Copeland, Stair, Kingma & Lovell, LLP is pleased to announce six attorneys in our Atlanta office have been elevated to partner effective January 1, 2020.  We congratulate each of them for this achievement and couldn’t be prouder of the manner in which they have distinguished themselves, both in the courtroom and within the community.

Melissa Bailey serves as the Chair of the CSVL Insurance Coverage and Bad Faith Practice Group, as well as Co-Chair of the General Liability Practice Group. She represents her clients in complex trial and appellate litigation across Georgia and also advises clients in pre-suit matters. Prior to joining Copeland Stair, Melissa was an attorney with a litigation firm in Savannah where she practiced in the areas of municipal and county liability defense, commercial litigation, and legal malpractice defense. Melissa received her J.D. from the University of Georgia School of Law and was inducted into the National Order of Barristers during graduation. In her third year of law school, she was one of only two students to argue in front of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas as part of the Gray’s Inn exchange. Melissa was recently selected as Barrister of the Joseph Henry Lumpkin American Inn of Court. This esteemed title is given to only ten members a year that are in their first eight years of practice and possess the potential to move into the top echelon of the bar.

Jay M. O’Brien’s practice focuses on catastrophic injury, premises liability and transportation litigation. His extensive litigation experience includes defending individuals, corporations and retailers in a variety of general liability matters, frequently handling from initial investigation through trial and appeal. Mr. O’Brien regularly practices in all state and appellate courts in Georgia and Florida and has been named to the Georgia Super Lawyers Rising Stars® every year since 2014. He earned his J.D. from Nova Southeastern School of Law graduating magna cum laude and was a member of both the Nova Law Review and Moot Court.