Major Non-Family Law Cases

City of Atlanta
Retained as Special Counsel to defend the City of Atlanta when it was sued by Delta and all of the other major airlines operating out of Hartsfield International Airport involving the meaning of the City's versus the Airlines' contractual responsibility for "routine and day-to-day maintenance and operations" versus "capital expenditures" for the People Mover Train System at the airport.

Coca-Cola Enterprises, Inc.
Defended, along with Jack Watson, the entire Board of Directors of Coca-Cola Enterprises, Inc. ("CCE") in a shareholder derivative action brought as a result of the creation of CCE as a separate entity in the late 1980's.

Federal Cases:
Represented class of Mariel Cuban excludable aliens in their challenge to the decision by the Board of Immigration Appeals denying class wide motions to re open asylum claims, and in their claim that the Attorney General of the United States abused his discretion in refusing to release Mariel Cubans who had been approved for release from the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary under the Attorney General's Status Review Plan. (Garcia - Mir v. Smith, 766 F.2d 1478 (11th Cir. 1985) pet. for cert. denied (1985))

In a Habeas Corpus action, represented class of Mariel Cuban detainees approved for release but indefinitely detained, challenging on abuse of discretion grounds, the Attorney General's policy of restricting resettlement in Florida and restricting individual non-family members from acting as sponsors. This case also challenged the constitutionality of the Attorney General's Status Review Plan on grounds that Mariel Cubans had a liberty interest in being free from indefinite administrative detention. (Fernandez - Roque v. Smith, 734 F.2d 576 (11th Cir. 1984))

Represented class of Mariel Cubans who were being indefinitely imprisoned as part of the 1981 Freedom Flotilla, who alleged they had a well-founded fear of persecution under the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees if they were deported back to Cuba, and who sought a temporary restraining order against their deportation to Cuba. (Fernandez - Roque v. Smith, 671 F.2d 426 (11th Cir. 1982))

Represented class of Mariel Cubans seeking to have the court accept subject matter jurisdiction over the habeas corpus aspects of their case. (Fernandez - Roque v. Smith, 539 F. Supp 925 (N.D.Ga. 1982)) Represented Cuban refugee who challenged the Attorney General's discretion in revoking and refusing to reinstate parole for a refugee whose sole basis for exclusion and deportation was lack of entry papers, the consequence of which was indefinite imprisonment in a maximum security prison. (Soroa - Gonzales v. Civiletti, 515 F. Supp. 1049 (N.D.Ga. 1981))

Represented class of Cuban refugees who were detained at the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary pending determination of whether they were excludable from the United States. The U. S. District Court held that the continued detention of the refugees, who had no history of criminality, who were unlikely to be deported back to Cuba anytime in the near future, who were unlikely to abscond, who were not a threat to the national security or the public interest, who had not committed crimes in the United States, and who were invited to the United States by President Jimmy Carter, constituted an abuse of discretion of the Attorney General's parole authority. (Fernandez - Roque v. Smith, 91 F.R.D. 117 as modified, 91 F.R.D. 239 (N.D.Ga. 1981))

Represented class of Mariel Cubans who alleged that the Freedom Flotilla was a social group, membership in which could form the basis for a well-founded fear of persecution, thus entitling them to political asylum (Matter of Leon – Orosco and Rodriquez-Colas, Interim Decision No. 2974 (BIA 1983) (A.G. 1984))

State Cases:
Represented parents of two minor children who were sexually molested by their uncle in suit in Superior Court against the uncle's estate after his suicide. At plaintiff's request, the Probate Court removed the executor of the uncle's estate as executor for destroying evidence relevant to the suit against the estate. On appeal, the court upheld the removal of the executor for breach of his fiduciary duties. (In re: Estate of Thomas Edward Davis, Jr., 243 Ga. App. 58 (2000))

Represented minority shareholder plaintiff in a jury trial against the majority shareholder alleging breach of fiduciary duties, wherein trial court granted defendant's motion for directed verdict as to punitive damages, but Court of Appeals reversed remanding case for trial on plaintiff's claim of punitive damages. (Kilburn v. Young, 256 Ga. App. 807 (2002))

Represented minority shareholder in a corporation who was sued on behalf of the corporation by the majority shareholder for alleged breach of fiduciary duty, seeking to dismiss the complaint on grounds that the corporation was not joined as an indispensable party. (Kilburn v. Young, 244 Ga. App. 743 (2000))

Represented a class of all high school students attending public school in the Atlanta School System seeking to declare the policy of the Atlanta Board of Education, requiring all summer students to pay tuition, a violation of their constitutional rights. (Crim v. McWhorter, 242 Ga. 863 (1979))