Former Georgia State Senator Chuck Clay Joins HBS’s Atlanta Office as Of Counsel

ATLANTA — Hall Booth Smith, P.C. is delighted to announce that former state Sen. Charles C. “Chuck” Clay has joined the firm’s Atlanta office as of counsel.

“I am honored and humbled to join the talented legal minds at Hall Booth Smith, and to counsel our clients on a range of government affairs matters,” Clay said. “It’s a pleasure to call myself a colleague of these attorneys I have respected, trusted and worked with for more than three decades.”

Clay specializes in civil litigation and class action defense, and has a strong government relations and lobbying practice for local, state and national issues. Elected to the Georgia State Senate in 1988, Clay represented the 37th District for six terms and rose to Senate Minority Leader. He was also elected Chairman of the Republican Party of Georgia in 1999 ahead of George W. Bush’s successful campaign for president, becoming the first person from Cobb County to serve in that role.

Although Clay retired from the Georgia State Senate in 2004, he remains dedicated to building close and productive relationships with government agencies and working on behalf of clients to advocate for legislative improvements.

“I’ve known Chuck for over thirty years. We served together in the legislature, worked on client matters together, and have always been close friends. He is one of the most professional and able individuals I have ever known”, says Matt Towery who serves as Of Counsel with the firm.

Earlier in his career, Clay was Assistant District Attorney for Cobb County, and in 1986 he was the first Republican elected to the Cobb Board of Commissioners from the Western District. A graduate of Leadership Cobb and Leadership Georgia, Clay serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Aviation Museum and Discovery Center in Marietta, Director of the public interest law center Georgia Appleseed Foundation, Director of the Southern Polytechnic University Foundation and a Director and Organizer of Vinings Bank.

“Chuck also served with HBS partner Michael Meyer Von Bremen where he developed a reputation for reaching across the aisle to get things done for the people of Georgia”, said Alex Booth, managing partner of HBS. “We are proud to have Chuck reunite with his former colleagues and work with Brad Carver and Bob Middleton and the rest of our Governmental Affairs team to better serve our client’s regulatory and governmental affairs needs”.

The Clay family’s roots are deep in Cobb County, where a statue of his great grandfather, Senator A.S. Clay, stands in the Marietta Square. His grandfather, Lucius D. Clay, helped engineer the Berlin Airlift that broke the 1948-49 Soviet blockade of Berlin and was Military Governor of Germany.

Clay earned a juris doctor from the University of Georgia School of Law, and he completed a bachelor’s degree at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa. Clay and his wife Sara, who is also an attorney, have five children and live in Marietta.

ABOUT HALL BOOTH SMITH

Established in 1989, Hall Booth Smith, P.C. (HBS) is a full-service law firm with six regional offices strategically located throughout Georgia, as well as offices in Birmingham, Alabama; Charleston, South Carolina; Asheville and Charlotte, North Carolina; Jacksonville and North Palm Beach, Florida; and Nashville and Memphis, Tennessee. Experienced across a wide range of legal disciplines, HBS attorneys pride themselves on providing knowledgeable, proactive, client-specific counsel to individuals, domestic and international corporations, state and federal agencies, and nonprofit organizations. Hall Booth Smith maintains the highest commitment to serve its clients ethically and professionally by providing the highest quality legal representation. The firm’s promise: “Serving to Achieve Excellence.” Learn more at www.hallboothsmith.com.