public service Tag Archives - Atlanta Injury Lawyer Blog

The Future Looks Bright for New Lawyer Terass “Razz” Misher!

January 8, 2025 | Robin Frazer Clark

I received a wonderful email over the holidays from Terass “Razz” Misher letting me know he had graduated from law school. The subject line of the email simply read “I graduated.” I was thrilled to read his email and so happy for him and his lovely family.

I first met Razz back in April 2020 when we started the podcast “See You In Court,” which is sponsored by the Georgia Civil Justice Foundation. Razz was our very first producer of the podcast and he did a wonderful job. I learned a lot about podcasts from Razz, from what type of microphone I should use to elimination of ambient noise in the room. I was introduced to Razz by my good friends Steve Lowry and Yvonne Godfrey, host of the incredible “The Great Trials Podcast.” BTW, I happened to be a guest on “The Great Trials Podcast” in October 2020 discussing my plaintiff’s $2.35 Million verdict in Fox v. Emory University Hospital. You should check it out! Anyway, they were using Razz for their podcast and suggested I hire him as well. Which I immediately did and it was a great decision. During the next few years, Razz and I spoke many times about a life in law and particularly pro bono efforts. Razz seemed to become more and more interested in what we did as lawyers and the types of cases we handled the clients we served. He started having a thought in the back of his mind that maybe being a lawyer would be right for him. Steve and Yvonne even did an entire episode entitled “Should Razz Go To Law School?” The answer seemed to be a resounding “yes!” Then, one day, he announces to us that we will need to find a new producer because he is going to law school! Wow! Razz said that working with lawyers and listening to stories about lawyers helping others inspired him to consider a life in the law, also, and he decided to take the leap for himself and his family. Razz hooked us up with our current producer, Phillip Hoover, leaving us in Phillip’s capable hands. I was honored to be asked to write Razz a recommendation letter for law school and I proudly did. The next thing I know, Razz is headed to Elon School of Law in North Carolina. Three short years later Razz has graduated. Not only that, he was also inducted into the Order of the Barristers at Elon, which is for only the absolutely top law students at that law school. The photos show Razz with his beautiful family.

I have often encouraged young folks to consider a life in the law. For me, the number one consideration was it was a profession that would allow me to be completely independent, without being beholden to any other person for support. This was my father’s requirement, i.e., that no matter what I do I must be independent. Being a lawyer certainly does that. Although my father was a pharmacist who owned his own drugstore in a small town, Sturgis, Kentucky, he told me being a lawyer would be wonderful for me because once you got your law license, no one could never take that away from you. No matter what may happen, you could always hang out your shingle like a true entrepreneur and make your own way on your brain and your work ethic, and then if you were successful, it was because of your hard work, and if you weren’t, you had only yourself to blame. Plus, lawyers can use their license to effect change in society…real change. No one else in our legal system can serve a subpoena on another citizen and force that citizen to testify, and in a civil case, to testify even against their own interests. Only with a law license could I have obtained a Presidential Pardon from President Obama for my client who was convicted of being gay (which is obviously NOT A CRIME!) while he was serving his Country in the United States Army and who was imprisoned for two years in Ft. Leavenworth Prison. So, there is a lot to be said about being a lawyer, having a life of service to others and devoting your life to the Rule of Law. As my letterhead reads:

John Lewis: A life of good and necessary trouble

July 24, 2020 | Robin Frazer Clark

Friends:

Today I am proud to present to you a tribute to Congressman John Lewis written by my summer law clerk, Austin Weatherly. Austin will begin his law school journey next month as a 1L at University of Georgia School of Law. He did his undergraduate work at New York University and then spent the last few years working at Turner Broadcasting. It has been our pleasure having Austin with us this summer, sometimes in person at the office and sometimes virtually via Zoom. I have known Austin and his family most of his life and he has proven himself to be an outstanding young man, a kind and caring person who treats others as he would have them treat him. This will serve him well as a Georgia Lawyer. We know Austin is going to do great things at UGA Law and later in the practice of law. We will look forward to following his career. Now, enjoy his tribute honoring Congressman John Lewis.

My name is Austin Weatherly, and I am currently serving as Robin’s law clerk. I was born into the congressional care of John Lewis. Until his passing, he had been my congressman my entire life. To me and my family he served as an example of the hard work required by a true patriot. Lewis exhibited a brand of patriotism rooted in realizing the potential and promise of America. He dreamed of a nation framed by the constitution, and built on freedom and equality. In an effort to honor John Lewis I have prepared this brief remembrance.

