Superior Court Judges

Judge Dorothy A. Robinson Judge George H. Kreeger Judge Mary E. Staley Judge James G. Bodiford Judge S. Lark Ingram Chief Judge Kenneth O. Nix Judge Robert E. Flournoy, III Judge Adele Grubbs Judge J. Stephen Schuster Judge C. LaTain Kell, Sr.

Judge Dorothy A. Robinson
Staff Attorney - Jennifer Marcotte (770) 528-1845
Administrative Asst. – Peggy Massey (770) 528-1843
Court Reporter – Pam Mutuku (770) 528-1844
Fax Number - (770) 528-1881

Judge Robinson has been a trial judge for thirty-six years. She began the practice of law in December of 1967 in Marietta, Georgia. She was the first woman to serve as judge of a court of record in the history of the State of Georgia when appointed in 1972 to the State Court of Cobb County. In 1980, she was the first woman to be elected as a Superior Court Judge in the Cobb Judicial Circuit. In 1985, Judge Robinson was the first woman in the 140 year history of the Supreme Court of Georgia to be invited to sit as a Justice Pro Hac Vice in that Court.

• Served as Chief Judge of the Cobb Circuit. 1995-1997.
• Served on the Executive Committee of the Georgia Council of Superior Court Judges.
• Served as a Superior Court Representative on the Judicial Council of Georgia.
• Elected in April of 1996 to serve a two year term as 7th District Administrative Judge.
• Served for eight years as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Institute of Continuing Judicial Education in Georgia, serving as Chairman of the Board in 1991.
• Effective Judicial Case Management Instructor at seminars for Superior Court Judges state-wide.
• Served as State Court Representative on the Judicial Council of Georgia. 1980-1981.
• Served as President, State Trial Judges and Solicitors Association of Georgia. 1979-1980. (First woman to serve as President)
• Served as Chairman, Board of Trustees- Cobb County Symposium, Inc. 1979-1980.
• Served as President, Georgia Association of Women Lawyers. 1973-1974.
• Also a member of: State Bar of Georgia; Cobb County Bar Association; past member of the Marietta Rotary Club (Director, Community Service 1991-1992).
• 1985 YWCA of Cobb County Woman of Achievement.

Education:
St. John's University, New York, New York: B.B.A., June 1961.
St. Louis University School of Law, St. Louis, Missouri: J.D., February 1967.
University of Nevada, National Judicial College: Graduate, 1979.

Married for 44 years to Hugh Robinson, Jr., former U.S. Bankruptcy Judge (1976 – 1999) for the Northern District of Georgia; member of St. Joseph’s Church in Marietta, where she sings in the choir. Enjoys tennis and cycling, and completed the 1993 through 2007 Bicycle Rides Across Georgia.

Back To Top

---

Judge George H. Kreeger
Staff Attorney - David Conley (770) 528-1839
Administrative Assistant- Babe Atkins-Byrne (770) 528-1837
Court Reporter - (770) 528-1838
Fax Number - (770) 528-1842

Judge Kreeger received his B.S. and J.D. degrees from the University of Georgia. He was in the private practice of law for 13 years; the last 11 years as a partner in the firm of Tate & Kreeger in Marietta. He was a member of the Georgia House of Representatives for 8 years (1969-76). He was a State Court Judge from January 1979 through June 1984, when he was appointed to the Cobb Superior Court Bench where he still serves. He served as Chief Judge of Cobb Superior Court for two years (1997-98). He served as Administrative Judge for the Seventh Judicial District (2002-04) and on the Judicial Council of Georgia (2002-04).

Judge Kreeger is the Presiding Judge, Cobb County Superior Court Drug Treatment Court and Chair, Judicial Council of Georgia’s Standing Committee on Drug Treatment Courts.

He is a member of the Cobb Bar Association and the State Bar of Georgia.

His community involvements include the Smyrna Optimist Club of which he is a member and a past president. He served as Lieutenant Governor for the Georgia Optimist. He was the recipient of the Cobb County Legal Secretaries Association Boss of the Year Award and the recipient of the Cherokee Rose Chapter, American Business Women’s Association Boss of the Year Award.

He is a member of the First United Methodist Church of Smyrna. He and his wife, Hellan, live in Kennesaw and they have three daughters.

Back To Top

---

Judge Mary E. Staley
Staff Attorney - Staci Swit (770) 528-1818
Administrative Assistant - Charlotte Rooks (770) 528-1816
Fax Number- (770) 528-1821

Judge Staley was first elected in 1992 to the Superior Court of Cobb County. Judge Staley graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree from the State University of West Georgia in 1975. She earned her Juris Doctor from the University of Georgia School of Law in 1978. After graduating from law school, Judge Staley served as an Assistant District Attorney for Cobb County. She was elected Magistrate Judge of Cobb County in 1982, and then elected State Court Judge, Division I in 1984. Judge Staley served as a State Court Judge, Division I until she was elected Superior Court Judge in 1992.

