J. Robert Persons has over 38 years of experience as a trial lawyer in cases involving transportation, construction, product and professional liability, directors' and officers' liability, and complex insurance coverage litigation. Bob has represented both domestic and London market insurers, excess liability insurers, and the life insurance industry. He has lectured and published extensively on matters related to insurance coverage and is the co-author of the two volume text, Excess Liability: Rights and Duties of Commercial Risk Insureds and Insurers (4th ed., West Publishing 1999). Bob has been named to the 2011 list of Georgia Super Lawyers® for his work in the area of Insurance Coverage, including Bad Faith. Bob is AV®Preeminent™ Peer Review Rated¹ by Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory. From 2008 through 2010, he served as adjunct Professor of Insurance Law at the University of Georgia School of Law. He is currently serving his seventh term on the Board of Governors of the State of Georgia. A Foundation Fellow of the State Bar of Georgia, he has also served three terms on the Board of Directors of the Atlanta Bar Association and on its Judicial Selection and Tenure Committee. In 2010 Bob was a "short list" nominee of the Judicial Nomination Commission for the Georgia Court of Appeals.

Areas of Expertise
• Complex Civil Litigation
• Construction
• Commercial
• Insurance Coverage
• Class Action Suits
• Life, Health & Disability
• Personal Injury
• Products Liability
• Professional Negligence
• Securities

ADR Training
• Resolution Resources Corporation, Atlanta, Georgia, 2004

Education
• University of Georgia School of Law, J.D., 1972
' Georgia Law Review,Associate Editor
Georgia State Bar Journal, Student Editor
Order of Barristers
Omicron Delta Kappa
• University of Virginia, B.A., with distinction, 1969
• The Westminster Schools, Atlanta, Georgia, Class of 1965

Military Service
• 1st Lt. U.S.A.R. (1972-1976)

Bar Admissions
• Georgia

Court Admissions

• Supreme Court of the United States
• U.S. Court of Appeals, 11th Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals, 5th Circuit
• U.S. District Court, Northern District of Georgia
• U.S. District Court, Middle District of Georgia
• U.S. District Court, Southern District of Georgia
• Supreme Court of Georgia
• Georgia Court of Appeals

Legal Employment
• Smith Moore Leatherwood (formerly Carter & Ansley), Atlanta, Georgia
(Partner, 2001'- present)
• Gleaton, Persons, Egan & Jones (Partner, 1998-2000)
• Lord, Bissell & Brook (now Lord Bissell Locke Leidell), Atlanta, Georgia
(Partner, 1986-1998)
• Hurt, Richardson, Garner, Todd & Cadenhead, Atlanta, Georgia
(Partner, 1978-1985)

Professional Affiliations
• American Bar Association (ABA)
• Lawyers Club of Atlanta
• Defense Research Institute (DRI)
• Georgia Defense Lawyers Association (GDLA)
• Professional Liability Underwriters Society (Inactive)
• Master, Lumpkin Inn of Court

Other Professional Accomplishments
• Judicial Nominating Commission 'Short List' for Georgia Court of Appeals Vacancy, 2010
• AV®Preeminent™ Peer Review Rated¹ by Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory
• Adjunct Professor of Insurance Law, University of Georgia School of Law
(2008-2010)

Presentations
• National Claims Association Seminar, Guidelines for Claim Handling (2003)
• Southern Claims Conference, Stop Loss Insurance in Employee Welfare Benefit
Plans (2002)
• Georgia Insurance Law Institute, Liability Insurance Coverage Disputes in Georgia,
The Policyholders Perspective (2001)
• Professional Liability Underwriting Society London Seminar, Insurance Issues in'
Civil Litigation (1998)
• Atlanta Bar Association Winter Seminar, Insurance Issues in Civil Litigation (1998)
• CPCU Annual Meeting Privacy Issues in Insurance Claims Handling (1997)
• National Business Institute Atlanta Seminars, Bad Faith Litigation (1993)
• Liability of Insurance Agents and Brokers (1992)
• Insurer Declaratory Judgment Actions (1988)
• Understanding the Comprehensive General Liability Policy (1985)

Publications
• Robert Persons & Ken Brownlee, Excess Liability: Rights and Duties of Commercial
' Risk Insureds and Insurers (4th ed., West Publishing 1999)(two volumes)

¹ AV®Preeminent™ is a certification mark of Reed Elsevier Properties Inc., used in accordance with the Martindale-Hubbell certification procedures, standards and policies. Ratings reflect the anonymous opinions of members of the Bar and the Judiciary. Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Ratings Fall into two categories '- legal ability and general ethical standards.