About Tom Barry
Articles written by Tom Barry
First and No Longer Counting
Linda Klein is exemplary; back in the day, she knew she had to beIn 1994, Linda A. Klein, a construction attorney with Gambrell & Stolz, became the first woman elected to serve as secretary of the State Bar of Georgia. Newspapers across the state carried the story. But what followed was unexpected. “I started getting calls from all over the state,” says Klein, “from women who were the victims of domestic violence. They’d say things like, ‘My husband hits me, and in front of the children.’ “Those calls changed my life. I had to do …
Putting the Puzzle Together
Elder law attorney Ruthann Lacey blends professionalism with compassionVisit Ruthann P. Lacey’s law firm in Tucker, Ga., and you’ll find a waiting area stocked with family photographs that trace her ancestry to the Nebraska plains. Her grandfather’s old desk, from the farm on which she spent long hours as a child, anchors one wall. “People are drawn to those pictures, and they’re a good match for our [law firm] culture,” Lacey says. “We’re all about helping families work together to solve problems and provide the best quality of life.” Lacey has …
The Pilot
Andy Scherffius lands planes, and handles plane-crash litigation, safelyIn December 2004 Lynn Jones’ husband died in a private-plane crash in Tennessee. His body was so badly burned she was advised not to view it at the funeral home. Their daughter was only in second grade. “Our lives stopped on a dime,” Jones recalls. “I don’t even remember what my husband wore that morning he walked out to go to work. He had to get up much earlier than I did, and it was a quick kiss and that was that. It was over. He never walked in that door again.” Lawyers seeking …
Exhibio Me Argentum
Clint Richardson shows us the (ancient) moneyClint Richardson's world is inhabited not only by venture capitalists but by Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar and Genghis Khan. The managing member of Atlanta's Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice office, Richardson collects ancient coins issued by these and other long-dead notables—rulers who shaped history and coined the money to prove it. Richardson owns some 250 ancient coins and is writing a book about his collection. Working title: The Celators' Mirror — History Reflected Through …
First-String Attorney
Craig Frankel channels Itzak Perlman for the Atlanta Community Symphony OrchestraForget about arguing some high-stakes case before a demanding judge and skeptical jury. The most terrifying moment in Craig Frankel's life came when he was a 13-year-old violinist auditioning for the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra before legendary conductor Robert Shaw. "I was out there all alone," says Frankel, a founding partner of Gaslowitz Frankel in Atlanta, "and I'd never played for such [illustrious] people. I'd never even been on stage before." He somehow managed to get through the …
Enter the Courtroom
Charlie C.H. Lee, a five-time karate world champion, carries his martial-arts values into the legal worldWhen Charlie C.H. Lee says litigation stokes his competitive fires, you listen. After all, he's a five-time world karate champion, a seventh-degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do and a member of the Black Belt Hall of Fame. "I hate to lose," says the 44-year-old construction law/government contracts specialist. "I prepare mentally for litigation the same way I used to prepare for martial arts competition. Knowledge is power. You have to be better prepared than the other side." Lee was 3 when his …
Top of the World, Ma!
John Thompson climbs stairs to climb mountainsMost Tuesdays, along about 7 p.m., John E. Thompson runs the stairs in his office building, 27-story Resurgens Plaza in Buckhead. Up and down, he puts in three or four round trips with no breaks in between. Most Thursdays, he walks those 544 steps, logging two or three stairwell circuits while toting a 40-pound backpack. Sunday you’ll find him making two or three treks up Stone Mountain. The 56-year-old also works out with weights three days a week and rides his bicycle whenever he can. No, …
It’s Only Rock ’n’ Roll But He Likes It
Workers’ comp attorney Greg Presmanes never let the music dieA phone call to his dormitory one night in 1968 was the proverbial fork in the road for Greg Presmanes, then a sophomore at Emory University. On the line was Maury Apertow, manager of The Amboy Dukes, a rising rock band best remembered for launching Ted Nugent’s career. “They’d lost their lead singer, and [Apertow] had heard this little 45 rpm record that I’d co-written and recorded,” Presmanes says. “He wanted me to be his new lead singer.” Apertow wooed Presmanes for an hour …
The Listener
Stephen G. Weizenecker started out managing rock bands in high school in Clearwater, Fla. Twenty years later he’s still managing entertainers—singer T-Boz, actor Kyle Massey, football player Ronnie Brown and former NBA star Dominique Wilkins—now they’re just a little more famous. “My clients are constantly creating art, which lasts much longer than what lawyers usually do,” says the of-counsel attorney with Greenberg Traurig in Atlanta. “A lawyer makes a case and sues somebody. …
Legal Double Eagle
Josh Kamin’s favorite real estate? 18 holesOn his 13th birthday, Josh Kamin received a set of golf clubs from his grandfather. By age 15 he sported an 8 handicap, and was scratch a year later—a rarefied level he maintains today as a top amateur. For a time he considered becoming a professional golfer; then he participated in the Pan American Maccabi Games in Venezuela in 1987. “I played with the national long-driving champion,” says Kamin, 37, a partner with King & Spalding in Atlanta. “Back then, before all the …
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