Judge Staley is actively involved in many civic and professional organizations. She was selected to be a member of the 1996 Class of Leadership Georgia. She is co-author of Georgia Jurisprudence Family Law. She was the 2001 recipient of the Joseph T. Tuggle Professionalism Award, Family Law Section, State Bar of Georgia. She was recognized by the Cobb County Y.W.C.A as its 1994 Woman of Achievement. She serves on the Editorial Board of the State Bar of Georgia Bar Journal and the Board of Trustees for the State of Georgia Institute of Continuing Legal Education.

Back To Top

---

Judge James (Jim) G. Bodiford
Staff Attorney - Leanne Dolin (770) 528-1857
Administrative Assistant - Jan Porter (770) 528-1822
Court Reporter - Marilyn Roe (770) 528-1856
Fax Number- (770) 528-8141

Judge Bodiford was elected in July 1994 as a Superior Court Judge and has since been re-elected three times to this position. He served as the Chief Judge of the Cobb Superior Court during 2005-2006. In his last election, Judge Bodiford received almost 83% of the total vote. The Judge graduated from Mercer University with a B.A. Degree and John Marshall Law School with a J.D. degree. He is also a graduate of the National Judicial College.

Prior to this service, Judge Bodiford was appointed as the Chief Magistrate Judge for Cobb County when he was 35 years old. He served in this position from 1985 until 1994. He is well known for conducting Georgia’s First Drug Court and completing over 500 felony cases which eliminated a backlog. He was also the trial judge for the two month death penalty trial of ex-lawyer Fred Tokars and the month long murder trial of Lynn Turner, the alleged anti-freeze murderer. Both cases were televised live, gavel to gavel, on Court TV. In addition to these murder trials, Judge Bodiford presided over and successfully completed the internationally covered Tri-State crematory case involving Ray Brent Marsh. In addition, he was recruited and successfully completed the courthouse shooting case in Fulton County involving Brian Nicholes.

Judge Bodiford also served as the Powder Springs Municipal Court Judge. Before going on the bench, Judge Bodiford served as a trial attorney for the Cobb County District Attorney’s Office and was also in private practice in Marietta, Georgia. Judge Bodiford is active in civic and charitable organizations. He is the past president of the Marietta Metro Kiwanis Club and is the prior Chairman of the Board of the Cobb unit of the American Cancer Society. His is also an alumnus of Leadership Cobb.

Judge Bodiford grew up in Cobb County and now lives in the City of Marietta. He is married to the former Nancy May and he has one son. Judge Bodiford is the Past-President of the Council of Magistrate Court Judges of Georgia. Additionally, he was appointed by a former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia to the Supreme Court Committee on Substance Abuse and the Court’s Commission and was a charter member of the state-wide Alternative Dispute Resolution Commission.

Judge Bodiford has been a frequent lecturer across the State of Georgia to lay people, attorneys, and other judges, and serves on the faculty of the Institute of Continuing Judicial Education in Georgia. He has also served as a Faculty Advisor at the National Judicial College located at the University of Nevada. During 2002 and 2003, Judge Bodiford traveled to Estonia and Bosnia on four occasions on behalf of the United States to teach the American Justice System to European judges in those countries.

Back To Top

Judge S. Lark Ingram
Staff Attorney - Mary Catherine Begnaud (770) 528-1833
Administrative Assistant – Debbie Brock (770) 528-1831
Court Reporter – Rhonda Eubanks (770) 528-1832
Fax Number – (770) 528-1834

Judge S. Lark Ingram was appointed as a Superior Court Judge of Cobb County on November 21, 1995. She qualified without opposition for re-election in July 1996 and in 2000 and in 2004. Previously, Judge Ingram was appointed as a State Court Judge of Cobb County in May 1991. She was re-elected to the State Court bench in July 1992 and served until November 21, 1995. Prior to her service as a State Court Judge, from 1980 to 1991, Judge Ingram served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Criminal and Civil Divisions of the United States Department of Justice in the Northern District of Georgia. Judge Ingram graduated from Marietta High School in 1971, Emory University in 1975 and University of Georgia School of Law in 1978.

