About Leslie

Exceptional Trial and Appellate Attorney

After years as a judge and prosecutor, Leslie started her law firm in 2017 to provide strong, skilled, and strategic defense to people charged with crimes or facing possible loss of their professional license. Clients defending criminal charges and protecting their professional license want someone who knows the system, will fight to protect them, and work to get the best possible result.

Throughout Northeast Georgia, Leslie seeks the best results by regularly fighting for clients at trial, before license boards, and on appeal.

From 2010 to 2016, Leslie served as the only judge in one of Georgia's busiest courts, the Municipal Court of Athens-Clarke County. As judge, she presided over more than 150,000 traffic; DUI; misdemeanor theft by shoplifting, marijuana possession, and underage possession; local ordinance; administrative alcohol, taxi, and business license violation; and nuisance abatement cases. 

Between 2004 and 2010, Leslie served as an Assistant District Attorney for the Western Judicial Circuit, representing the State in felony and misdemeanor cases in Athens-Clarke and Oconee Counties. During that time, she prosecuted more than 2,000 substantive and probation cases, handling all types of charges from speeding to murder; tried 40 cases before juries, including 24 cases in which she served as lead counsel; and successfully handled multiple appeals before the Georgia Court of Appeals and Supreme Court of Georgia. 

Career at a Glance

2010 to 2016--Municipal Court Judge for Athens-Clarke County, one of the busiest courts in Georgia. 

2004 to 2010--Assistant District Attorney, prosecuting felony, misdemeanor, and probation cases in the Western Judicial Circuit of Georgia, in Athens-Clarke and Oconee Counties.

2012 to 2017--Served as the Immediate Past President, President, President-Elect, Vice President, and 10th District Representative for the Georgia Council of Municipal Court Judges. Also served on the Judicial Council of Georgia from 2014 to 2016. 

Education

UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA, Master of Liberal Studies, 2005
Studied punk rock lyrics.  

GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF LAW, Juris Doctor, 2004
Activities: Moot Court, Mock, Trial, Student Trial Lawyers Association, Honor Court, and the Federalist Society.

UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA, Triple Bachelor’s Degree in English, Anthropology, and Spanish, 1996
Activities: WUOG, Stillpoint Literary Magazine, Demosthenian Literary Society. Activities & Affiliations

Bar Admissions and Memberships

• Member, Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers

• Member, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers

• Supreme Court of Georgia

• Court of Appeals of Georgia

• Middle District of Georgia