Hall Booth Smith Welcomes 5 New Attorneys in Atlanta

ATLANTA – March 17, 2020 – Hall Booth Smith, P.C. is pleased to welcome five new attorneys to the firm’s Atlanta headquarters office as it adds new talent to meet growing client needs.

Partner Meg Hatfield Yanacek defends acute care, skilled nursing, assisted living facilities, pharmacies and health care providers at trial and appeal. She has handled numerous high-risk lawsuits alleging catastrophic injury, wrongful death and class actions, and she also defends providers in disciplinary and administrative actions. She is a Certified Professional Health Risk Manager, and uses her health policy background to provide advisory opinions on regulatory issues including consent, power-of-attorney, psychiatric commitment, guardianship, HIPAA/HITECH, CMS, and matters before The Joint Commission. Earlier in her career, she was in-house counsel for a large hospital system, where she managed complex healthcare claims and litigation and advised on regulatory and policy issues related to patient care. Yanacek earned a J.D., cum laude, from the University of Maryland School of Law, and she also completed a M.P.P. and a B.A. from the University of Maryland at College Park.

Josanne Celestine is Of Counsel who concentrates her practice on defending clients in a wide range of transportation claims. She has nearly a decade of experience in handling general liability, auto and trucking liability cases from her previous role as in-house counsel at a major national indemnity company, where she strategically assessed and planned each case from inception to investigation to risk mitigation and resolution. She was formerly an auto damage adjuster and casualty senior claims adjuster for a major mutual insurance company. Celestine earned a J.D. from Mercer University School of Law, and a B.S., cum laude, from the University of South Carolina.

Jack D. Summer is an Associate, and he defends clients in a wide range of general liability matters. He was previously a Public Defender and trial attorney for Fulton County, where he handled felony cases from arrest to disposition and conducted numerous criminal jury trials, and he provided post-conviction appellate assistance to clients wrongfully convicted of serious felonies when he was a clinical assistant with the Mississippi Innocence Project. He earned a J.D., cum laude, from the University of Mississippi School of Law, and a B.A. from the University of Mississippi.

Peter Skaliy is an Associate who specializes in workers’ compensation matters. He defends employers, self-insurers and insurance companies, and has taken numerous depositions, defended depositions, tried cases before administrative law judges, and mediated and settled claims. Skaliy previously worked at another firm in Atlanta, where he defended clients in workers’ compensation and first party property insurance lawsuits, and he was an associate at a global commercial real estate firm. He earned a J.D. from Georgia State University College of Law, a M.B.A. from Georgia State University’s J. Mack Robinson College of Business, a Master’s of Divinity from Emory University, and a B.A. from the University of South Carolina.

Lauren N. Wortman is an Associate who also concentrates her practice on workers’ compensation disputes. She defends employers and insurers, and handles everything from initial opinion letters, motions and briefs, discovery requests and answers, and trials before administrative law judges. Earlier in her career, Wortman was an insurance coverage associate and an insurance defense attorney at other Atlanta-area firms. She earned a J.D. from the Walter F. George School of Law at Mercer University, and a B.A. from Augusta University (formerly called Georgia Regents University).

“We are delighted to welcome this talented group of attorneys to the Hall Booth Smith family, and we look forward to helping them expand their knowledge and grow their practices as we work together to meet client needs,” said HBS Managing Partner Alex Booth.

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, North Palm Beach and Tallahassee, Florida; and Nashville and Memphis, Tennessee; Saddle Brook, New Jersey; and New York City. 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. The firm’s promise: “Serving to Achieve Excellence.” To learn more, please visit: www.hallboothsmith.com.