Judge Ingram is a life-long resident of Cobb county and is active in such civic organizations as: Alumni Council, Oxford College of Emory University; Leadership Cobb Alumni Association (Past Member, Selection Committee; Past Chair, Law Enforcement Day; Politics Day); Cobb Chamber of Commerce (Past Member Public Safety Committee; Cobb Executive Women; Focus Cobb); Former Board Member, YMCA of Cobb County; Past Board Member, YWCA; Honoree, YWCA Women of Achievement – 1992; Kiwanis Club of Marietta, Inc. (Past Board Member); Past Advisory Board Member, Charter Bank & Trust; Past Board Member, Board of Trustees, The Walker School; Past Board Member, The Walker School Association; Past Chair of Founder’s Day Cobb Family Resources; Junior League of Cobb-Marietta (former Board Member); Marietta/Cobb Museum of Art (former Board Member); American Association of University Women – “Cobb Woman of the –1992”; Cumberland Jaycees’ Candidate for one of the five Outstanding Young Georgians- 1991; Member, First United Methodist Church of Marietta.

She is also a member of these professional organizations: State Bar of Georgia; Past member of the Council of State Court Judges; Member of the Council of Superior Court Judges; Former Chair, Board of Visitors, University of Georgia School of Law; Former Alumni Council Member, University of Georgia School of Law; Master of the Inn, Joseph Henry Lumpkin Inn of Court; Cobb Bar Association (Past Chair, Speakers Bureau) (Law Day Committee) (Former Trustee); Atlanta Bar Association (past president of the Atlanta Council of Younger Lawyers) (Past Chair, Law Day) (Committee of the Year Award ‘92-93); Past Member, Board of Trustees of the Trial Judges and Solicitors Retirement Fund.

Judge Ingram and her husband, Daniel V. Pompilio, III, live in Smyrna, Georgia. Their daughter is a college student.

Back To Top

---

Chief Judge Ken O. Nix
Staff Attorney - Lee Fudger (770) 528-1890
Administrative Assistant - Sheila Ross / Beverly Dickinson (770) 528-1888
Court Reporter - Cindy Heckler (770) 528-1891
Fax Number - (770) 528-8105

Judge Ken Nix was appointed Superior Court Judge by Governor Zell Miller in October 1995 and took office on December 1, 1995.

Prior to being appointed to the Superior Court, Judge Nix had served 12 years as a State Court Judge, being first elected to the Cobb State Court in 1982 for a four-year term beginning January 1, 1983. He has been re-elected three times. Prior to his election to the bench, he was in private practice from 1964-1982 and was a member of the Georgia House of Representatives from 1973-1982. He served as Chairman of the Cobb County Legislative Delegation. He is currently the longest continuously serving elected official in office in Cobb County today.

A native of Atlanta, graduating from West Fulton High School, Judge Nix attended Presbyterian College on an athletic scholarship and graduated from Emory University in 1961. He received his Juris Doctorate in 1964 from Emory University School of Law and was admitted to the State Bar of Georgia in 1965. Judge Nix is 58 years old.

He has served as Chairman of the Legislative Committee of the State Court Judges Council of Georgia and a Trustee and Secretary of the Institute of Continuing Judicial Education. In 1997, the Council of State Court Judges named Judge Nix the recipient of the prestigious Ogden Doremus Award given for his contribution to the judicial, legal, and humanitarian communities. Judge Nix is currently serving on the Legislative Committee of the Superior Court Judges Retirement Committee. He is an Adjunct Professor of law at John Marshall School of Law and an advisor for the National Judicial College. He also serves on the Board of Trustees of Life College in Marietta.

Back To Top

---

Judge Robert E. "Rob" Flournoy, III
Staff Attorney - Matthew Freedman (678) 581-5402
Administrative Assistant: Christa Flint (678) 581-5400
Court Reporter: Pam Bryan Rountree (678) 581-5405
Fax: (678) 581-5407

Judge Flournoy
Spouse: Julie Beazel Flournoy
Children: Trent, Rachel

Personal History:
Judge Flournoy, III was born August 22, 1952 in Atlanta, Georgia. He moved to Marietta in 1957, and attended the Marietta Public School System. He graduated from Marietta High School in 1970.

Judge Flournoy graduated from:

1. University of GA – BBA, 1974. Magna Cum Laude, Beta Gamma Sigma & Phi Kappa Phi

2. University of GA – J.D., 1979. Cum Laude

3. University of Nevada, National Judicial College: Graduated, 2001

Legal Experience:
Judge Flournoy, III engaged in the private practice of law in Cobb County for 20 years at 236 Washington Avenue Marietta, Georgia 30060 handling general, civil, and criminal trial and appellate cases in all courts, with a concentration in family law matters. He was appointed by Governor Barnes on July 14, 2000, to fill the Ninth Superior Court Judgeship.

