Upatoi Lawyers

My passion for employment law ignited during my undergraduate years at the University of South Carolina. From that point, I committed myself to a career focused on ensuring lawful treatment of employees and securing justice when their rights are violated. While studying at Emory Law School, I took on the role of Director of Communications and Events for the Emory Law Moot Court Society and organized three conferences for the Legal Association of Women Students. My involvement with the Moot Court Society also led me to compete in the Cardozo BMI Entertainment Law Competition, where my teammate and I advanced to...

My legal practice is dedicated to representing employees across various aspects of employment law, including disability discrimination and retaliation, sexual harassment, FMLA interference and retaliation, as well as discrimination based on gender, pregnancy, race, religion, national origin, age, and wage and hour disputes. I also represent individuals in contract negotiations and employment separation negotiations. Before founding Legare, Attwood & Ragan, LLC, I worked for seven years at one of the largest plaintiff employment law firms in the southeast, representing employees. Additionally, I have experience working for two large national law firms where I advised management on employment law issues and defended...

Joseph Henry is the managing partner of the traffic division for Hendrick & Henry Law. He began his legal career as a prosecutor in Metro Atlanta, where he was responsible for prosecuting a wide variety of crimes including traffic tickets, DUI, drug possession, theft, and violent crimes. It was during this time that Joseph developed his expertise in Georgia’s traffic laws that he now uses to the benefit of his clients.

While prosecution was excellent experience, Joseph eventually grew tired watching people in court—especially traffic court—get chewed up and spit out by our legal system. This is in large part what...

I find immense professional satisfaction in advising individuals on career-related decisions. For instance, when an executive is considering a transition between companies and seeks guidance on navigating the departure and hiring processes, I am here to provide advice on managing everything from severance clauses to non-compete agreements, tailoring strategies to suit their unique employment circumstances. However, not all employment situations are favorable. At times, employees face challenges such as being overlooked for promotions, receiving unequal pay compared to peers, or being terminated for reasons unrelated to performance. Other serious issues include harassment or assault in the workplace. Moreover, when an employee reports...

Personally and professionally, Michelle has always strived to be a number of things, but top of that list has always been advocate. Having had many people advocate for her during her life Michelle understands exactly how important a voice for the voiceless can be. After graduating with her Bachelor of Art in Sociology from Purdue University, Michelle began her career in social work working with children and families in crisis dealing with various positions. Some requiring emergency intervention sometimes working with state providers and private providers. Michelle greatly enjoyed working with families but soon realized there were limitations to her...

Carolyn completed her B.A. and M.A. in Sociology from Emory University. In 2001, Carolyn received her law degree from Emory School of Law. Immediately after law school, Carolyn practiced criminal law for six years. During this time, she was able to polish her courtroom talents and approach. In 2007, Carolyn made the transition to family law. She has extensive experience handling a variety of family law matters, such as child custody, divorce, annulment, and more.

Marco A. Corales is an Atlanta attorney that specializes in protecting the rights of those accused of crimes. A native of Miami, Florida, he graduated cum laude from Florida International University before attending the Wake Forest University School of Law in North Carolina. At Wake Forest, in addition to his core legal studies, he gained valuable practical experience by interning for the Forsyth County Chief District Court Judge and the District Attorney’s Office. He graduated with a Juris Doctor degree in 2005, earning the North Carolina Advocates for Justice Award for excellence in trial practice. After...

Attorney Borquaye A. Thomas is originally from Los Angeles, California and attended the University of California at Berkeley for his undergraduate education. As an undergrad, Attorney Thomas majored in History and minored in Education. For law school, Attorney Thomas attended UCLA School of Law in 1994 and received his Juris Doctorate in 1997; he made Atlanta, Georgia his home in 2001. As an undergrad, Attorney Thomas was a member of Cal’s Boxing Team where he competed in both Regional and National Championships. Presently, Attorney Thomas enjoys all sports and recognizes the importance of...

Michael Bixon graduated from the University of Central Florida with a Bachelor of Science in psychology and, like his sister before him, attended law school. After graduating from the law school at Barry University, Michael was fortunate enough to clerk for the Kane Law Firm where he had a unique opportunity to experience personal injury law.

From there, Michael clerked at Weston, Garrou, Walters & Mooney, where he assisted the firm in criminal and constitutional law cases. Soon after, Michael took the Georgia Bar exam and moved to Atlanta and worked with the Reynolds Law Group where he was Senior Associate...

