Justia Legal Services & Lawyers Directory

Prior to attending law school, I served in the United States Army as an Infantry Officer. I served as a Rifle Platoon Leader, Mortar Platoon Leader, Instructor, Battalion Staff Officer and an Infantry Rifle Company Commander.

I began practicing law in Canton, Georgia in 1993. After obtaining a Master of Laws concentrating in litigation, I logged several thousand hours in the courtroom developing a practice in domestic relations, criminal law and commercial litigation. In 2007 I was certified as a mediator, using my years of courtroom experience coupled with alternative dispute resolution training to help people resolve complex issues without excessive unnecessary costs of litigation. Conversely, I am able to apply the tactics and techniques I learn as a mediator as a tool to more effectively advocate for my clients.

Practice Areas
Mr. Tharp practice areas include both business litigation and family law matters. Much like his law partner, Mr. Meriwether, he finds that handling both types of cases provides unique advantages for his clients. His business litigation and small business experience helps provide extensive financial expertise in handling divorces with large, complicated estates. His family law practice helps provide more frequent courtroom experiences that help him to continue to learn how to best present cases in front of judges and juries.
Mr. Tharp handles a broad range of family law cases including divorce, modification actions, contempt proceedings, and appellant work. He regularly handles estates with large and unique assets, such as a business which can be difficult to value during a divorce proceeding. Mr. Tharp has completed formal mediation training and utilizes this knowledge to achieve favorable results while amicably trying to resolve matters for his clients. Although Mr. Tharp strongly believes that parties should try to resolve matters in a collaborative fashion whenever possible, he also willing, when necessary and appropriate, to utilize his extensive debate skills in a courtroom for his client’s advantage.
General Background and Education
Robert L. Tharp was born on Beale Air Force Base, California. As a child of a military family, he has lived all across the United States and abroad. In high school, Mr. Tharp started to compete at a national level in high school debate.

Mr. Tharp went college at Emory University and graduated in 1993. While in college, Mr. Tharp served as an active leader on campus and was president of the College Republicans, statewide officer of the College Republicans, president of the Georgia Conservancy, student representative to the Southern Accreditation Committee, and officer of Delta Tau Delta. Mr. Tharp also continued to develop his debate skills in college winning numerous college debate tournament awards including best freshman debater, most improved debater, and 1st place at Vanderbilt’s national debate competition. Mr. Tharp also reached elimination rounds for the national debate championship during his time in college.
Mr. Tharp stayed at Emory for law school and received his Juris Doctor Degree in May of 1996. In addition to the rigors of a law school curriculum, Mr. Tharp remained active within the college and high school debate community by helping to coach Emory University’s college debate program and serving as an assistant debate coach for several local high schools including Milton high school in Alpharetta, Georgia.
Mr. Tharp has continued to advance his education and skills since graduation from law school, most recently with his completion of formal mediation training to help better serve his client’s needs in this growing area of dispute resolution.
Civic Involvement
Mr. Tharp served on the Board of Directors for Emory University’s debate program, the Barkley Forum for a number of years. As part of Mr. Tharp’s contributions to Emory during this time period, he ran the Lincoln Douglas portion of the annual Barkley Forum for high school debate tournament at Emory University (the largest high school debate tournament in the nation) while supervising and coaching Emory students during the school year and high school students and high school teachers during annual summer debate workshops. Mr. Tharp also provided extensive help to the Georgia’s high school debate community by helping to run twenty plus high school tournaments a year throughout the greater Atlanta area including tournaments at Milton and Chattahoochee high school.

In addition, Mr. Tharp helped to establish and provided extensive hands-on service for the Urban Debate League program for high school and junior high school students. Mr. Tharp worked with establishing three of the initial Urban debate league programs in this country in Atlanta, Baltimore, and New York – a program that has expanded to 18 of the nation’s largest cities, served 311 urban high schools, 51 urban middle schools, and 37,000 urban public school students.

For these accomplishments, Mr. Tharp was the sole recipient of Emory University’s prestigious Warren Akin Outstanding Alumni Contribution award in 1998.

Political Background
Over the years, Mr. Tharp has been active in numerous state and federal campaigns for local, state and federal races from judges and state representatives to United States Congressmen. He has served various campaign roles from volunteer to campaign coordinator.

