E. Wycliffe Orr, Sr.
Wycliffe Orr, Sr.
Gainesville
Georgia (GA)
Personal Injury Plaintiff: General
Business Litigation
Employment Litigation: Plaintiff
Profile
As a trial lawyer for four decades, from U. S. Army courtrooms in Europe to much of Georgia, Wyc Orr has diversified trial and dispute resolution experience. A trial lawyer for 40 years, he has tried a wide variety of cases, having represented both plaintiffs and defendants before juries in 28 Georgia counties from North to South, as well as in Federal court, and courts-martial in West Germany during his days as a U. S. Army JAGC lawyer. The breadth and depth of Wyc’s decades-long litigation experience allows him to bring many case histories and experiences to bear in evaluating, preparing and trying cases, as well as settling them where appropriate. His broad-based personal injury litigation experience includes auto and trucking collisions, premises liability, products liability, invasion of privacy, defamation, and medical malpractice, among many others.
Wyc also has substantial experience in employment cases under both federal and state law, and was named to Georgia Trend magazine’s “Legal Elite” in the field of employment law in 2005. He was previously recognized in 2003 with the State Bar of Georgia’s Bench and Bar Committee’s Award for Professionalism, and in 2008 was named a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation, which recognizes lawyers’ service to the legal profession and to their communities. Also in 2008, he was awarded the Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers’ Indigent Defense Award, recognizing his being “a vocal advocate for the citizens of Georgia.” He has also litigated numerous cases in the fields of civil rights and other forms of governmental liability. Wyc also has extensive appellate experience, with many appearances before Georgia’s appellate courts, and he has argued in the Eleventh Circuit United States Court of Appeals.
Completion of his formal education was followed by almost four years in the U.S. Army, mostly overseas in Europe. Wyc served in the Georgia House of Representatives from 1989 to 1993. He has career-long extensive involvement with the State Bar of Georgia and in local bar activities, and has served in a host of civic and charitable organizations across the state. He and his wife, Lyn, have established an endowment fund at Wyc's legal alma mater, The University of Tennessee in Knoxville. which sponsors The Wyc and Lyn Orr Distinguished Lecture Series. To date, the series has brought to the College of Law five of the seven "Lions of the Trial Bar," renowned trial laywers throughout America featured in the 2009 American Bar Association Journal article entitled "7 Over 70." They have also established endowment funds at Auburn University and Brenau University. Wyc is the product of a small town in Georgia, where he knew and learned from people at every socio-economic station. Wyc has also managed family farmland and timberland in South Georgia. He brings a variety of life experiences to the practice of law and representation of clients.
Wyc has been married to Lyn Harden Orr for the past 44 years. Wyc and Lyn have two adult children, Kristine Orr Brown (one of Wyc's law partners at Orr Brown Johnson LLP), and Eston Wycliffe (Cliff) Orr, Jr., and four grandchildren.
Selected To
Georgia Super Lawyers 2012
Georgia Super Lawyers 2011
About Wycliffe Orr, Sr.
Admitted: 1971, Georgia
Professional Webpage: www.orrbrownjohnson.com/attorneys/wycliffe-orr.html
Honors and Awards:
- Member, Omicron Delta Kappa (ODK) Honorary Society
- Distinguished Military Graduate, U. S. Army R.O.T.C., Auburn University
- Army Commendation Medal, with Oak Leaf Cluster (U.S. Army Service, Captain, Judge Advocate General’s Corps, Bad Kreuznach, Germany, where he served as both a prosecutor and later as a defense lawyer, and later serving at Fort McPherson, Atlanta)
- Award for Distinguished Service to Education, Phi Delta Kappa Educational Society , 1988
- Bench and Bar Committee Professionalism Award, State Bar of Georgia , 2003
- Named one of Georgia's "Legal Elite" Lawyers, Georgia Trend Magazine, 2005
- Fellow, American Bar Foundation, 2008
- Wyc received the 2008 Indigent Defense award which noted that "he has remained a vocal advocate for the citizens of Georgia.", Indigent Defense Award, Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, 2008
- Wyc was the 2011 recipient of the Judge A. R. Kenyon Award, given by the Gainesville-Northeastern Circuit Bar Association "for exemplifying professionalism, integrity, excellence in the law, and dedication to the public good.", A.R. Kenyon Award, Gainesville Northeastern Circuit Bar Association, 2011
Bar/Professional Activity:
- Past Member, Board of Governors, State Bar of Georgia
- Member (2010-) and Secretary (2011-), The Federal Defender Program, Inc., Atlanta
- Past Member, Foundation of Freedom Committee, State Bar of Georgia
- Past Member, Georgia Public Defender Standards Council, 2003-2011
- Past Member, Georgia House of Representatives, 1989-1993
- Past Chair, Board of Directors, Georgia Indigent Defense Council
- Past President, Gainesville-Northeastern Circuit Bar Association, 2002
Pro bono/Community Service:
- Various other past leadership positions in community organizations, including American Cancer Society- Hall County Chapter; Chestatee Regional Library Board; Rotary Club; Elachee Nature Science Center; Arts Council of Gainesville; Northeast Georgia Speech Center; Volunteer Gainesville, and T-Ball Coach
- Past Chair, Administrative Board and Finance Committee, and Youth Sunday School Teacher, First United Methodist Church of Gainesville
- Past Member, Board of Directors, Auburn Alumni Association
- Alumni Advisory Council, University of Tennessee, College of Law
- Founder and Past President, Chattahoochee-American Inn of Court
- Founder and Past President, Lanier Educational Foundation
Scholarly Lectures and Writings:
- Conflict of Laws- Application of Governmental Interest Approach in Tort Situations, Tennessee Law Review
- Civil Procedure- Collateral Estoppel- Abandonment of Mutuality Requirement in Tennessee, Tennessee Law Review
- Wills- Establishing A Lost Will, Tennessee Law Review, 1969
- Torts- Unemancipated Child's Right to Sue Parent, Tennessee Law Review, 1969
- Criminal Law- Fruits of Illegal Confessionals- Standing to Object, Tennessee Law Review, 1969
- Adverse Possession against Tenants in Common in Tennessee, Tennessee Law Review, 1970
- Mens Rea And The Selective Conscientious Objector, Tennessee Law Review, 1970
- The Gainesville-Northeastern Circuit Bar: A Tradition of Excellence , Georgia Bar Journal, 2003
- Tifton, The New Georgia Encyclopedia, 2008
- Business Torts—Important In The Era of “Tort Reform” And the “Great Recession”, Georgia Trial Lawyers Association--Holiday Seminar, 2009
- Introduction of Distinguished Guests, Wyc and Lyn Orr Distinguished Lecture Series, 2009
- How What You Learning at RMA Equipe You for the Days Ahead, Character Education Seminar, 2010
Educational Background:
- Conflict Resolution Training - Completed Negotiation Theory and Practice Course, Harvard Law School Summer Program of Instruction for Lawyers (Professor Roger Fisher, internationally-recognized authority on conflict resolution)
- Auburn University, B.S., Accounting Major, With High Honors, 1968
- University of Tennessee, J.D., First in Class, 1970
E. Wycliffe Orr, Sr.:
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