Supreme Court of GA elects new chief justice The Supreme Court of Georgia unanimously elected Presiding Justice Hugh P. Thompson of Milledgeville to become chief justice, the court announced today.

He will assume the position Aug. 15, 2013, succeeding Chief Justice Carol W. Hunstein.

Thompson was chief judge of the Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit when Gov. Zell Miller appointed him in 1994 to the Georgia Supreme Court.

Prior to that, he served as president of the statewide Council of Superior Court Judges. He and his wife, Jane, have two grown sons.

The Court has also unanimously elected Justice P. Harris Hines to become the new Presiding Justice.

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The Georgia Legal Food Frenzy is living up to its title on Wednesday, as the Georgia Tech Office of Legal Affairs leapt to the top of the online giving list with $5,771.

Tech’s big move and increased momentum in the Frenzy’s final days pushed the online donation total to $36,625, nearly $8,000 more than yesterday’s late afternoon total.  The money, plus actual food donations and other cash gifts, will benefit Georgia’s food banks as they get ready for the summer months. That’s when many school children can go hungry away from school lunch programs.  Georgia’s food banks can turn $1 into more than $7 in food for its recipients.

As of 2:10 p.m. Wednesday, 10 offices had raised $1,000 or more, with Tech’s legal group on top.

Displaced to second was Kilpatrick, Townsend & Stockton, which has led much of the way, with $4,940.  Alston & Bird followed with $3,090; Office of the DeKalb County Solicitor-General, $2,470; King & Spalding, $2,390; Georgia Department of Law, $2,290;  Hunton & Williams, $1,790; Atlanta Legal Aid Society, $1,380; Southern Company/Georgia Power Legal, $1,060; and The Coca-Cola Company Legal Department, $1,055.

Donations can be made here: http://engage.acfb.org/site/TR/LegalFoodFrenzy/GeorgiaLegalFoodFrenzy?fr_id=1560&pg=entry

With nearly $29,000 in online donations collected, the Legal Food Frenzy has crossed the halfway mark to its goal of $55,000 by the end of business on Friday.  The money goes to Georgia food banks, which can stretch each $1 into more than $7 of food.

As of 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, the online tally stood at $28,945, with eight offices having raised $1,000 or more.  Some offices are getting creative in the competition, as detailed below the standings.

With $4,940 donated online, Kilpatrick, Townsend & Stockton continues to lead. (Totals for the contest will be based on pounds of food raised, with each $1 counting as four pounds of food, and actual food donations weighed.)

They were followed by:

Alston & Bird, $2,655; Office of the DeKalb County Solicitor-General, $2,385; Georgia Department of Law, $2,140; King & Spalding, $2,140; Hunton & Williams, $1,705; Atlanta Legal Aid Society, $1,280; and The Coca-Cola Company Legal Department, $1,045.

Southern Company/Georgia Power Legal was only $40 away from the $1,000 mark, and the Daily Report stood just $78 away from one grand.

Paige Boorman, an assistant solicitor-general in DeKalb County, writes the following about how the office’s efforts has earned third place in online donations.

“Since we lawyers like to compete at just about anything, what a better way than to have it benefit a wonderful cause! And the bonus is, even those of us without lofty paychecks can make a difference with a little bit of creativity. DeKalb County Solicitor-General Sherry Boston decided some healthy competition would help boost our numbers… and she was right! Within our office, we’re divided up into teams and the winner gets to have lunch on the boss lady. On Monday, we had “Taste of the Caribbean” where our Special Victims Unit created dishes to share with the office for a $5 donation.

“So far we have had two luncheons testing our office culinary skills, candygrams for a cause, raffles for gas cards, massages & braves tickets, candy & snack sales, along with traditional fundraising by each employee reaching out to friends and family outside the office. Currently in 1^st place for Government groups, we look forward to finishing out the week with even better numbers so that more families can receive the benefit of the Food Frenzy!”

My apologies for a short post, but the Food Frenzy is nearing $24,000.  Here are the details.

This article on Slate poses a fascinating question: “What’s the best jury size?”

Interestingly, a 1978 U.S. Supreme Court case, Ballew v. Georgia, plays an important role in the answer.

