Justia Legal Services & Lawyers Directory

Robert Speer, The Magic Lawyer®, was born in Atlanta GA, and has been a resident of Georgia all of his life. He has lived in Cherokee County GA for almost 19 years, and has been a trial lawyer for almost 20 years. He handles cases in the areas of DUI/DWI, Criminal Law, Juvenile Law, Divorce, and Injury cases. His office is in Woodstock GA, but he also handles cases in Canton GA, Atlanta GA, Marietta GA, Cumming GA, Lawrenceviille GA, Decatur GA, Sandy Springs GA, Roswell GA, Alpharetta GA, and all over Georgia. Call (770) 517-0017 today for extremely good legal representation!

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.

Mr. Villanueva graduated from Emory University, Magna Cum Laude in 2000 majoring in Political Science and minoring in Economics. Mr. Villanueva attended Syracuse University College of Law and obtained his juris doctor and masters in Economics from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University in 2003. While at Syracuse Law, Mr. Villanueva had worked as an assistant to the Commercial Real Estate Practice Group at Pyramid Managment Group, Inc. in Syracuse, New York. Mr. Villanueva was an Associate Editor of the Syracuse Law and Technology Journal and member of the Corporate Counsel Certificate Program as well as the Law and Market Economy Program.

Mr. Villanueva is former judicial law clerk to the Honorable Diane J. Larsen of the Cook County Circuit Court in Chicago, Illinois.

Mr. Villanueva practiced residential and commercial real estate, corporate law and bankruptcy and was previously employed by Krevolin & Horst, LLC, The Moss Law Firm, LLC and The Johnson Law Group ALG (Of Counsel) prior to opening his practice in 2007.

Mr. Villaneuva resides in Atlanta, Georgia and is a legal instructor at Gwinnett College where he continues to teach bankruptcy and family law. Mr. Villanueva is a probono volunteer Attorney with the Georgia Legal Services Program Piedmont Division in Atlanta as well as a member of the Gwinnett County Bar Association and the Syracuse Alumni Association of Atlanta.

Mr. Villanueva was born in 1977 in Agana, Guam (U.S. Territory) and is proud son of Chief Petty Officer Ricardo P. Villanueva United State Navy (deceased) and Nelly C. Villanueva, US Veterans Administration Registered Nurse and proud brother of Gigi Lynn Estrada Registered Nurse.

Mr. Villanueva enjoys playing guitar, singing, reading, volunteering, running and painting.

Philip S. Coe is a trial lawyer and counselor with more than 30 years of litigation experience. Mr. Coe's practice over the years has been wide-ranging, but with major focus on family law, including contested divorce, custody and support modification actions. Although he remains first and foremost a trial lawyer, Mr. Coe is also a registered Mediator and Arbitrator and Neutral Case Evaluator. Most recently, Mr. Coe has become a passionate advocate for and practitioner of Collaborative Divorce Practice.

Beverly has been practicing divorce and family law in Cobb and the surrounding counties since 1992. Although she represents clients in all situations, a significant portion of her practice involves representing victims of domestic abuse in divorce actions. Beverly understands the dynamics of domestic abuse and that the primary concern of victims is ending the abuse. With her knowledge, experience, and creativity, Beverly has successfully reduced and, in many instances, eliminated the opportunities for further abuse.

Since 1992, Beverly has also taught a popular pre-divorce seminar that she designed, "What You Need to Know Before You File for Divorce"TM. This comprehensive seminar is designed for anyone who is contemplating divorce but does not know what to expect. In one 2-1/2 hour seminar, Beverly covers over 20 topics related to divorce including alimony, child support, custody, property division, contempt, and modification. She also covers both legal and practical ways to protect yourself, your children, and your property. Nowhere else can anyone obtain so much information all in one place. For more information, email GaDivorceSeminar@aol.com or to register for the seminar jtucker@marietta-city.k12.ga.us

Next seminar Tuesday, November 17, 2009

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).