COL Board of Visitors Chair John T. Marshall Awarded Highest State Bar of Georgia Honor
January 19, 2006
John T. Marshall, Chairman of the Georgia State University College of Law Board of Visitors and partner at Powell Goldstein LLP, has received the State Bar of Georgia’s most prestigious honor.
During ceremonies held in early January at the organization’s mid-year meeting, Marshall received the State Bar’s Distinguished Service Award, the highest honor awarded to a member for conspicuous service to the cause of jurisprudence and to the advancement of the legal profession in the state of Georgia
According to College of Law Dean Steven Kaminshine, "It would be difficult to imagine a more worthy recipient."
"John's many friends and admirers here at the College of Law and the University are simply delighted he has received this recognition," commented Kaminshine. "The State of Georgia and this rising College of Law are much the better because of the support and selfless dedication of John T. Marshall … and we congratulate him."
Marshall has served the legal profession and the State Bar of Georgia since he first entered the practice of law in 1962 after graduating from Yale University. He has served as the chair of the State Bar of Georgia Standards of the Profession Committee since 1996, and played a key role in the conception and creation of the Transition Into Law Practice Program. This program was officially authorized by the Supreme Court of Georgia last year to afford every beginning lawyer newly admitted to the State Bar of Georgia with meaningful access to an experienced lawyer equipped to teach the practical skills, seasoned judgment and sensitivity to ethical and professionalism values necessary to practice law in a highly competent manner.
During his decades-long commitment to the legal profession and community, Marshall has served as president of the Atlanta Bar Association, chair of the Georgia Commission on Continuing Lawyer Competency, founding Master of the Joseph Henry Lumpkin Inn of Court and Master in the Logan E. Bleckley Inn of Court. He is a member of the American Bar Association’s House of Delegates and the American College of Trial Lawyers, an Atlanta Bar Foundation Fellow and Board Member, a Georgia Bar Foundation Fellow and a member of the Supreme Court of Georgia’s Commission on Public Trust and Confidence.
Marshall has been recognized for his contributions to the advancement of continuing legal education with the American Law Institute-American Bar Association’s Harrison Tweed Award for teaching evidence and by the State Bar of Georgia A. Gus Cleveland Award for Excellence in Continuing Legal Education. He is the recipient of the State Bar of Georgia Tradition of Excellence Award, the Atlanta Bar Association Leadership Award and Professionalism Award, and the American Inns of Court Professionalism Award presented at the 2005 Eleventh Circuit Judicial Conference.
The former chair of the litigation department at Powell Goldstein, Marshall tries cases in the commercial area, concentrating in banking, securities, products liability, professional liability, trusts and estates, and business litigation. He frequently serves as an arbitrator and mediator. Marshall appears at numerous professional seminars throughout the year, speaking on litigation, alternative dispute resolution, ethics and related topics. Formerly special counsel to the Ethics Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives, he has appeared in the role of Presidential Counsel on the public television series "The Advocates." Marshall has also been selected for the 2006 edition of Best Lawyers in America for alternative dispute resolution, commercial litigation, legal malpractice law and personal injury litigation