EMMET BONDURANT
Contact Emmet Bondurant
Phone 404.881.4126
Fax 404.881.4111
Email bondurant@bmelaw.com
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He argued his first case in the U.S. Supreme Court in 1962, when he was 26. He received a Trial Lawyer of the Year Award from the Georgia Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocacy in 1992, and in 2001, was recognized by the National Law Journal as one of the top ten trial lawyers in the United States.
He is a member of both the American College of Trial Lawyers and the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers and currently serves as a member of the National Governing Board of Common Cause, and as a member of the Anti-Defamation League, Southeastern Regional Board, and as a member of the Board of Counselors of The Carter Center.
He was one of four editors of the 1975 edition of Antitrust Law Development published by the antitrust Section of the ABA. Emmet’s career has included a strong commitment to community service and pro bono litigation, including death penalty, habeas corpus, reapportionment, and other civil rights and constitutional cases. He has served as Chairman of the Atlanta charter Commission (1972-74); President and a Director of the Atlanta Legal Aid Society; a member of the Executive Committee of the Joseph Henry Lumpkin and Logan E. Bleckley American Inns of Court, and as a Trustee of the American Inns of Court Foundation; as Chairman and a member of the Board of Common Cause/Georgia Georgia; Chairman of the Georgia Public Defender Standards Council (2003-2007); as a director and chairman of the Georgia Appellate Practice Education & Resource Center.
Education
University of Georgia (A.B., cum laude, 1958; LL.B., magna cum laude, 1960)
Phi Beta Kappa
Phi Kappa Phi
Harvard University (LL.M., 1962)
Clerkship
Law Clerk to the late Honorable Judge Clement F. Haynsworth, Jr., United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, 1960-1961
Admitted
State Bar of Georgia (1959)
Georgia Supreme Court (1959)
United States Supreme Court (1962)
United States Courts of Appeals for the Third, Fourth, Fifth, Tenth, Eleventh, District of Columbia and Federal Circuits
United States District Courts for the Northern and Middle Districts of Georgia
Professional Organizations
American College of Trial Lawyers
American Academy of Appellate Lawyers
American Law Institute
American Bar Foundation
American Bar Association
American Judicature Society
State Bar of Georgia
Atlanta Bar Association
Lawyers Club of Atlanta
Publications/Speaking Engagements
Authored various articles on constitutional law and local governmental issues, including: “A Stream Polluted At Its Source - The Georgia County Unit System,” 12 Emory Law Journal 86, 1963
“The Challenge to Right of Counsel in Georgia,” 3 Georgia State Bar Journal 157, 1966
“The Bankruptcy Court as A Constitutional Court,” 45 American Bankruptcy Law Journal 235, 1971
“Vicarious Liability of Lawyers in Professional Corporations and Limited Liability Companies - Possible Solutions,” 30 GA. State Bar Journal 204 (Summer 1994)
Participated in numerous seminars sponsored by the American Bar Association, State Bar of Georgia, Atlanta Bar Association, Practicing Law Institute, Federal Publications, American Management Association, and University of Georgia Continuing Legal Education, on legal subjects including Antitrust Law, Appellate Practice, Banking Law, Evidence, Criminal Antitrust Problems, Ethics, Federal Practice and Procedure, Georgia Civil Practice, Uniform Commercial Code
Public Interest Cases
Death penalty
• Nelson v. Zant, 261 Ga. 358, 405 S.E.2d 250 (1991)
• Fleming v. Zant, 259 Ga. 687, 386 S.E.2d 339 (1989)
Supreme Court Cases
• Wesberry v. Sanders, 376 U.S. 1 (1964) (Reapportionment of Congressional Districts)
• Georgia v. Fortson, 379 U.S. 809 (1965) (Reapportionment of the Georgia General Assembly)
• Fortson v. Morris, 385 U.S. 231 (1966) (Challenge to the power of the Legislature to elect Lester Maddox as Governor of Georgia)
• Hishon v. King & Spalding, 467 U.S. 69 (1984) (Applying Title VII to law firms)
Other Cases
• Shepherd v. Jordan, 425 F.2d 1174 (5th Cir. 1970) (Establishing right of the poor to representation by counsel in Atlanta Municipal Court)
• Georgia Conf. of American Ass’n of University Professors v. Dunlap, 246 F. Supp. 553 (N.D. Ga. 1965) (Declaring loyalty oaths required of teachers unconstitutional)
• Lanman v. Brown, 242 Ga. 456, 249 S.E.2d 436 (1977) (Denying use of tax money by Fulton County Commission to persuade electors to vote against ratification of proposed constitutional amendments)
• City of East Point v. League of Women Voters of Atlanta-Fulton County, 267 Ga. 112, 475 S.E.2d 598 (1996) (Compelling Atlanta City Council to hold special elections)
• League of Women Voters v. City of Atlanta, 244 Ga. 796, 262 S.E.2d 77 (1979)
• Malone v. Tison, 248 Ga. 209, 282 S.E.2d 84 (1981) (Preventing disqualification of 77,000 voters registered at “unpublished” registration places)
Awards & Recognition
Recognized as one of the top ten trial lawyers in the United States by the National Law Journal
Recognized by Chambers as one of the leading lawyers for antitrust
Recognized by Georgia Trend Magazine as one of the leading lawyers in Georgia in December 2003
Recognized as a Georgia Super Lawyer by Atlanta Magazine (received most votes ffrom 2004-2008)
Georgia Indigent Defense Council’s Harold G. Clarke Equal Justice Award
Anti-Defamation League’s Elbert P. Tuttle Jurisprudence Award
Lawdragon 500 Leading Trial Lawyers in the United States
Atlanta Bar Association Leadership Award – 1992-93
Trial Lawyer of the Year Award - Georgia Chapter of American Board of Trial Advocacy - 1992
Elbert P. Tuttle Jurisprudence Award – Anti-Defamation League - 2001
Harold G. Clarke Award – Georgia Indigent Defense Council – 2001
Practice Areas:
Antitrust and Unfair Competition, Appellate, Business Torts, Constitutional, Dispute Resolution, Franchise, Professional Liability, Securities
