Former Georgia Solicitor General Stephen Petrany returns to Jones Day in Atlanta
Stephen Petrany has joined Jones Day as a partner in its Issues & Appeals Practice. He is based in the Firm's Atlanta Office.
Mr. Petrany most recently served as Solicitor General of Georgia, a position he held from November 2021 through December 2025. In that role, he supervised a team of lawyers overseeing appeals and critical legal issues for the Georgia Department of Law, led multi-state and appellate litigation, and provided legal and policy advice to the Attorney General. Mr. Petrany briefed and argued multiple complex cases in the U.S. Supreme Court, as well as numerous high-profile matters in the Eleventh Circuit and Georgia state courts involving constitutional law, Title IX, and environmental regulation.
Prior to his service as Solicitor General, Mr. Petrany was an associate in Jones Day's Washington Office, from 2015 to 2017 and again from 2019 to 2021, and he served as Law Clerk to the Hon. Samuel A. Alito, United States Supreme Court Justice, during the October 2017 Term.
"Stephen is one of the leading legal strategists and appellate advocates in Georgia, if not the entire Southeast," said Traci Lovitt, who leads Jones Day's Issues & Appeals Practice. "During his service as Georgia's Solicitor General, Stephen argued twice before the U.S. Supreme Court, managed complex multi-jurisdictional litigation, developed legal strategy at the highest levels of state government, and briefed and argued dozens of cases in the Eleventh Circuit and Georgia Supreme Court, burnishing his reputation in those courts. That experience and insight will be an exceptional asset to Jones Day's clients, and we are thrilled to welcome him back to the Firm."
At Jones Day, Mr. Petrany joins a practice group of Issues & Appeals lawyers who regularly practice in the United States Supreme Court and appellate courts across the country. The group also works with trial teams to develop legal strategy, lead motions practice and ensure a clean record for appeal. Jones Day's Issues & Appeals Practice includes more than 45 former Supreme Court clerks and former clerks from nearly every U.S. Court of Appeals. Jones Day lawyers have argued before the U.S. Supreme Court more than 40 times.
"Stephen is widely respected in Georgia for his work as Solicitor General and he is exactly the kind of lawyer who makes our Atlanta Office even stronger," said Al LaFiandra, Partner-in-Charge of Jones Day's Atlanta Office. "His combination of Supreme Court advocacy, appellate excellence, and high-level government leadership experience is rare. We are proud to have him join our team and look forward to working with him in the service of our clients across a wide range of consequential matters."
Mr. Petrany earned his law degree from Yale Law School and his undergraduate degree from the University of Pittsburgh. He began his legal career as a Law Clerk to the Hon. William H. Pryor, Jr., at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.
"I am delighted to be returning to Jones Day and to be joining the Firm's elite Issues & Appeals Practice, one of the very best in the legal profession," said Mr. Petrany. "The appellate skills and litigation perspective that I developed as Solicitor General gave me insights into the dynamic legal market here in Atlanta, and I look forward to collaborating with my colleagues once again to serve the Firm's clients from coast to coast."
