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Governor appoints Branch 94L to Georgia Court of Appeals

Emory University School of Law |

Elizabeth Branch 94L will be sworn in as judge for the Georgia Court of Appeals on Sept. 4.

Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal announced the appointment July 25, and Branch’s term begins Sept. 1, as she takes the seat vacated by retiring Judge Charles Mikell Jr.

Branch, a partner at Smith, Gambrell & Russell, LLP, in Atlanta, practices commercial litigation and government affairs. She has spent the majority of her career there, except four years when she served as a senior official in President George W. Bush’s administration. From 2004 to 2008, Branch worked for the Department of Homeland Security and at the Office of Management and Budget in the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.

Branch serves as vice chair of the American Bar Association’s Homeland Security Coordinating Committee, is a member of the executive board of the Federalist Society’s Atlanta Chapter, and co-chair of the American Bar Association’s Section of Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice. 

According to the Daily Report, Branch is the first woman appointed to a state appellate court since 1999, when Gov. Roy Barnes appointed M. Yvette Miller to the Appeals Court.

Branch clerked for U.S. District Court Judge J. Owen Forrester in the court’s Northern Georgia District from 1994 to 1996.

Related links

Read the Daily Report story


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