C. LaTain Kell Sr.

C. LaTain “Tain” Kell, Sr. is a retired judge who presided in the Superior Court of Cobb County from 2007 to 2022. He was the circuit’s chief judge from 2017 to 2019. During his time on the bench, he helped design and teach the New Judge Orientation for Superior Court Judges from 2015 to the present. He has also co-hosted a podcast titled “The Good Judge-ment Podcast” since 2016, hosting nearly 200 episodes to date.

Kell has received numerous awards for his service to the judiciary, including President’s Award, Council of Superior Court Judges- 2022; Jack P. Turner Award, Family Law Institute- 2022; “Spirit of Justice” Award, Georgia Bar Association- 2023; and Special Recognition for Outstanding Work in Judicial Education, Council of Superior Court Judges- 2024.

Since retiring from the bench in May 2022, Kell has formed a mediation, arbitration, and trial consulting business, Renaissance Trial Solutions, in Marietta, Georgia.

Before his appointment to the Superior Court in 2007, Kell spent over 20 years as a civil litigator in state and federal courtrooms across Georgia, trying approximately 100 jury trials as a litigator (in addition to another 100 as a judge). He also had extensive appellate experience in state and federal courts. Kell worked at the State Attorney General’s Office from 1987 to 1997, where he served as the first head of the tort litigation section during his last two years. He also practiced at the Troutman Sanders law firm from 1997 to 2000 and was a partner at the Brock Clay law firm from 2000 to 2007.

Kell earned his undergraduate degree in Journalism from UGA in 1984 and his law degree from UGA in 1987. He also recently earned a master’s degree in judicial studies at the University of Nevada, Reno. 

In his spare time, he is a photographer, a painter and a singer.