 Late Wednesday afternoon, Gov. Nathan Deal appointed Fayette County State Court Judge Carla McMillian to the Georgia Court of Appeals, filling a vacancy created by the resignation of Judge A. Harris Adams.
It was announced at the end of 2012 that McMillian was one of there finalists for the position, which included Stephen S. Goss, Superior Court Judge Dougherty Judicial Circuit; and Larry B. Mims, State Court Judge, Tift County.
McMillian, 39, is the first Aisan-American appointed to the Court of Appeals and she joins three other judges appointed by deal to the 12-judge appeals panel.
McMillian was recently re-elected to her position on the State Court bench with 66 percent of the vote over contender local attorney and Peachtree City municipal court judge Stephen Ott.
A native Georgian, Judge McMillian became the second state court judge in Fayette County history when she was appointed to the position in 2010 after then state court judge Fletcher Sams was appointed to the bench of the Superior Court of the Griffin Judicial Circuit.
She obtained her undergraduate degree from Duke University and her law degree from the University of Georgia.
She was a partner at the Atlanta law firm Sutherland Asbill & Brennan where she handled auto and motorcycle manufacturers in the areas of franchise and dealer litigation and defended accountants against malpractice actions, when then-Gov. Sonny Perdue appointed her to the Fayette bench in 2010.
McMillian, who lives in Tyrone with her husband and their two children, was among three candidates recommended to fill the Court of Appeals vacancy by Deal’s Judicial Nominating Commission. The other finalists were Dougherty County Superior Court Judge Stephen Goss and Tift County State Court Judge Larry Mims.
McMillian is a member of the board of advisers of the Atlanta Chapter of the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies. In 2010, she received the Most Powerful and Influential Women in Georgia award from the National Diversity Council.
Prior to becoming a judge, she was twice selected by her peers in the legal profession as a Georgia Super Lawyers Rising Star for her work as a trial attorney.
Thus far, there is no indication if there will be a special election fill her post or if the governor will make another state court appointment. |