Wes McDaniel is a leading Georgia workers’ compensation lawyer and Partner at Hansford McDaniel - Workers' Compensation Attorneys. He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Georgia and then obtained his Juris Doctor from Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School. During his early legal career, he defended insurance companies and employers. This experience gave him insight into how the opposition thinks and creates a case. He uses this information to prepare stronger cases for his injured clients. His legal success and commitment to his clients have gained him inclusion in organizations such as the Georgia’s Bar Workers’ Compensations and Litigation...

SK Rod Dixon focuses his practice exclusively on personal injury law, which ranges from trucking accidents to shooting cases to medical malpractice cases. He has secured numerous, multi-million dollar verdicts and settlements for his clients. He has gotten a bunch of smaller ones too!

Rod has been recognized as a top lawyer by Super Lawyers, The National Trial Lawyers, and Georgia Trend Magazine, and his cases have been featured in various publications and national television shows.

Rod founded The Dixon Firm, PC in 2009 after spending ten years practicing as a defense lawyer at two of the most...

Eric Teusink is both a founder and the managing partner of Williams Teusink. Eric’s law practice handles both transactions and litigations, primarily in the areas of real estate and business law. As a real estate lawyer, Eric represents the interests of sellers, purchasers, buyers, and lenders through commercial real estate transactions of many disparate property types including office, retails, and multifamily. As a business lawyer and owner, Eric serves as outside corporate counsel for a number of established and growing companies. Mr. Teusink received his law degree from Georgia State University College of Law, graduating cum laude. As an undergraduate, Eric attended...

"Heather is an attorney at the Robbins Firm whose practice is focused on complex business disputes, including business torts. Heather has a broad range of experience which includes all phases of litigation and arbitration. This stems from having worked at both large and small law firms and having represented clients ranging from individuals to international corporations. Prior to joining the Robbins Firm, Heather was an associate at the New York City office of the international law firm White & Case LLP, where she represented multinational corporations, international banks, and individuals in a broad range of disputes, including...

Harris Weinstein is one of the managing partners of The Weinstein Firm, along with his brother Michael. With his brother establishing the firm in 2013, shortly after, Harris decided to join him. After being certified in 2016, Harris immediately joined the firm, with his tenacious courtroom demeanor having an immediate impact. In less than 6 years, Harris has been involved in several multi-million dollar settlements, accumulating an impressive resume and leaving his mark in courtrooms around Atlanta. Harris understands the difficulties involved in caring for a seriously injured loved one while also preparing for a lawsuit. He is here to help...

Prior to joining the McArthur Law Firm, Michael began his career as an associate with a mid-sized litigation firm focusing his practice on liability defense work. In this job, he representing individuals, insurance carriers, and government entities in personal injury litigation. A native of Toccoa, Georgia, the Georgia lawyer attended undergrad at the University of Georgia where he graduated with honors. Following undergrad, Michael also attended law school at the University of Georgia where he graduated cum laude. During law school, Michael served as a summer clerk to the Honorable John J. Ellington of the Georgia Court of Appeals prior to...

I am so blessed to have the privilege to advocate for families in Georgia. In my practice of restructuring families, I have had the opportunity to represent both husbands and wives and mothers and fathers in their divorces, legitimations, child custody matters, child support modifications and paternity actions. These representations include the prosecution and defense of these matters. While every case is different, many of the cases are ripe for resolution short of litigation. However, some of them must be litigated to the fullest extent in a courtroom. When you decide to hire hlg you are investing in attorneys who...

Edward D. Buckley is one of the founding partners of Buckley Bala Wilson Mew LLP. Ed was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, by parents who raised him to make a difference for the better. Ed understands the hardships that working people face and has built his law practice championing their cause, focusing his practice on civil rights and employment discrimination cases. He has represented people from virtually every walk of life, including hotel laundry workers, truckers, secretaries, food industry workers, technicians, salespeople, teachers, professors, stockbrokers, CEOs, CFOs, CIOs, longshoremen, doctors and lawyers. He has represented numerous executives in everything...

Bill Needle is a registered patent attorney who has been exclusively practicing all aspects of Intellectual Property law for 42 years. Mr. Needle began his legal career at the first IP boutique firm in Atlanta (Newton, Hopkins & Orsmby) from 1970-1983. He then founded the IP boutique Needle & Rosenberg which, in 2008, merged into Ballard Spahr LLP. He served as the first Chair of Ballard Spahr's Intellectual Property Department until July 1, 2012 and remains a partner in the firm. His litigation experience includes being counsel in the copyright and trademark litigation for the CABBAGE PATCH KIDS(R)...

