Muscogee County Lawyers

Robert L. Hendrix, III (Rob), is an accomplished trial lawyer based out of Morgan & Morgan’s Atlanta office. In the 16 years that he has dedicated towards fighting workers’ compensation cases, he has recovered over $35 million in benefits for his clients. In addition to Mr. Hendix's trial accomplishments, he is also an experienced appellate advocate. As an active member of the legal community at local, state, and national levels, Mr. Hendrix serves on the Executive Board as President Elect of the Workers’ Compensation Claimant’s Lawyers (WCCL) arm of the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association. He has previously held the Chair of...

Brandon L. Peak is a partner at Peak Wooten McDaniel & Colwell LLP, where he has successfully litigated trucking, personal injury, product liability, and class action cases in courts throughout the nation. In 2019, he was lead counsel in a $280 million wrongful death trucking verdict, the largest verdict in a trucking case in American history. Brandon has personally been involved in cases with verdicts and settlements exceeding $1 billion. He enjoys helping clients get their lives back together and, if necessary, trying cases to juries. After graduating summa cum laude from The Citadel and magna...

For 30 years, Attorney Richard Howe has built on his father's legacy as Managing Partner of Howe Law. As a litigator, Mr. Howe is regarded as one of the top injury lawyers in the state, and earned the esteemed “AV PREEMINENT” rating by the most prestigous legal guide in the country. AVVO® awarded a perfect 10.0 rating. This evaluates lawyers nationwide through a comprehensive evaluation of their background, experience and professional achievements. Awards: AV Preeminent” Rating The Martindale Hubbell Legal Directory 10.0 Rating AVVO Legal Directory, The Highest rating The Million Dollar Advocates Forum – Lifetime Member Recognized as “Legal Elite” by Georgia Trend...

Amber N. Crawford is an Associate at Hall Booth Smith in Columbus, Georgia, and she focuses her practice on estate planning, probates, guardianships and conservatorships, business transactions, and fiduciary litigation. She also represents clients in commercial real estate matters.

Before joining Hall Booth Smith, Amber spent several years at a firm in Newnan, Georgia, where she specialized in probates and estate planning. She also represented creditors’ rights in Chapter 13 bankruptcy cases, handled contract negotiations, closed commercial and residential real estate transactions, and litigated civil and transactional matters. She served as a guardian ad litem and court appointed attorney in Probate,...

Michael is the only all family law attorney to win unanimous decisions before both The Supreme Court of Georgia and The Supreme Court of Georgia. In addition, Michael has won before The Supreme Court of Costa Rica. He is admitted to practice in all Georgia courts and federal courts in the Northern and Middle District of Georgia, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals and the United States Supreme Court. With over 25 years of experience, he has successfully represented thousands of family members in state, federal and international family law cases including divorce, custody, parental kidnapping, paternity, legitimation,...

Mr. Coppedge's practice is devoted to business, tax and personal planning, particularly in the areas of entity selection/formation/operation, estate planning and probate, and tax matters and controversies. With his educational background and LL.M. in Taxation, Mr. Coppedge represents a significant number of small businesses, helps clients create new start-up business (LLCs, c-corporations, s-corporations and partnerships) and also represents a number of physician groups. He advises these clients on the best form of entity from a tax, liability, and operational standpoint, entity formation or incorporation, and continued representation on matters such as employment agreements, buy-sell agreements, contracts, leases, retirement plans...

Persuasive and creative team player with nearly 6 years legal experience, 12 years total work experience, and solid interpersonal, communication, and negotiation skills that move others beyond positions to results. Works well unsupervised while maintaining client goals and adhering to rigid deadlines. Quick, resourceful, and enjoys new challenges. My practice areas: as required by the rules of the Georgia State Bar and other state bars, I do not claim "specialization" in any area. However, I have practiced extensively in the following areas: Insurance representation/defense in the areas workers' compensation, litigation and tort cases, longshore cases, and premises/commercial liability matters....

Valerie grew up in a military family, moving around to various duty stations until her father retired to Augusta GA. She graduated high school from The Academy of Richmond County in Augusta GA then attended Radiography School at University Hospital in Augusta. She worked 40 hour weekends as an x-ray tech while attending Augusta College and graduated with a bachelor's degree in Business Administration in 1989. She has lived in Columbus GA since 1990 and commuted to Atlanta for law school where she obtained her Juris Doctor from John Marshall Law School in 1994. Valerie has been in private practice...

Mrs. Cross has been practicing law since 2000. Mrs. Cross handles the Georgia and Alabama bankruptcies for our firm. She also has a vast knowledge in Real Estate and Wills and Probates. Having admittance to practice law in both Alabama and Georgia, Mrs. Cross has been a member of the State Bar of Georgia since 2000 and the Alabama State Bar since 2002. Mrs. Cross is a proud alumna of Auburn University where she received her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and received her Doctorate in Jurisprudence from Walter F. George Mercer University School of Law in 2000.

Mariel Smith’s primary practice is Labor & Employment Law. She has years of experience defending companies in lawsuits and prelitigation investigations involving the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, U.S. Department of Labor, Georgia Department of Labor, and the U.S. International Trade Commission. Her litigation experience in Employment and Labor Law include defending employers in wage and hour, discrimination and harassment claims. She also has experience in representing clients in mediation. She assists clients in workplace internal investigations and workforce reductions.

Mrs. Smith originally joined the Columbus office of HBS in 2011 after she worked for several years as...

Attorney Thomas Tebeau III is an expert in Georgia Adoption Law and is admitted as a Fellow with the Georgia Council of Adoption Lawyers. Tom has over ten years of experience in all types of adoptions, including international adoptions, relative adoptions, private placement adoptions, agency adoptions, DFCS adoptions, stepparent adoptions, relative adoptions, adult adoptions, and termination of parental rights. He is an experienced adoption litigator and appellate lawyer. Tom is based in Columbus, Georgia, and practices across the State of Georgia.

Christopher B. McDaniel was born and raised in LaGrange, Georgia. He attended Columbus State University in Columbus, Georgia, where he graduated Summa Cum Laude where he majored in Finance and earned his bachelor's degree in business administration in 2010. Chris then attended Mercer University's Walter F. George School of Law where he graduated Magna Cum Laude. Chris was an active member of the Mercer Law Review and Mercer Advocacy Council. During law school Chris clerked for the Honorable Jeanette Little, State Court of Troup County, LaGrange, Georgia. Following law school, Chris practiced at a prominate business litigation firm in Macon,...