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

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.

I help people achieve the best possible results working through the challenges of litigation in family law, personal injury, and workers compensation cases. I'm a 1981 Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Virginia's Economics Honors Program and a 1986 graduate of the University of Georgia Law School. I was born and raised in Atlanta, and I've practiced law in the metro Atlanta area since 1986 and in Marietta since 1990. I served as President of the Cobb County Bar Association in 2001-2002, and I've practiced in front of almost every Judge in the northwest metro Atlanta area (Cobb, Cherokee, and Paulding Counties among others).

DUSTIN W. HIGHTOWER grew up in Carroll County, Georgia where he graduated from Central High School (“CHS”) in 2000. While attending CHS, Dusty lettered in football, wrestling, and baseball. During Dusty’s senior year he served as captain of CHS’s football team along with his cousin Brian Maxwell (now a mechanical engineer at Southwire), and fellow classmate Josh Hubbard. Dusty also received the honor of representing his class as Homecoming King and Mr. CHS his senior year.

Upon graduating from CHS, Dusty attended the University of West Georgia (“UWG”) where he graduated cum laude. During Dusty’s time at UWG he was a member of the Chi Phi Fraternity, Beta Gamma Sigma Business Honors Society, Order of Omega Honors Society, University Ambassadors, Student Activities Council, Student Government Association, and the Inter Fraternity Council. Dusty particularly enjoyed the time that he served as President of Recruitment for the Inter Fraternity Council because he was allowed to plan the Greek recruitment process for UWG, and speak at orientation sessions on the importance of networking and how fraternities can assist members in establishing a solid networking foundation. Aside from his multiple on campus commitments Dusty managed to continuously make his grades a top priority. Dusty regularly made the National Deans List, was named an Ingram Scholar, and received the Spark’s Memorial medal (Chi Phi’s highest GPA award) three out of the four years he was in school. Dusty continues to be dedicated to UWG by currently serving on UWG’s National Alumni Association.

Shortly after graduating from UWG Dusty decided to attended law school. Dusty received his Doctor of Jurisprudence from John Marshall Law School of Atlanta. While in law school, Dusty was selected to serve as Notes and Comments Editor on John Marshall’s inaugural law review journal, John Marshall Law Journal. Dusty was honored by having his comment, Student Searches and Seizures: Georgia’s Current Approach and Recommended Change, chosen as one out of only four student pieces to be published. While in law school, Dusty was also a member of the American Constitutional Society and the Phi Alpha Delta Legal Fraternity.

Dusty did not only study the law while in law school, he also found ways to practice the law in his community. Under the Third Year Practice Act and the Graduate Act, Dusty returned to Carrollton and practiced law as a prosecutor beside Carroll County Solicitor Mr. Jimmy Tuggle. During his time in the Carroll County Solicitor’s Office, Dusty prosecuted DUI, theft, simple battery, and a variety of other criminal cases.

Dusty also became a certified mediator while in law school. Dusty put his mediation skills to work through an internship with the Fulton County Landlord/Tenant Program. During his time in this program, Dusty was able to mediate over 75 landlord/tenant disputes.

Dusty has now returned to his hometown area to practice law. Dusty is a hardworking, honest, dedicated, and driven individual that will work endlessly to provide you with the legal representation that you deserve. Dusty focuses most of his work on criminal defense where he is able to apply what he learned in the prosecutor’s office in a manner that is beneficial to his clients.

I am a graduate of the University of Georgia School of Law and am admitted to practice in the State of Georgia. I'm a native Atlantan and a strong advocate for the people of the Metro area.