W. Fred Orr II, plaintiff trial lawyer with the firm of Orr and Edwards of Decatur, Georgia, has been elected the 52^nd president of the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association (GTLA). Orr was installed as leader of the statewide organization at a black-tie gala April 18 in Atlanta.

As president of GTLA, Orr heads a membership organization, founded in 1958, of more than 2,000 Georgia attorneys. GTLA is dedicated to protecting the public and assuring public access to the civil justice system.

Orr received a Bachelor of Arts in Law degree in 1963 and a Bachelor of Laws degree in 1965, both from the Emory University School of Law in Atlanta. He was admitted to the State Bar of Georgia in 1964, while still in law school.

Specializing in complex civil litigation and jury trials, Orr currently focuses primarily on medical malpractice cases. In his 43-year career, he has served as lead counsel for the plaintiff in hundreds of federal and state court cases.

In the late 1980s, Orr was lead counsel for the plaintiffs in the renowned Presidential Parkway Case, which challenged the Georgia Department of Transportation’s construction of an 8-lane limited-access highway near the Carter Library and Museum in Atlanta. Building the road would have destroyed parks, churches, Fernbank Science Center, a virgin forest and hundreds of historic homes in the Druid Hills area. After a 3-day non-jury trial before the late Osgood O. Williams, Judge of the Fulton Superior Court, Orr was successful in obtaining a permanent injunction stopping construction of the controversial Presidential Parkway. The decision was upheld on appeal.

Another case thrust Orr into the public spotlight in 2006. Only weeks before the start of the criminal jury trial, he was retained by Bill Campbell to join the former Atlanta Mayor’s defense team in one of the city’s most publicized criminal trials. Orr joined the team of Billy Martin and Jerry Froelich, which was successful in obtaining an acquittal of Campbell on all bribery and corruption charges after an 8-week jury trial in U.S. District Court. Campbell was convicted on three counts of tax violations.

Orr taught trial courses as an Adjunct Professor of Law at Emory Law School for more than ten years. Throughout his career, he has been a frequent speaker at Continuing Legal Education seminars. He has served as editor of Calendar Call, the official publication of the General Practice and Trial Section of the State Bar of Georgia. He is a Fellow of the Georgia Bar Foundation and a Master in the Lamar Inn of the American Inns of Court. He is also a Fellow of the International Society of Barristers, which has a worldwide, invitation-only membership limited to 600 active trial lawyers.

Past Chair of the Atlanta Bar Association’s Litigation Section, Orr also chaired the Litigation Section of the DeKalb Bar Association and co-chaired the Bench and Bar Committee of the State Bar of Georgia. He is a member of the Georgia Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates and was named one of Georgia’s “Super Lawyers” in medical malpractice in 2006, 2007 and 2008. Orr also serves on the Board of Directors of the Georgia Civil Justice Foundation.

Orr’s firm of Orr and Edwards is located at One West Court Square in Decatur: www.orrandedwards.com, 404-377-1786.

The Georgia Trial Lawyers Association is headquartered in the historic Hurt Building in downtown Atlanta: www.gtla.org, 800-843-4852.