Harold Franklin honored by State Bar
March 13, 2012
ATLANTA – Attorney Harold E. Franklin, Jr., a partner at King & Spalding and a 1999 graduate of Georgia State University College of Law, recently was honored by both the State Bar of Georgia and the Gate City Bar Association.
On February 23, Franklin received the 2012 Commitment to Equality Award by the State Bar of Georgia. The State Bar of Georgia, comprised of over 40,000 members, exists to foster the principles of duty and service to the public among all attorneys and judges statewide, to improve the administration of justice, and to advance the science of law.
The Commitment to Equality Award recognizes those who have shown a strong commitment to promoting diversity in the legal profession and who are committed to providing opportunities that foster a more diverse legal profession for members of underrepresented groups. Notwithstanding the demands of his national practice, the Bar stated in its announcement, Franklin has displayed outstanding leadership (locally and nationally), and a commitment to numerous pro bono efforts in service to the community and bar.
Two days earlier, on February 21, Franklin was named the 2012 Recipient of the Outstanding Lawyer Award by the Gate City Bar Association. Founded in 1948, the Gate City Bar Association is the oldest and largest African-American Bar Association in the State of Georgia. The Outstanding Lawyer Award is given each year to a lawyer or jurist in recognition of their ongoing contributions to Gate City, the legal profession, and the community at large. Franklin is a former president of the Gate City Bar Association.
"I am humbled and honored to receive this recognition from the State Bar of Georgia and the Gate City Bar Association," Franklin said. "It is incumbent upon all of us to give back and serve others, and I am proud to be able to utilize the legal profession to bring about positive change."
Having joined the firm in 2000, Franklin's national litigation practice focuses heavily on complex and high-stakes product liability litigation and has also included business disputes and internal investigations. He has served as counsel for a number of the country's largest automotive, pharmaceutical, beverage, and package delivery companies and has been actively involved in a multitude of matters throughout the continental United States, in addition to Puerto Rico, Europe and South America, where he has utilized his fluency in Spanish in his law practice. Franklin has litigated (and also managed the defense of) a broad array of cases in both federal and state courts across the country and currently serves as one of three national written discovery counsel for one of the world's largest automotive manufacturers.
Franklin was featured, in 2007, on the cover of the Fulton Daily Report as one of the top 15 lawyers in Georgia under the age of 40. He has been listed in Georgia Trend magazine's Legal Elite as a leading lawyer in his practice area. Franklin has been listed as a Rising Star and since 2008 as a Georgia Super Lawyer. In addition, in 2011 Harold was recognized by Legal 500 for his national profile as a litigator.
In addition to his active national practice, Franklin has engaged in numerous pro bono and community service endeavors in his service to the community and bar. He has lectured locally and nationally on both legal and pro bono related topics ranging from evidentiary issues involving product liability law, to deposition strategy/best practices, to Voting Rights and Non-Partisan Election Protection initiatives, to Ethics in the legal profession. Franklin served as the Keynote Speaker at the 2008 Bench and Bar Reception at the Georgia State University College of Law. In 2009, he served as the keynote Election Protection speaker at the 25th Anniversary Conference of the World Conference of Mayors. In 2009, Franklin served as the 2009 Law Day Keynote Speaker at the Georgia State University College of Law, where he gave an extensive lecture entitled A Legacy of Liberty - Celebrating Lincoln's Bicentennial. He has repeatedly served as faculty for the National Institute for Trial Advocacy for its annual deposition skills program.
During his term as president of the Gate City Bar Association in 2007, Franklin founded the Gate City Justice Robert Benham Law Camp ("Law Camp"), the organization's first institutional outreach program. The three-week long institutional program, a collaborative effort with the Georgia State University College of Law and others, is designed to foster and increase diversity in the legal profession by exposing local high school students to the study of the law and career opportunities in the legal profession.
Franklin has served on the Georgia chapter and on the national board of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and currently serves as Regional Vice Chair for the organization. He has been actively involved with the non-partisan Election Protection coalition through the Lawyers' Committee and has served as National Chair of Election Protection Chair for the National Bar Association. He has spoken at press conferences locally and nationally in connection with Election Protection and has served on numerous other panels, including the student speaker series program of the Center of Law, Health & Society, Public Interest Law Society at the Georgia State University College of Law.
Contact:
Wendy Cromwell
Director of Communications
404.429.4650