Civic Activities:
Vice Chairman of Board of Trustees – Marietta/Cobb Museum of Art (1998 – Present)

Past Member and Chairman – Downtown Marietta Development Authority (1990-2000) and Board of Historic Review

Former Member of the Board of Directors – Premier Bancshares, listed on (1997 – 2000) New York Stock Exchange

Founding Member of Board of Directors – First Alliance Bank (1985 – 1997) Chairman, Audit Committee

Judge Flournoy, III is a Member of the Marietta Kiwanis Club, the First United Methodist Church, and the State Bar of GA, Cobb Bar Assoc., and GA Trial Lawyers Assoc.

Please note:  Effective January 1, 2009, Judge Flournoy will require all pro se litigants in domestic cases to attend the Cobb County Family Law Workshop before being issued a court date.  Please contact ADR at 770-528-8100 for registration information.

Back To Top

Cobb County Bar Association – Past President, former member of Board of Trustees for over 20 years.  Have served on or chaired various committees including Continuing Legal Education, and Bench and Bar.  Member of the Family Law Section and Trial Lawyers Section.  Founder of Cobb Justice Foundation.  Received the President’s Award on two occasions.

Elected member of the State Bar of Georgia Board of Governors for 20 years.  Member and former chair of the Advisory Committee on Legislation, and member of many Bar committees, 2005 Justice Benham Award for Community Service, 2007 Distinguished Bar Leadership Award.

Member of the National Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention for over 10 years.

Civic Activities
Member of the First Baptist Church of Marietta, Chair-elect of Deacons, and choir member and Sunday School teacher, President of the Rotary Club of Marietta; Former member of the Rotary Club of East Cobb; member of the Board of the American Heart Association, Boy's and Girls Clubs, Member of the Touchdown Club of Marietta High School and Past President and member of the Marietta Schools Foundation. United Way, Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, Public Safety Committee.

1997 Cobb County Woman of Achievement recipient, 2005 Marietta Citizen of the Year. 

Back To Top

Activities and Awards:  American College of Business Court Judges – Charter Member and  Member of  Executive Committee; Board of Governors for State Bar of Georgia; State Bar of Georgia - Young Lawyers Division: “Distinguished Judicial Service Award” for Cobb County Truancy Program; Cobb County Legal Secretaries Association “Boss of the Year”; Past President and Past Chaplain of Cobb County Bar Association; Board of Directors for Cobb County Boys and Girls Club, Inc.; Cobb County Chamber of Commerce;  Member of Honorary Commanders with the U.S. Military; Marietta Kiwanis ; Marietta Museum of History; Past President of Cobb County Symposium; Former Chairman of the Cobb County Board of Ethics for the Cobb County Board of Education; Master, Charles Weltner Inn of Court; Member of The Temple in Atlanta and Temple Kol Emeth in Marietta; Frequent speaker in the areas of Family Law, Criminal Law and Ethics and Professionalism.

Back To Top

---

Judge C. LaTain (Tain) Kell, Sr.
Staff Attorney - Ashley Sawyer (770) 528-8131
Administrative Assistant - Natalie Bloodworth (770) 528-8130
Fax Number - (770) 528-8128

Judge Kell was appointed by Governor Sonny Perdue on December 10, 2007 as the tenth Superior Court Judge of the Cobb Judicial Circuit. He was elected to his first full term on November 4, 2008. He obtained his A.B.J. from the University of Georgia’s Grady School of Journalism and Mass Communications in 1984.  He obtained his law degree from the University of Georgia in 1987.

From 1987-1997, Judge Kell served in the Georgia Attorney General’s Office, practicing in the area of civil litigation.  He was in the Litigation Section at Troutman Sanders law firm in Atlanta from 1997 to 2000.  In 2000, he joined the Marietta law firm of Brock, Clay, Calhoun & Rogers, P.C. where he became a partner/shareholder until his appointment in 2007. 

Judge Kell practiced law for over 20 years in courtrooms across the State of Georgia, including both state and federal courts, the Georgia Court of Appeals and Georgia Supreme Court, all three federal district courts, and the Eleventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.  He is also admitted to practice in the U.S. Supreme Court.

Judge Kell grew up in Cobb County, where his father, Corky Kell, was a football coach and athletic director, and his mother, Carole Kell, was an English teacher and middle school principal.  He graduated from Wheeler High School in Marietta in 1980.

Judge Kell has been active in many civic and community activities, including participating in the 2001 class of Leadership Cobb, serving as Chairman of the Marietta Area Council of the Cobb Chamber of Commerce, Chairman of the Advisory Board of the East Cobb YMCA, and serving for many years in the Hospitality Ministry of his church.

He and his wife, Sheri, live in East Cobb with their son.  They are members of Johnson Ferry Baptist Church where Judge Kell serves as a deacon.

Back To Top