Law for the north Georgia mountains and the airspace above them.
Aviation law, elder law and estate planning, and family law from a Blairsville attorney with more than 28 years of practice and a pilot certificate in his wallet.
Where I can help
Aviation Law
FAA certificate actions, medical certification problems, DUI reporting, and aircraft ownership. Backed by years of work inside a professional licensing agency.
Aviation → Primary focusElder Law
Wills, trusts, powers of attorney, long-term care and Medicaid planning, guardianship, and probate in Georgia's probate courts.
Elder law → Accepting casesFamily Law
Divorce, custody, modification, and contempt across north Georgia, from an attorney who has also served as court-appointed Guardian ad Litem.
Family law →Practicing law since 1998. Practicing in these mountains since 2006.
I have run my own practice in Blairsville and Young Harris since 2006, and I have lived in Young Harris since 2008. For most of those years my work centered on family and juvenile court across the Enotah Judicial Circuit and the surrounding counties.
Before that, I spent seven years on the government side of the table. As a staff attorney in professional licensing, I reviewed license applications and complaints against licensees, applying the statutes and regulations that decide who may hold a license and on what terms. At the United States Patent and Trademark Office, I reviewed applications presenting complex factual and legal questions and drafted the agency's final positions. That experience shapes how I handle any matter that involves a regulator: I know what the agency needs to see in a file, and where a well-built response changes the result.
Today my practice is shifting toward the two areas where that background matters most, aviation and elder law, while I continue to take family law cases for existing and referred clients.
Your certificate is a license. I've worked inside the licensing agency.
Help for pilots, mechanics, and aircraft owners facing the FAA, from an attorney who spent years reviewing professional license applications and complaints against licensees, and who flies.
The FAA is a licensing regulator. Treat it like one.
Every pilot, mechanic, and dispatcher certificate is a professional license, and the FAA behaves much like any licensing board. It opens a file, asks for records, weighs your history, and decides whether to suspend, revoke, or condition what you hold.
As a staff attorney in professional licensing regulation, I reviewed a very high volume of license applications and complaints against licensees, and I drafted decisions written to hold up on appeal. At the USPTO, I did the same kind of record review on the federal side. I know how an agency attorney reads a response, which facts move a file toward a warning letter instead of a suspension, and what an incomplete answer costs you later.
That perspective applies whether the issue is an alleged violation, a medical application that has stalled, or a DUI that has not yet reached the FAA.
What I handle
FAA enforcement & certificate actions
Representation from the first contact through an appeal.
- Responses to Letters of Investigation
- Compliance Program resolutions where they fit
- Notices of Proposed Certificate Action and informal conferences
- Emergency orders and appeals to NTSB administrative law judges
- Requests for the releasable investigative report under the Pilot's Bill of Rights
Aviation medical certification
Medical issues are the most common reason a certificate is at risk, and they are usually solvable with the right records presented the right way.
- Deferrals and denials on MedXPress applications
- Special Issuance and AASI pathways
- Mental health history and medications, including SSRIs
- Substance and alcohol history, including HIMS evaluations
- Cardiac, sleep apnea, and other conditions requiring documentation
- BasicMed eligibility questions
DUI, DWI & motor vehicle actions
A DUI is two problems: the case in state court and the certificate held by the FAA. Both have their own deadlines.
- Reporting a motor vehicle action to the FAA within 60 days 14 CFR 61.15(e)
- Disclosure on your next medical application
- Coordinating with your criminal defense counsel so a plea in state court does not create a larger FAA problem
- Prior unreported actions and how to correct the record
Aircraft ownership & transactions
- Purchase and sale agreements and pre-closing title review
- FAA aircraft registration and registry issues
- Co-ownership, partnership, and LLC ownership agreements
- Aircraft in divorce and in estate plans
What to do, in order
- Calendar the Georgia deadlineAn administrative license suspension can usually be challenged only if you act within 30 days of the arrest. Missing it can create a suspension that the FAA counts as a separate motor vehicle action.
- Calendar the FAA deadlineA suspension, revocation, or conviction must be reported to the FAA within 60 days of the action, and each one may trigger its own report.
- Check your next medical applicationThe MedXPress form asks about arrests, convictions, and administrative actions. An incomplete answer is often treated more seriously than the underlying event.
- Talk to counsel before you pleadTwo motor vehicle actions involving alcohol or drugs within three years are grounds for FAA action against your certificate. The outcome in state court should be chosen with that in mind.
Plan for the years ahead, and for the people who will carry them out.
Estate plans, long-term care planning, guardianship, and probate for north Georgia families, written so the people you name can actually use them.
What I handle
Estate planning
- Wills and revocable living trusts
- Georgia statutory financial power of attorney
- Georgia Advance Directive for Health Care
- HIPAA authorizations so family can talk to doctors
- Beneficiary designation review for retirement accounts and life insurance
Long-term care & Medicaid planning
- Nursing home Medicaid eligibility in Georgia
- The five-year look-back on gifts and transfers
- Qualified Income Trusts for income over Georgia's cap
- Protecting a spouse who stays at home
Guardianship & conservatorship
When a parent can no longer manage their own affairs and there is no power of attorney in place, the probate court can appoint someone. I also look at whether a less restrictive alternative will work first. My years as a court-appointed Guardian ad Litem mean I know what the court will ask.
Probate & estate administration
- Probating a will and obtaining letters
- Administration when there is no will
- Year's support for a surviving spouse or minor children
- Representing beneficiaries when an executor is not doing the job
Retirement & unusual assets
Retirement accounts, real property in more than one state, family land, and aircraft each need their own handling. An aircraft left to heirs, for example, has FAA registration consequences that a standard will does not address.
What to bring
You do not need everything on this list to get started. Bring what you have, and we will identify the gaps together.
Twenty-eight years in north Georgia courtrooms.
Divorce, custody, and post-judgment litigation from an attorney who has represented parents, represented children, and served as the court's own Guardian ad Litem.
What I handle
Divorce
Contested and uncontested divorce, including division of retirement accounts, businesses, real property, and other complex assets.
Custody & parenting plans
Initial custody and parenting time, and the parenting plans Georgia courts require. I have sat in the Guardian ad Litem's chair, so I prepare clients for what a GAL actually looks for.
Modification
Changes to custody, visitation, child support, and alimony when circumstances have materially changed.
Contempt & enforcement
Enforcing unpaid support, missed parenting time, and violated protective orders, and defending against contempt claims.
Pilots get divorced too.
Aviation careers raise problems that most family lawyers do not see often. Airline schedules rotate, so a standard every-other-weekend plan rarely works; the parenting plan has to follow the bid line. Airline pensions and seniority-driven income need careful valuation. An aircraft or a share of one is a marital asset with its own registration rules, and a careless decree can leave the wrong name on the FAA Registry.
As a pilot and an aviation attorney, I can address those issues directly instead of learning them on your case.