Top Atlanta immigration attorney, Amna Shirazi grew up in Atlanta, Georgia and studied for her undergraduate degree at American University in Washington, DC. In 2000, she received a Bachelor’s and Juris Doctor from Georgia State University in Atlanta. She also received her LLM with a focus on Democratic Governance from the Emory University School of Law. As a well-known community educator, Ms. Shirazi is a constant and reliable source to Atlanta area newspapers who frequently publish her remarks about current immigrant issues and immigration policy. Ms. Shirazi also teaches seminars, writes op-ed pieces on immigration issues and has appeared in...

"Kimberly Anderson is an attorney at Robbins Ross Alloy Belinfante Littlefield LLC and focuses practice on commercial litigation as well as administrative and regulatory matters for business and individuals. She joined the firm in 2010 after serving as legislative counsel for Ranking Member Jeff Sessions on the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. While legislative counsel on the Judiciary Committee, she advised Ranking Member Sessions and other Republican Judiciary Committee members on pending judicial and executive nomination, including the recent nomination and confirmation of Justice Elena Kagan to the United States Supreme Court. Kimberly earned her J.D.,magna...

The Nuriddin Law Company is a full service law firm with a focus on Business Law, Consulting, Criminal Law, Estate Planning, Family Law and Personal Injury Law. We represent companies and individuals concerning various business and personal legal matters. Founded by Bukhari R. Nuriddin, at The Nuriddin Law Company, we recognize that our clients have important legal needs requiring customized legal solutions. Quite often, our clients also have related non-legal needs that they want fulfilled, such as guidance and compassion. Understandably, clients are also concerned about fees. We were established as a community-based practice that serves the...

Rick J. DeMedeiros is the sole member of his own firm in Conyers, Georgia. Serving clients throughout the Atlanta metropolitan area, he exclusively focuses his practice on the representation of people who have been injured in workplace accidents or as a result of the negligence of others. Before starting his firm, Mr. DeMedeiros was associated with two law firms that represented employers and insurance companies in workers' compensation matters, and he draws from his rich background in that field to each client's advantage. He has handled workers' compensation cases involving work-related deaths and catastrophic injuries, including severe spinal cord damage,...

Georgia employment and overtime attorney, Thomas F. Martin, grew up in Queens, New York playing basketball at LaSalle Academy against the likes of Lew Alcindor, prior to being highly recruited to play basketball for the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland. Upon graduation from the Naval Academy, Tom served in Vietnam for a year on river patrol boats on the rivers and canals of the Mekong Delta. After active duty, Tom obtained his MBA and began a very successful health care career as a senior executive of several hospital corporations that lasted for 28 years and provided him with...

Beth Moeller represents both employees and employers in all aspects of employment and civil rights litigation, and has litigated a number of complex wage and hour collective and Rule 23 class actions. Beth has litigated single plaintiff, multi-plaintiff, and class and collective action cases in federal and state courts around the country. Beth advises clients on a variety of compliance issues under the Fair Labor Standards Act and other applicable laws and regulations. She has represented clients in cases involving allegations of discrimination, retaliation, harassment, wrongful termination, failure to accommodate, breach of contract, and other violations of state...

Jennifer has been a managing partner here at Gibbs Tillery since graduating from Emory Law School in 2009. A dedicated and trial-tested family law and estate planning attorney, Jennifer helps clients navigate divorce, child custody and support, court order modification, guardianship, and estate planning cases.
A relentless advocate for civil rights and equality, Jennifer was at the forefront of the movement to legalize same-sex marriage for years before the Supreme Court extended marriage equality to same-sex couples in the 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges ruling.
Jennifer's attention to detail and commitment to providing every client with services custom-tailored to their unique...

Teresa Garcia's practice concentrates in the field of Family Law and Adoptions. She handles contested and uncontested divorces, child custody, child support, alimony, visitation, paternity/legitimation, amendment of birth certificates, name changes, enforcement of judicial orders, post-judgment agreements, family violence protective orders and prenuptial agreements. Ms. Garcia handles contested and uncontested adoptions for relative adoptions, step-parent adoptions, independent adoptions (where adoptive parents are not related to the child), agency adoptions, adult adoptions, domestication of foreign adoptions, and re-adoptions. She represents clients in all metro-Atlanta counties including the outer counties of Georgia. She is fluent in Spanish.

