Brian Lea

Brian C. Lea is an appellate lawyer with particular experience in high-stakes products liability cases, business disputes, and constitutional litigation. He has briefed numerous appeals in state and federal courts, including in cases involving claims for millions of dollars. Brian also regularly appears as trial counsel. In that capacity, he has drafted and argued motions dealing with key substantive and procedural issues.

Brian represents or has represented clients such as The DIRECTV Group, Inc., Georgia Power Company, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, and ORIX USA, L.P. He has extensive experience in a wide range of substantive areas and with widely applicable issues of procedure, including class certification, admission of expert testimony, removal, transfer, and motions for post-trial relief.

Brian maintains an active pro bono practice, including by representing indigent clients in civil rights cases and criminal and post-conviction proceedings. In addition, he has presented on legal writing and developments in federal practice and Supreme Court jurisprudence.

Brian also has served as a member of the faculty of the University of Georgia School of Law and as a barrister in the Joseph Henry Lumpkin American Inn of Court. He has published articles discussing the federal courts, which have appeared in the Virginia Law Review and the William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal.

EDUCATION:

• The University of Georgia (J.D. summa cum laude 2009; Order of the Coif; Articles Editor, Georgia Law Review; Jesse and Dan MacDougald Memorial Award; Isaac Meinhard Award);
• Union University (B.A. in English 2006)

BAR ADMISSIONS:

• Georgia,
• Georgia Court of Appeals,
• U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Seventh and Eleventh Circuits, and
• U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia

CLERKSHIPS:

• Law Clerk to Justice Clarence Thomas,
• U.S. Supreme Court (2011 Term) and to Judge Ed Carnes,
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit (2009-2010)

EXPERIENCE:

• Professors seek to enjoin new Georgia law permitting students to carry guns on Georgia’s public university campuses
• Metro Atlanta Chamber weighs in on Georgia gun carry law
• DIRECTV and component manufacturers prevail on summary judgment in patent infringement case
• Georgia Power disputes construction claims related to design of two new nuclear units, Vogtle Units 3 & 4
• Former Atlanta School Superintendent Beverly Hall defends allegations of cheating on standardized tests
• Jones Day obtains reversal and remand for civil detainee in Fourth Amendment case.