In addition, Robert L. Tharp was one of the founding members of a political consulting firm that managed various state and local level campaigns. Not only did this firm provide him with invaluable experience developing and executing comprehensive campaign plans, issues and materials, it also taught him lessons of how to run a business and the struggles that small businesses must manage.

Practice Areas

Since 2000, Mr. Meriwether has focused seventy percent (70%) of his practice on family law and thirty percent (30%) on business law. Through time, he has found that family and business law complement each other well in practice, as his skills from one area transfer easily to the other. Business litigation cases tend to require fewer Court appearances, but the family law cases of Mr. Meriwether's practice has afforded him the opportunity to appear in Court more often and hone skills necessary both for family law and business litigation. Mr. Meriwether's business litigation and transactional work provide the experience and ability to examine and tirelessly move through financial documents, both for business cases, including personal and small businesses, as well as family law cases involving large marital estates in need of equitable division.

Mr. Meriwether utilizes the latest computer software to maintain detailed and comprehensive records of his complex cases. This software allows Mr. Meriwether and his clients to quickly access case information and ensures that no details of the case are overlooked.

Family Law

Mr. Meriwether handles a broad range of family law cases, including divorce, adoption, child custody and support modification, adoption, domestic violence, and premarital agreements. He regularly deals with marital assets ranging from those of little or even negative value to those worth millions of dollars, and competently calculates spousal and child support when applicable.

Mr. Meriwether has said, "In the Courtroom, we zealously represent our clients. But often, fierce litigation is not the best way to resolve a divorce, and we work to settle cases through active negotiation. A divorce can be the most life altering and stressful event anyone can go through, but it does not have to be." To help alleviate the stress often involved in family law cases, Mr. Meriwether takes a collaborative approach to family law. This approach involves utilizing negotiation and mediation to help maintain an amicable relationship between the parties. In cases with children, collaborative law protects the children above all else, creates a win/win situation for the parties, and the parties walk away as satisfied as possible.

In some family law cases, collaborative law will not work, or is inappropriate. Mr. Meriwether evaluates every case on an individual basis to determine how aggressive to approach the case based on the facts, the Court in which the case will be heard, and the Judge who will hear the case. The goal is to achieve the best possible outcome for an individual client. In Mr. Meriwether's experience, compared to a more subtle approach, a "take no prisoners" attitude often results in higher lawyer's fees without a corresponding increase in the achieved result. As such, Mr. Meriwether aims to provide the correct level of aggressiveness to each case for the best result possible.

Business Law

Mr. Meriwether handles a variety of business law cases including simple and complicated business formations, and business divorces. He routinely forms Limited Liability Companies and Corporations. In so doing, he often is asked to draft complex contracts to assist the new business entity with its operations. He also assists clients with the buying and selling of businesses (including the due diligence associated with this process).

Mr. Meriwether views business formations involving a group of friends or acquaintances as marriages, albeit financial ones, and he excels in spotting potential pitfalls when parties are entering into a business relationship. He works hard to ensure that his clients enter into their business ventures well-informed and protected from whatever business complications they may encounter.

Membership

State Bar of Georgia (Member of the Family Law and Business Law Sections)
The Florida Bar
American Bar Association (Member of the Family Law and Business Law Sections)

Admissions
1996, Georgia
1996, Florida

Speaking Engagements
LLC Trends and Developments by National Business Institute. Continuing Legal Education for fellow attorneys.

Arbitration
In 2007, Mr. Meriwether obtained his certification for arbitration. He is ready to arbitrate any Family Law issues and most Business Law matters.

Professional Experience - Mr. Meriwether was admitted to practice law in Florida and Georgia in 1996. In 1998, Patrick L. Meriwether left the Atlanta office of Arthur Anderson and joined Robert Tharp to establish Meriwether & Tharp. His position at Arthur Anderson involved providing tax advice to a variety of large corporations. Mr. Meriwether; however, missed the personal satisfaction that comes with running his own practice and assisting small businesses and individuals with their legal needs. This is where he felt that he could really make the biggest difference.

Community Experience - Mr. Meriwether volunteers time to teach Judo to both children and adults. He holds a Black Belt in Judo and, when he competed in law school, he was the Florida State Champion in his weight division two years in a row. At the 2007 Georgia State Games, he won the gold in his division.

