Inside the Legal Profession

For many years, James Lipton interviewed veteran actors and directors on his television program, “Inside the Actor’s Studio.” He did so in front of live audiences of students, who learned from and had the opportunity to interact with his distinguished guests.

In that spirit, and in that format, Mercer Law School requires all first-year students to attend programs that constitute its “Inside the Legal Profession” series.  These programs, which began in 2009, consist of hour-long interviews with distinguished members of the bench and bar.  Professor Longan interviews the guest for approximately 45 minutes, after which the students have about 15 minutes to ask questions. The students hear directly from lawyers in diverse practice areas and from judges on different kinds of courts. The students then routinely have the opportunity to speak informally with our guests.

Our guests for 2024 were:

• Frank Gaddy, attorney, Martin Snow, Macon, Georgia
• Wes Beamon, attorney, Americus, Georgia
• Jill Edmondson, Southern Company, Atlanta, Georgia
• Shreya Shah, attorney, Greenberg Traurig, Atlanta, Georgia
• Tomieka Daniel, Deputy Director, Georgia Legal Services Program
• Jim Fleissner, Professor of Law, Mercer University School of Law, and former Assistant United States Attorney and Deputy Special Counsel
• Meagan Hurley, Assistant Professor of Law, Mercer University School of Law
• Bill NeSmith, Deputy General Counsel, State Bar of Georgia
• Eric Lang, attorney, Lang Legal, Atlanta, Georgia
• The Honorable Sarah Hawkins Warren, Justice, Supreme Court of Georgia
• The Honorable W. Louis Sands, United States District Judge for the Middle District of Georgia
• The Honorable Lamar W. Sizemore, Jr., Superior Court of Bibb County (ret.), Of Counsel Clark Smith & Sizemore, Macon, Georgia
• Ben Mitcham, attorney, Gray, Georgia
• Leslie L. Cadle, attorney, Smith Hawkins Hollingsworth & Reeves, Macon, Georgia
• Ron Daniels, attorney, Eastman, Georgia
• Kaleb Byars, Assistant Professor of Law, Mercer University School of Law
• Vernon M. Strickland, attorney, Strickland Debrow, Newnan, Georgia
• Barry Debrow, Jr., attorney, Strickland Debrow, Newnan, Georgia
• The Honorable Mary Margaret Oliver, State Representative and attorney, Decatur, Georgia
• The Honorable Jeff Hanson, Chief Judge, State Court of Bibb County, Georgia

In 2014, Mercer Law School received the E. Smythe Gambrell Professionalism Award from the American Bar Association Standing Committee on Professionalism and the E. Smythe Gambrell Fund for Professionalism in recognition of “outstanding achievement in the design and implementation of a model professionalism program” for “Inside the Legal Profession.”

Mercer University Press has published a collection of these interviews.