5 Things POTUS Could Learn From Lawyers

April 10, 2017 | Robin Frazer Clark

We are about to reach the 100 day milestone of the current POTUS, and with that come many criticisms and many “attaboys.” It’s all in the eye of the beholder. This POTUS is the first in a string NOT to be a lawyer. When you think about that, the fact that he is not a lawyer, nor has he ever served in any public service role, means he has had no formal training in the Constitution nor in either drafting, interpreting or applying legislation. These are things that lawyers do every day, day in and day out. That is pretty obvious. What may not be at the forefront of your mind when thinking about lawyers is the professionalism displayed by lawyers every day. Not only must lawyers as professionals in the practice of law abide by certain formal ethical rules and rules of professionalism, they must also insure they practice with a certain courtesy and respect for their opponents and for the judicial system that other people, say, real estate tycoons, for example, do not. So as we approach that 100 day marker for the POTUS, I have been thinking of a few things that POTUS, a non-lawyer, so far has failed to demonstrate consistently in the last 100 days and what he could learn from lawyers…things I think would naturally serve him, his administration and most importantly, the people of the United States, well.

Be Impeccable With Your Word. A lawyer’s ability to advocate successfully for his or her client is only as good as his or her credibility, and credibility directly flows from being able to count on what a lawyer says as being true. No half-truths, no hedging the truth, no embellishment to make your facts seem just a little bit better than they really are. A lawyer must always tell the truth in all dealings or risk complete ineffectiveness, or worse, a client’s, or an opposing counsel’s, or a judge’s (gasp!) not being able to believe what the lawyer is telling them. Once that happens, all is lost. You may have heard this referred to as “your word is your bond.” The Cambridge Dictionary defines this as “If someone’s word is their bond, they always keep a promise.” Nothing is truer for a lawyer. Lawyers even have a duty of candor to the court to inform the court of case law or precedent that goes against their client’s position in court. Can you imagine a salesperson having to tell a customer that he could actually sell a car to you for less than what you, the customer, is willing to pay for it? Of course not, but lawyers are required to act with that much candor and honestly at all times before the Court. The ideals of professionalism in the practice of law are aimed at ensuring our profession remains a “high calling” and not “just a business like any other,” enlisted in the service not only of the clients, but of the public good as well. “A Lawyer’s Creed,” developed by the Chief Justice’s Commission on Professionalism (the Commission), states it as thus: “To the courts, and other tribunals, and to those who assist them, I offer respect, candor, and courtesy. I will strive to do honor to the search for justice. ”
Never Take Anything Personally. I think this is good advice for everyone, but especially lawyers must behave like this and are expected to do so. Trial lawyers must always do their jobs in an adversarial situation. By definition, there will also be another lawyer representing the opposing party in a lawsuit trying his or her level best to prevent you from succeeding. Think how hard this is! If we were talking about the profession of medicine and using surgery as our analogy, no other surgeon comes into an operating room to try to prevent the operating surgeon from performing the surgery successfully! No other doctor comes in and tries to kill your patient! But that is precisely what occurs in the practice of law. Every time I represent a client there is an opposing counsel trying to prevent me from succeeding. It’s pretty stressful, but would be even worse if the lawyer takes his opposing counsel’s efforts personally. The opposing counsel is just trying to do his job well, too. That’s all. And The Lawyer’s Creed requires lawyers to promise this to opposing counsel: “To my colleagues in the practice of law, I offer concern for your welfare. I will strive to make our association a professional friendship.” We also are required to make this promise: “To the opposing parties and their counsel, I offer fairness, integrity and civility. I will seek reconciliation and, if we fail, I will strive to make our dispute a dignified one.” Temper tantrums and other demonstrations of pettiness and “unsportsmanlike conduct” have no place in the legal profession. Following a trial, adversaries shake hands, regardless of the outcome. I have never had a problem shaking the hand of my able adversary when he or she has conducted himself or herself with integrity and professionalism throughout the litigation. It honors our justice system and your opponent. As Shakespeare wrote in “The Taming of the Shrew,” “do as adversaries do in law, strive mightily but eat and drink as friends.”