Nearing halftime of the Legal Food Frenzy, Georgia’s legal community has raised $19,044 online for the state’s food banks.

As of 3:50 p.m., five legal organizations had raised more than $1,000: Kilpatrick, Townsend & Stockton, $3,605; Alston & Bird, $1,965; Georgia Department of Law, $1,470; Office of DeKalb Solicitor-General, $1,200 and King & Spalding, $1,175.

Showing that small donations can add up, another 31 organizations had raised between $10 and $995, totalling $10,959, or more than half of the current online total.

The funds’ impact will be multiplied by at least seven, in that food banks say they can stretch $1 into at least $7 of food. The resources help feed hungry people–especially children who in the coming summer months will not be able to rely on food assistance at school.

The Frenzy’s goal is to raise $55,000 in online donations by the end of next week.

To donate, go here.

Legal groups have donated another $4,400 to Georgia’s food banks, with the Legal Food Frenzy cash total reaching $15,983 as of 4:42 p.m.

Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton continued to lead the online donations list, with $3,605, with Alston & Bird holding second place with $1,480.  DeKalb Solicitor was in third with $1,070, followed by King & Spalding with $905.

The Daily Report team was in fifth place, with $816, followed by the Georgia Department of Law at $790.

Frenzy organizers have a $55,000 goal for online donations, which means donations will need to pick up some speed to reach the goal by next Friday, May 3.

According to Greg Sims, the annual giving manager at the Atlanta Community Food Bank, the Frenzy last year collected $51,857 online, plus another $55,652.43 in off-line cash donations.  Groups also collected 20,378 pounds of food for the Atlanta food bank.

Legal groups have donated another $5,000 to Georgia’s food banks, with the Legal Food Frenzy cash total reaching $12,511 as of 4:45 p.m.

Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton maintained a commanding lead for total cash raised, adding nearly $2,000 from this time Tuesday for a total of $3,320.

The other top cash-giving teams are: Alston & Bird, with $1,165; DeKalb Solicitor, $985; King & Spalding, $835 and the Daily Report Team, with $711.

Food banks say they can buy more than $7 of food for each $1 raised, so the Frenzy has so far raised more than 50,000 pounds of food.

Georgia Legal Food Frenzy gained momentum on Tuesday, the second day of the fundraiser for the state’s food banks.

The effort had collected $7,281 as of 4 p.m., nearly $6,000 more than Monday’s late-afternoon total.  The cash is important for the food banks, which say they can stretch $1 into more than $7 worth of food.

The top teams so far are: Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton, with $1,560; Alston & Bird, $550; Jason R. Schultz P.C., $500; Rogers & Hardin, $500; and DeKalb Solicitor, $410.

The Frenzy is also collecting actual food in bins within competing organizations.  The Atlanta Food Bank says it is in special need of: peanut butter, canned tuna, canned beans, canned soups, stews, pastas, 100% fruit juice, canned fruits, vegetables, macaroni and cheese dinners, whole grains, low sugar cereals (boxed.)

The winners will be judged on how many pounds of food raised, with each $1 counting as four pounds of food.  Not counting cans that have been donated, just from the cash the Frenzy has raised 29,124 pounds of food for hungry people.

Come back here for daily updates.

To donate, you can go here and look up a particular team you’d like to support.  For more information, our original post is here.

Georgia’s Legal Food Frenzy started Monday, and by the late afternoon, the legal community had already raised more than $1,400 for the state’s food banks.  The two-week fundraising effort lets law firms and other legal organizations to compete over who collects the most food.  Food bank organizers said cash is particularly welcome, as they can stretch $1 to but more than $7 worth of food.

As of 4:30 p.m. today, the Legal Food Frenzy website said $1,406 had been raised, with a goal listed as $55,000.  The top teams were Alston & Bird, Hunton & Williams and the Cherokee Circuit District Attorney’s Office—each with $200 raised.  The Daily Report was next in line with $171 raised.

Given that last year’s effort raised 625,000 pounds of food, there is a lot of frenzy left to occur.  Stay tuned for daily updates.

To donate, you can go here and look up a particular team you’d like to support.  For more information, our original post is here.