At The Law Office of Bukhari Nuriddin, our clients come first. Every client is treated with courtesy and is guaranteed effective representation. Our expertise and integrity have earned us a reputation as one of Atlanta's premier legal firms.

Our consistent track record of uncompromising ethics instills confidence and trust. We use cutting edge technologies that allow us to respond quickly, and give you the most relevant information and perspectives.

The Law Office of Bukhari Nuriddin is dedicated to achieving the best outcome for every client. With The Law Office of Bukhari Nuriddin on your side, you will come out on top.

Bukhari Nuriddin earned his J.D. degree from Howard University School of Law in 2008. After passing the Georgia Bar, Mr. Nuriddin entered private practice representing both small businesses and individual clients. In 2009, Mr. Nuriddin founded The Law Office of Bukhari Nuriddin. Mr. Nuriddin believed that in starting his own practice, he could be more effective in helping people deal with a variety of legal issues. Since then, Mr. Nuriddin has represented numerous high-profile clients in the pursuit of their transactional goals and has appeared on behalf of individual clients in State Court. Mr. Nuriddin practices exclusively in the areas of intellectual property and entertainment law, criminal defense, tax, wills, trusts & estate planning, and real estate. The Law Office of Bukhari Nuriddin has allowed Mr. Nuriddin to fully realize his passion for advocating for those who are unable to advocate for themselves.

Mr. Nuriddin is active in a number of professional organizations including the Young Lawyers Division of the State Bar of Georgia.

Welcome to Jones Law, LLC. We are a full-service law firm located in Dawson County, Georgia. We specialize in civil & criminal litigation. Clients from the greater Atlanta and North Georgia areas are welcome! Please feel free to contact us with any questions. You may reach us by telephone at (678) 947-4687 or by e-mail at info@JonesLawLLC.com.

The following is a listing of the firm's typical areas of practice and may not necessarily include every type of law we handle. Please contact us with any inquiries or for additional information.

Personal Injury Claims: Automobile Accidents; Premise Liability; Product Liability; Medical Malpractice; Wrongful Death

Family Law / Domestic Matters: Prenuptial Agreements; Separation Agreements; Divorce Actions; Child Custody & Support Actions; Temporary Protective Orders; Modifications of Prior Decrees

Criminal Defense: Misdemeanor and Felony Charges; Probation/Parole/Pretrial Bond Violations; State, Superior, and Federal Court Cases

Probate & Estate Matters: Probate Litigation; Trust & Estate Planning; Powers of Attorney & Living Wills

Corporate Formation & Joint Ventures, Corporate Counsel

Commercial Collections

Business Litigation & Contractual Disputes

Employment-Related Litigation

Real Estate Litigation

Kurt Raulin is the founding member and principal lawyer of The Raulin Professional Group, an Atlanta, Georgia commercial law firm. Immediately prior to forming the firm, Kurt served as the general counsel for Tivoli Properties, an Atlanta developer of high-rise condominiums, apartments and hotels.

Kurt brings a wealth of experience in contract, corporate and real estate-related matters to his practice of law. In particular, he has expertise in the acquisition and entitlement of real estate for development, the preparation of construction contract documents, the negotiation of equity and institutional financing, the formation of corporate, limited liability company and partnership investment vehicles, the structuring of commercial refinancing and work-outs, the drafting of condominium documents and subdivision covenants, and the negotiation of telecommunications agreements and related easements.

Before returning to Atlanta, Kurt previously served as the general counsel for two different South Florida real estate development and investment companies, based in Boca Raton and Miami, respectively. Kurt started his full-time legal career as a commercial real estate attorney in the Atlanta office of Chamberlain, Hrdlicka, White, Williams & Martin.

Kurt earned a Bachelor of Arts degree (B.A.) in Economics and Political Science from the University of Florida, a Juris Doctor degree (J.D.), with honors, from the University of Florida, and a Master of Laws degree (LL.M.) in Real Property Development & Finance from the University of Miami. He also attended the University of Virginia as an undergraduate and Oxford University as a law school exchange student, and completed two years of economics graduate work at the University of Florida graduate school of business.

Before Kurt attended graduate school and law school, he managed five political campaigns on behalf of U.S. congressional and state legislative candidates in Indiana, Virginia, North Carolina and Florida.

