Brian Lea is an appellate lawyer with particular experience in high-stakes products liability cases, business disputes, and constitutional litigation. He has briefed and argued numerous multimillion dollar appeals. In addition, Brian regularly appears as trial counsel, drafting and arguing motions dealing with key substantive and procedural issues. He also advises clients regarding ways they can minimize the risk of litigation.
Brian represents or has represented clients such as The DIRECTV Group, Georgia Power Company, Lowe's Home Centers, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, and ORIX USA. He has extensive experience in a wide range of substantive areas and with widely applicable issues of procedure, including class certification, admission of expert testimony, removal, transfer, and post-trial relief.
Brian maintains an active pro bono practice that includes civil rights cases and criminal and post-conviction proceedings. In addition, he has presented on legal writing, developments in federal practice, and the Supreme Court. Brian also has published articles discussing the federal courts, which have appeared in the Alabama Law Review, the Virginia Law Review, and the William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal.
Experience
Additional Publications
- 2018
On Judges: A Tribute to Chief Judge Carnes, 69 Ala. L. Rev. 688 - 2017
Situational Severability, 103 Va. L. Rev. 735 (cited in Seila Law LLC v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 140 S. Ct. 2183 (2020) (Thomas, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part), Murphy v. Nat'l Collegiate Athletic Ass'n, 138 S. Ct. 1461 (2018) (Thomas, J., concurring), and Texas v. United States, 945 F.3d 355 (5th Cir. 2020))
Publications Prior to Jones Day
2015
The Merits of Third-Party Standing, 24 Wm. & Mary Bill Rts. J. 277
Speaking Engagements
- November 11, 2019
Making Points to Score Points: Tips for Succeeding on Exams, Atlanta, Georgia - January 28, 2019
Supreme Court Roundup, panelist, Jones Day Atlanta CLE Academy, Atlanta, Georgia - February 26, 2014
Supreme Court Roundup, panelist, Jones Day Atlanta CLE Academy
Speaking Engagements Prior to Jones Day
March 2016
2016 Supreme Court Review/Preview, panelist, University of Georgia School of Law Alumni Weekend Athens, Georgia
January 2015
The Proposed Revisions to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Joseph Henry Lumpkin American Inn of Court
Atlanta, Georgia
- The University of Georgia (J.D. summa cum laude 2009; Order of the Coif; Articles Editor, Georgia Law Review; Jesse and Dan MacDougald Memorial Award; Isaac Meinhard Award); Union University (B.A. in English 2006)
- Florida, Georgia, Supreme Court of Georgia, Georgia Court of Appeals, U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Seventh and Eleventh Circuits, and U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia
American Law Institute (2020-present)
Winner, Georgia "Commercial Litigation Department of the Year," The Daily Report, April 23, 2014
Winner, Georgia "General Litigation Department of the Year," The Daily Report, April 25, 2013
- Law Clerk to Justice Clarence Thomas, U.S. Supreme Court (2011 Term) and to Judge Ed Carnes, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit (2009-2010)