www.law.uga.edu

Leah Ward Sears

Visiting Professor of Law

B.S., Cornell University
J.D., Emory University
LL.M., University of Virginia

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Courses

Contemporary Issues in Family Law Seminar

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Biographical Information

Leah Ward Sears is serving as a visiting professor at Georgia Law for the 2009-10 academic year and will teach a course on contemporary issues in family law in the fall term. She is currently the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia and the chair of the Judicial Council of Georgia. However, she will retire when her term as chief ends in June.

When Sears was appointed to the Supreme Court of Georgia in 1992, she was the first woman and youngest person ever to serve on the court. She served as presiding justice from 2001 until becoming chief justice in 2005. Sears' previous judicial experience includes service on the Superior Court of Fulton County as well as the City Court of Atlanta. She also practiced law as an attorney at Alston & Bird in Atlanta.

Sears earned her bachelor's degree from Cornell University and her law degree from Emory University. She later earned an LL.M. from the University of Virginia. Sears holds honorary degrees from Morehouse College, Clark-Atlanta University, LaGrange College and Piedmont College.

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