MACON – Mercer University Trustee Thomas Malone, a 1966 graduate of Mercer’s Walter F. George School of Law, is featured on the cover of the 2010 Georgia Super Lawyers magazine under the heading, “The New King of Torts.” He was joined on the elite list by fellow Mercer trustees and law graduates Dwight J. Davis and Richard A. “Doc” Schneider, both senior partners with Atlanta’s King & Spalding law firm, and M. Diane Owens, partner with Atlanta’s Swift, Currie, McGhee & Hiers. Current Mercer trustee and former board chair David E. Hudson, who earned his undergraduate degree from Mercer and his law degree from Harvard, also was included in the 2010 edition of the publication. He is a partner with the Augusta law firm of Hull Barrett, PC.
An understudy of the late and legendary personal injury lawyer Melvin Belli, dubbed “The King of Torts” by LIFE magazine in a 1954 profile, Malone first worked with Belli decades ago on a medical malpractice case, which they won. Eventually, Belli began referring to Malone as “The Prince of Torts.” Today, more than a decade after the 1996 death of his mentor, Malone is now regarded as one of the nation’s leading trial lawyers, winning more than 90 percent of his cases and earning the proverbial passing of the baton as “the new king of torts” by Georgia Super Lawyers magazine.
During that first case, “Mel Belli told me that I was the best lawyer he’d ever been in the courtroom with, on either side,” Malone said in the Super Lawyers cover story. “Of course, I realize today that he probably said that to everybody. But I believed it and it gave me the confidence to take on case after case.”
Malone, an Albany native and founder of Malone Law Office in Atlanta, recently won the largest verdict in his 43-year career on behalf of a client in California. The multimillion-dollar verdict was also one of the largest in the history of Santa Clara County, according to the Super Lawyers cover story. It adds to a long list of extraordinary victories on behalf of clients with unimaginable medical hardships.
The son of a state court judge, Malone joined the Mercer Board of Trustees in 2006. In 2007, Malone made a $1 million gift to Mercer Law School to establish a distinguished chair and to help support Mercer’s mock trial advocacy program. The following year, Mercer Law School, with the support of Malone’s gift, captured first place in the American Bar Association’s National Criminal Justice Trial Advocacy Competition, defeating Harvard and the University of Houston law schools in the semifinals and finals respectively.
Joining Malone, Davis, Owens and Schneider in the 2010 edition of Georgia Super Lawyers are 135 fellow Mercer Law School alumni, including 47 “Rising Stars.” They practice law all over the state: Atlanta, Augusta, Brunswick, Columbus, Cumming, Dalton, Decatur, Griffin, Hinesville, Lawrenceville, Macon, Marietta, Milledgeville, Perry, Savannah, Statesboro, Thomasville, Valdosta, Vidalia, and Woodstock.
A full list of the Mercer Law School graduates who made the Georgia Super Lawyers is available for download at http://www.law.mercer.edu/news/GASL10MercerAlumni.pdf. The Mercer “Rising Stars” list is available at http://www.law.mercer.edu/news/GARS10MercerAlumni.pdf.
“The University is proud to see more than 100 of its Georgia alumni recognized for their professional achievements in the field of law,” said Mercer President William D. Underwood. “It is also gratifying to have five members of the University’s governing board attracting this kind of acclaim. They bring honor to their alma mater and to themselves for their professional and personal accomplishments.”
The criteria for being listed among the Super Lawyers includes an evaluation of 12 indicators of peer recognition and professional achievement, including verdicts, settlements, transactions, representative clients, experience, honors and awards, special licenses and certifications, position within law firm, bar and/or other professional activity, pro bono and community service, scholarly lectures and writings, education and employment background, and other outstanding achievements.
“We are always proud when our alumni are recognized by their peers for outstanding contributions to the profession,” said Mercer Law School Dean Daisy Hurst Floyd. “It confirms again the value of what we do at Mercer Law School in uniquely preparing graduates for the meaningful practice of law.”
About Mercer University
Founded in 1833, Mercer University is a dynamic and comprehensive center of undergraduate, graduate and professional education. The University enrolls more than 8,000 students in 11 schools and colleges – liberal arts, law, pharmacy, medicine, business, engineering, education, theology, music, nursing and continuing and professional studies – on major campuses in Macon, Atlanta and Savannah and at three regional academic centers across the state. Mercer is affiliated with two teaching hospitals — Memorial University Medical Center in Savannah and the Medical Center of Central Georgia in Macon, and has educational partnerships with Warner Robins Air Logistics Center in Warner Robins and Piedmont Healthcare in Atlanta. The University operates an academic press and a performing arts center in Macon and an engineering research center in Warner Robins. Mercer is the only private university in Georgia to field an NCAA Division I athletic program. For more information, visit www.mercer.edu.
About Mercer Law School
Founded in 1873, the Mercer University Walter F. George School of Law is one of the oldest law schools in the United States and the first one in the state of Georgia accredited by the American Bar Association. Mercer Law School’s educational philosophy is based on a broadly shared commitment to prepare students for the high-quality, general practice of law in a day-to-day learning environment that is both strongly supportive and consistently professional. Its innovative Woodruff Curriculum – which focuses on ethics and practical skills amid small class sizes – earned the Gambrell Professionalism Award from the ABA for its “depth of excellence.” With an enrollment of about 430 students, Mercer Law School is nationally recognized for its exceptional programs in legal writing, moot court, public service, and ethics and professionalism. For more information about Mercer Law School, visit www.law.mercer.edu or call 478.301.5000.
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