As the founder of The Sylvan Firm, LLC, Atlanta criminal attorney Coleman Sylvan represents people who are accused of criminal offenses. He has been practicing as an attorney for ten years, and been licensed to practice in multiple jurisdictions. Before the establishment of his current solo practice, Attorney Sylvan spent time as a prosecutor and partner at another firm. Mr. Sylvan received his undergraduate degree from Furman University and his Juris Doctor from the Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law. Contact his firm for a no-cost case evaluation.

Attorney Ryan A. Rucker is an Atlanta native. He graduated from Georgia State University’s College of Law and earned his Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from Clark Atlanta University, where he studied on a full academic scholarship. Focused on litigation and advocacy, Ryan began his legal career during law school as an intern prosecutor with the Fulton County Solicitor’s Office. There he conducted numerous hearings and discovered his intense love for the courtroom. Upon graduating, Ryan was immediately offered a position with the Fulton County Solicitor’s Office, where he worked tirelessly with a passion for justice, successfully litigating countless cases while obtaining...

Michael is an award winning attorney with a broad set of skills to assist clients in need of aggressive and effective representation. With an expert level of computer knowledge, he often obtains the strong digital evidence necessary to pressure large insurance companies to meet his demands. When necessary, he will present his case to the jury in order to obtain the maximum award possible for his clients.

Prior to founding The Gumprecht Law Firm, Michael first represented a broad spectrum of clients at a small general practice firm outside Atlanta. From small conflicts to emergency court hearings, Michael fought for the...

Attorney Emanuel Dressie is a long-time resident of Atlanta, GA and is passionate about helping his fellow Georgians, which is why he decided to attend law school after a successful career in accounting and finance. While attending Georgia State University College of Law, Emanuel clerked for the Honorable Judge Kimberly M. Esmond Adams of the Superior Court of Fulton County and interned at the DeKalb County Public Defender’s Office and with the Georgia Justice Project. He graduated law school with distinction for his dedication to community service. Since graduating law school, Emanuel has quickly become known as one of the most...

With several years of experience in personal injury and civil litigation, Christopher “Christy” Lambden is known for successfully representing accident victims. He brings tenacity, diligence, and a keen strategic approach to his role as an attorney. Christy is proud to have earned the trust of many Atlanta citizens who found their lives shattered due to someone else’s negligence. His legal acumen and genuine concern for his clients’ well-being and community involvement make him a dependable and reputable advocate for clients’ rights. As a lawyer, Christy takes great satisfaction in “the joy and peace of mind that can be brought to a...

David R. Cook is an attorney with the Atlanta-based law firm Autry, Hall & Cook, LLP. His practice focuses on four main areas: construction, utilities, cooperatives, and business law. By specializing in these four distinct areas of law, David has developed the expertise his clients expect from an attorney abreast of their industries.

For more than two decades, attorney Chuck Hamilton has stood shoulder-to-shoulder with injured workers, accident victims, and their families. His passion for helping others started as a young boy growing up in Gwinnett County, Georgia and has extended into a career of leadership positions, exceptional results for clients, and recognition for excellence in the practice of law. However, it’s the impact Chuck can make on the lives of his clients and their families that motivates him to be the best lawyer he can be.

“Whether a case involves hundreds of dollars or millions of dollars, the goal is the...

Associate Attorney Diamond Alexander received her undergraduate education from The University of Mississippi in 2017 where she double-majored in Criminal Justice & History. She then took a one year sabbatical to get married, travel, move to Atlanta, and apply to law school. Following that, she attended Emory University School of Law where she was also a family law teaching assistant from 2019 to 2021. She graduated law school in 2021 and became a member of the Georgia Bar in 2022. During her educational career, Diamond received a number of recognitions and was involved in several impressive groups including: • Horatio Alger National...

For the last ten years, Meredith has concentrated her practice on representation of victims of sexual harassment, and victims of discrimination and retaliation based on race, gender, age, religion, national origin, and disability, as well as those who have claims under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and under the Georgia Whistleblower Statutes.

In addition, Meredith reviews and negotiates severance agreements, noncompetes and nonsolicitation agreements.

Recently, Meredith has expanded her practice to help those injured due to the negligence of others in auto accidents and those injured on the premises of commercially owned property.

Meredith has the experience to hold...