The Origins of The Cobb Judicial Circuit Bar Association

by

Fred D. Bentley, Sr. & Lawrence B. Custer (1999 Edition)

There was no Cobb Judicial Circuit until 1953. Before that, Cobb County was part of the Cherokee Judicial Circuit from December 3, 1832, until December 16, 1833, and then the Coweta Judicial until November 24, 1851. On that date the Blue Ridge Judicial Circuit was created and it included Cobb County for over a century.In 1851 the Blue Ridge Circuit consisted of eleven counties: Campbell, Carroll, Cherokee, Cobb, Forsyth, Gilmer, Lumpkin, Milton, Paulding, Polk and Union. Three years afterwards, a total of 63 lawyers actively maintained offices in the Circuit, of which 18 were in Cobb County, all in Marietta*.In those times, twice each year the Judge set out on circuit, holding court for at least a week in each of the counties which composed the circuit. Weekends were for traveling form one county seat to the next. Accompanying the judge was his retinue of lawyers, representing a large part of the local bar. Traveling and living together at the taverns which invariably existed near each courthouse bred a spirit of camaraderie among the members of the legal profession, for the bar on circuit was a traveling men's club. As Judge Garnett Andrews observed: "when congenial people are thrown together by accident, without any task or obligation expressed or implied, or any character to sustain, they hardly ever fail of enjoyment…{W} hen lawyers are thrown together at the tavern, dinner-table, fire-side or in a piazza of summer evenings, where there are none of the responsibilities of host or restraints of guests, they meet under the most favorable circumstances for the pleasure to be derived from unrestrained conversation. "Given the small number of lawyers in an established geographical area and the amount of time many of them spent with their brethren on circuit, a social organization of lawyers would have been superfluous. The improvement of roads, the building of railroads, the advent of the automobile and burgeoning population was to change all that. The State Bar of Georgia did not come into existence until 1963. It replaced the Georgia Bar Association, which was organized in 1884 as the result of a movement begun in 1878 with the creation of the American Bar Association. Membership in the Georgia Bar Association was voluntary; membership in the State Bar of Georgia Bar of Georgia is mandatory. There was no formal local bar association in the Blue Ridge Circuit until about 1946. When the Blue Ridge Circuit Bar Association was organized in that year, it was largely as a social organization, for it held no regular meetings and its activities were limited. At least annually it gave a party. At one of the most memorable of these parties, a send-off was given to Cobb County upon the creation of the Cobb Circuit. For many years, however, the two circuits held joint meetings to preserve the relationships, which continued to exist among their members. On January 6, 1953, the organizational meeting of the Cobb Judicial Circuit Bar Association was held at the Courthouse in Marietta, with Albert J. Henderson, Jr. presiding as temporary chairman. Elected President of the organization was Harold S. Willingham. Other officers were William H. Burke, Vice-President; Howell C. Raven, Secretary, and James R. Shaw, Treasurer. Sam J. Welsch was elected to the Board of Governors of the Georgia Bar Association and Claud M. Hicks was designated as his alternate. At that time, there were 52 charter members**.The constitution and by-laws of the Blue Ridge Circuit Bar Association were adopted with the name of the association being the only change in form or substance. Annual dues were set at $10.00; however, attorneys admitted to practice for less than two years paid only $5.00 per year. The purposes of the Association were "to maintain the honor and dignity of the profession of law; to promote the welfare of the bar and its members; to cultivate social intercourse among its members; and for the promotion of legal science and the administration of justice." The disciplinary powers of the Bar were delegated to a Grievance Committee. While the main concern of the Association was social, it also published a minimum fee schedule and considered questions such as whether lawyers should keep office hours on Saturday afternoons. As the responsibilities and activities of the State Bar of Georgia have changed, so too has the focus of the Cobb Bar Association. For example, no longer does it participate in disciplinary matters. However, it has continued its program of social events, has sponsored many educational programs, has instituted numerous awards programs culminating in Law Day each May 1, and promotes various interdisciplinary activities, including the Cobb County Symposium. In fact, not only is the Cobb bar Association a social and professional organization, it may also be considered an educational and civic organization not only for its members but also for the benefit of the community.

The following have served as presidents of the Cobb Judicial Circuit Bar Association: