyers; Joy Lampley Fortson, President, Georgia Association of Black Women Attorneys; Charles A. Mathis, Attorney at Law; Teri P. McClure, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, UPS; Naomi K. McLaurin, Managing Director – Southeast Region, Minority Corporate Counsel Association; Rodney G. Moore, President-Elect, National Bar Association; Karen Webster Parks; Lori A. Prokes, Vice President, Assistant General Counsel & Chief Ethics Officer and Co-Chair, Inclusion Leadership Team, Newell Rubbermaid Inc.; Michael Russell, Chief Executive Officer, H.J. Russell Company; Thomas G. "Woody" Sampson, President, Gate City Bar Association; M. Alexis Scott, Publisher/CEO, Atlanta Daily World; Lori J. Shapiro, President, Association of Corporate Counsel, Georgia Chapter; and Michael L. Thurmond, Georgia Labor Commissioner.

The HistoryMakers

The HistoryMakers (www.thehistorymakers.com) is a national, non-profit educational institution that produces an internationally recognized archival collection of thousands of video and oral histories of African American leaders and luminaries. The Schiff Hardin LLP Wayne A. McCoy Memorial The HistoryMakers Program honors distinguished African Americans in each city where Schiff Hardin has an office.

Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears

When appointed in 1992, Chief Justice Sears became the first woman and the youngest person ever to become a Georgia Supreme Court justice. Born June 13, 1955 in Heidelberg, Germany, she grew up traveling the globe with her family and father, Colonel Thomas Sears, who served as a Master Army Aviator in the U.S. Army. The Sears family eventually settled in Savannah, Georgia, where she attended elementary and high school. In 1976, Chief Justice Sears earned her B.S. degree at Cornell University and moved to Atlanta, where she earned her J.D. from Emory University School of Law in 1980.

After earning her law degree, Chief Justice Sears decided to stay in Atlanta. There, she made a name for herself working as a trial lawyer for the law firm, Alston and Bird. In 1985, after five years of working, Mayor Andrew Young appointed her as a judge in Atlanta's City Traffic Court. After serving three years in this position, Chief Justice Sears was appointed as a Superior Court judge for the State of Georgia. She became the first African American woman to hold such a position in the State of Georgia. In February of 1992, Governor Zell Miller appointed Chief Justice Sears to Georgia's Supreme Court. Chief Justice Sears retained her seat on the state's Supreme Court by winning a statewide election in the fall of 1992. This made her the first woman to win a contested statewide election in Georgia. In 1993, Chief Justice Sears received an honorary Doctor of Law degree from Morehouse College. She then continued her education and earned a LL.M. degree from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1995. She was sworn in as Chief Justice of Georgia’s Supreme Court on June 28, 2005.

Chief Justice Sears has several civic and professional affiliations. She served as chairman of the American Bar Association's Board of Elections, the Judicial Section of the Atlanta Bar Association, and the Atlanta Bar's Minority Clerkship Program. She founded and served as the first president of the Georgia Association of Black Women Attorneys. Chief Justice Sears serves on the Board of Directors of the Morehouse School of Medicine Center for Child Abuse & Neglect. She is also a member of the Atlanta Chapter of Links, Inc., and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority. Georgia Trend magazine has honored Justice Sears as one of the "100 Most Influential Georgians," and in 1993 Business Atlanta magazine named her as one of the "Under Forty and on the Fast Track." In 2001, she was the recipient of the Emory Medal from Emory University for being an "Outstanding Young Alumna".

Wayne A. McCoy Memorial

The memorial is named for the late Wayne A. McCoy, one of Schiff Hardin's most respected partners and attorneys, who was recognized as one of the most senior African Americans in leadership positions among major law firms when he headed Schiff Hardin’s Public Law and Finance Group. A graduate of the University of Michigan School of Law, Mr. McCoy joined the firm in 1972 and passed away in 2000.

For more information, visit: http://www.schiffhardin.com/events/thehistorymakers2008/.