Meet Judge pandora palmer

Pierre Branding Group welcomes Judge Pandora Palmer as our January 2020 Featured Mentor.  Get to know Pandora Palmer. 

Pandora Palmer was sworn in by former Governor Nathan Deal to the Henry County State Court on January 7, 2019 as the first female to join the bench. 

Judge Palmer was admitted to the State Bar of Georgia in 1994 and the Hawaii State Bar in 2001. She received her Juris Doctorate Degree from Georgia State University College of Law in February 1994 and her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Criminal Justice from the University of Georgia in May 1988. 

Prior to becoming a State Court Judge, Judge Palmer was in private practice in Jonesboro, Georgia until she moved to Maui, Hawaii in 1999. In 2001, she became the supervising attorney for the Maui branch of the nonprofit organization, Domestic Violence Clearinghouse and Legal Hotline. Judge Palmer returned to Georgia in October of 2001 to open her private practice.  In 2004, she joined the firm, Smith, Welch, Webb & White, LLC formerly known as Smith, Welch & Brittain, LLP where she later became a Manager. In October 2012, she left the firm to open her own practice in McDonough specializing in the areas of family law, criminal defense, juvenile law and personal injury until she was appointed to the Henry County State Court. 

Judge Palmer has been active in several community organizations and charitable activities such as the Hands of Hope, Henry County Chapter of the Kiwanis Club, Henry County Chamber of Commerce, Henry County 4-H, Haven House (President, 2015), Henry County Bar Association (President, 2016), Fayette County Council on Domestic Violence, Clayton County Association on Domestic Violence (President, 2007), Southern Regional Medical Center Foundation Board of Directors (Foundation Board Member of the Year, 2011), Towaliga Bar Association, Clayton County Bar Association, Rockdale County Bar Association, Lawyers Club of Atlanta, and Gamma Phi Beta Sorority. She is also a former member of the Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association and the National Association of Professional Women. She is admitted to practice before the Georgia Supreme Court, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, the Georgia Court of Appeals, all courts of the State of Hawaii, the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii, and the United States Supreme Court. 

She has received awards for outstanding public service by the Pro Bono Project of the State Bar of Georgia in 1994-1998 and 2002-2016; Atlanta Legal Aid’s 50 hour pro bono stars (2017 and  2018); the Clayton County Pro Bono Project (2004); National Women’s History Month (Presented by the City of Stockbridge 2019); Who’s Who in American Law 1996-1999, 2007; the National Trial Lawyers Top 100 Trial Lawyers (2013-2018); Top Attorney in Southern Journal Magazine (March/April issues for 2013- 2016); recognized by the National Association of Distinguished Counsel as a Nation’s Top One Percent (2015-2018) and Lifetime Charter Member of the Rue Ratings’ Best Attorneys of America in 2015. She served as attorney coach for the Mock Trial team for Ola High School (2014-2015) & Eagles Landing High School 2005- 2012 (2006, 2007, & 2011 South Metro Regional Champions). She was appointed in 2012 and 2017 by former Governor Deal to the Georgia Circuit Public Defender Supervisory Council and completed basic training for Family Court Mediation in Maui, Hawaii. 

Judge Palmer is the author of Divorce Proceedings in Georgia: What You Need to Know, May, 2012 and Inside the Minds: Witness Preparation and Examination in DUI Proceedings, Chapter Author, Spring, 2011. Judge Palmer has been married to Keith Palmer for 11 years and they have two grown children, Dr. Tiffany Terry and Jake Palmer.