Kurt is a member of the Atlanta Bar Association, the State Bar of Georgia, the American Bar Association and the Federalist Society. He is admitted to practice before the Georgia Supreme Court, the Georgia Court of Appeals and the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.

Kurt serves as a member of the University of Florida Law Alumni Council, and is also a contributing life member of the alumni associations of the University of Florida, the University of Miami and the University of Virginia.

In his free time, Kurt enjoys running, sailing, snow skiing, tennis, hiking, hunting, trout fishing, and reading history and political biographies. He is also an avid college football fan.

DANIEL S. WRIGHT provides general business legal services in the fields of commercial real estate, entity formation and governance, joint venture/equity structure arrangements, intellectual property, and various other transactional practice areas. Dan has experience working with organizations both large and small to achieve their goals and understands their different organizational and business needs. Because he started his career in litigation, Dan also appreciates the pragmatic aspects of agreement enforceability and cost-driven decisions. Dan keeps the focus on the client's business rather than legal minutiae.

Dan's other primary field of practice is estate planning, particularly focusing on trust establishment and estate tax avoidance. Dan has given several seminars (in-house and via invitation) concerning such issues as basic estate planning and Georgia's new advance directive for healthcare. Dan particularly enjoys the aspect of teaching his clients the ins and outs of estate planning, as with a few simple moves, a lot of money and emotional pain can be avoided.

Dan is a member in good standing of the State Bar of Georgia and the Dekalb Bar Association. Dan has also served as an officer in his neighborhood association and currently provides legal advice on a pro bono basis to that organization.

Dan graduated cum laude from the University of Georgia School of Law. During his time in law school, Dan was on the editorial and managing boards of the Georgia Law Review and active in student government. Dan also interned in the summer of 1998 for U.S. Magistrate Judge Gerrilyn G. Brill, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Georgia. Dan graduated from Trinity University, located in San Antonio, Texas, in 1996 with a B.A. in Economics.

Robert Sneed has more than eleven (11) years' of experience in all aspects of litigation. Robertâs primary focus of practice is in the area of personal injury and wrongful death, products and premises liability, insurance coverage disputes, estates, domestic matters, general tort litigation, and corporate formation and representation.

Robert has tried numerous jury and non-jury trials, representing plaintiffs and defendants in state and federal courts in Georgia and other jurisdictions. He has appeared before arbitral forums such as the American Arbitration Association, and has successfully mediated hundreds of civil cases in Georgia.

Prior to forming McConnell & Sneed, Robert previously served as a trial lawyer with the Property Team at Swift, Currie, McGhee & Hiers, LLP, where he regularly defended the interests of insurance companies and their insureds. Prior to that, Robert was a trial lawyer at Weinstock & Scavo, P.C., where he aggressively represented the interests of his clients within Georgia and in other jurisdictions. Robert has also served as in-house counsel for Infinity Property & Casualty Company, where he defended insureds in third party civil actions and was instrumental in drafting insurance policy language in various states across the country. Robertâs diverse background in representing insurance companies, insureds, and injured parties, provides him with the unique ability to apply his experience in practicing on both sides of the aisle in effectively representing his clients.

Robert is married to Beth Sneed, a native of the Atlanta area and Marist High School graduate, and currently live in the Brookhaven area of Atlanta. Robert plays on a regular ALTA tennis team and enjoys golf and traveling.

As an independent fee appraiser, Jon has appraised $1.5 billion of commercial real estate in a wide variety of property types from Texas to Florida to Upstate New York, and just about every state in between.

Jon has worked with accountants, attorneys, business brokers, real estate brokers, CFOs, dentists, medical doctors, veterinarians, developers, lenders, buyers, owner-occupants, and investors (including prominent multi-generational family businesses).

His appraisal work has been in the areas of lending, investments, mergers, acquisitions, partnership and corporate buy-ins and buy-outs, estate planning, trusts and estates, charitable gifting, property tax (ad valorem taxation), divorce (property settlement), collateral used for supersedeas bonds (appeal bonds), bankruptcy/foreclosure confirmations.

Jonâs valuation experience includes not just market value, but value in use, going concern value, business value and insurable value.

Jon is qualified to perform cost segregation studies, and, because he is both a lawyer and an appraiser, Jon is also qualified to serve as a property tax arbitrator and referee.