A three-judge panel from the Georgia Court of Appeals is coming to Habersham County later this month to hear oral arguments. The panel, which includes former Mountain Judicial Circuit District Attorney Brian Rickman, will hear arguments at Tallulah Falls School beginning at 10 a.m. on March 28.
The session is part of the court’s community outreach aimed at increasing confidence in the judiciary. Holding court at different venues around the state makes the judges and proceedings more accessible to the public.
Chief Judge Rickman, Presiding Judge Stephen Louis Dillard, and Judge Trea Pipkin will hear the oral arguments at Tallulah Falls. The court has provided briefs to the school, and the judges will hold a question-and-answer session for the students following the arguments.
Arguments to be heard
In the first appeal, the judges will consider whether a company can prevent a former executive from working in a related business for an unlimited length of time.
In the second appeal, the judges will consider whether a lawyer can represent two physicians in the same practice, both of whom cared for the same patient, but only one of whom was sued.
“The Court of Appeals is thrilled to hold oral arguments at Tallulah Falls School and give the students a chance to see our judges in action without traveling to Atlanta,” says Rickman.
The school will reserve seating for local attorneys, who are invited and encouraged to attend. This is an open court proceeding. The public is also welcome to attend. Seating may be limited. Campus visitors must check in with security at the front gate of the upper school campus, and they will be directed to the Gertrude Long Harris Theatre, where the court session will be held.
Back from hiatus
After a hiatus of several years due to the pandemic, the court last fall resumed its off-site oral arguments and held court in Macon, Athens, and Valdosta. It traveled to Coffee County in February and will go to Columbus for its next off-site argument in April.
The Court of Appeals is Georgia’s intermediate appellate court, with fifteen judges who serve in panels of three. The court does not hear oral arguments in every case. The parties must ask to be heard. The court grants only about a third of those requests.
Rickman has served on Georgia’s Court of Appeals since 2016. He was appointed to the court by then- Gov. Nathan Deal. Before joining the court, Rickman served as D.A. for Habersham, Rabun, and Stephens counties.
