Overtis Hicks Brantley
Patrise Perkins-Hooker
Patrise Perkins Hooker won her recent campaign for Treasurer of the State Bar of Georgia. She will be sworn in during the annual meeting of the State Bar which will be held May 31, 2012 – June 3, 2012 in Savannah, GA.
Patrise currently serves as General Counsel for the Atlanta Beltline.
Congratulations to Patrise!
Nina Hickson
Nina Hickson was recently confirmed as the Ethics Officer for the City of Atlanta. Nina will start her duties in late June.
Nina currently serves as the Interim City Manager of East Point, GA. She assumed that post in January after serving six years as the City Attorney of East Point.
Congratulations to Nina on her new position!
Forever Young by O.V. Brantley
Being back at work has reminded me how important it is to like your co-workers. Liking your co-workers makes all the difference between a job that is tolerable and a job that is wonderful.
When you work with positive people who you like, even the most stressful day can be fun. When you work with whiny, negative people, they seem to be able to turn a wonderful day sour.
Are you a likeable co-worker? If not, turn yourself into one. Smile, be positive and go the second mile for the team.
The Mayor and Council of the City of East Point appointed me to served as Interim City Attorney. Nina Hickson, the former City Attorney, was appointed Interim City Manager in January.
This appointment is temporary, and I expect it to last no longer than July 1, 2012. The City will not need my services full-time, so I will maintain my local government practice.
I am deeply humbled by the confidence the Mayor and City Council have placed in me. I am looking forward to my next adventure in public service.
I am grateful that I am listed as one of Georgia’s best municipal lawyers in the 2012 edition of Georgia’s Best Lawyers .
Thank you to everyone who said something good about me!
Recently I mediated several disputes between employees and their supervisors. I think more employers should use mediation to resolve employee grievances.
Almost every business has a grievance procedure. However, most of these procedures focus on who is right and who is wrong. While conducting an investigation to find one person at fault may solve the problem of having appropriate personnel procedures should the company get sued, investigations and grievance procedures rarely create an atmosphere that allows employees to work together harmoniously in the future.
Mediation can go farther than a grievance procedure or an investigation. It can get to the root of what is really bothering the employee and, possibly, come up with a more long-term solution. Sometimes the solution is an apology. Sometimes the solution is the ability to speak a truth to one employee that others have been unwilling to voice. Sometimes the solution is to listen and let someone vent.
Consider mediation if you want not only a resolved grievance, but a harmonious workplace.
O.V. Brantley and Mayor Chuck Shaheen with "Martin's Dream"
Yesterday, I presented Would You Act Like That in Front of Your Grandmother? at the Warner Robins City Council retreat. My presentation focuses on the importance of Council/Staff relations and illustrates my points through quilts.
I am a huge proponent of civility and professionalism in the work place. Often in political environments people forget the basics of good manners, or they decide that good manners are not necessary in the rough and tumble world of politics.
While I was Fulton County Attorney, one of my quilts hung in each conference room. I observed that quilts seemed to have a calming effect on people as they reminisced about their grandmother’s quilts. That is how I came up with the title of the presentation.
Whether my audience agrees with me or not, they always love the quilts.
Do judges make great mediators? Sometimes, but not always.
Judges can be dictatorial. After all, a lifetime on the bench means a lifetime of telling people what to do with the knowledge that they must obey or go to jail.
Mediation is just the opposite. It is the art of convincing people to do something when they know they do not have to do it. Now, that takes a certain skill.
The most important traits in a mediator is the ability to gain the trust of the participants and to be persuasive. Once there is trust and persuasion, there can be resolution
Do litigators make great mediators? Sometimes, but not always.
If a certain type of case is involved, and the mediator has tried many cases involving that subject matter, then litigation experience can inform the mediation. However, in the vast majority of cases litigation experience is not necessary. Sometimes it can even be harmful if the mediator cannot put aside her normal adversarial nature that is cultivated when one is a litigator.
The most important trait in a mediator is the ability to gain the trust of the participants. Once there is trust, there can be resolution.
The Georgia Association of Women Attorneys is sponsoring several happy hours to encourage women lawyers to renew their memberships or to join for the first time. Get to Know GAWL Happy Hours started January 18th around metro Atlanta. Other dates include January 19, 23, 24, 25, and 31. Tonight’s happy hour is at Wine Styles on Cascade Road.
All events are from 5:30 to about 7:30. The cost is $10 which includes one drink and appetizers. Non-members who join GAWL at the event and members who bring a non-member will be eligible to win one of the exciting door prizes. Visit the website for more information and to register.
