Five hopefuls make Perdue's short list

By Greg Land, Staff Reporter - Fulton County Daily Report
Reprinted with Permission

Winnowing down a list of 17 original applicants, Gov. Sonny Perdue's Judicial Nominating Commission has provided him with names of five finalists to be considered to fill the seat on the Fulton County State Court that Judge Penny Brown Reynolds vacated to pursue a career in television.

In coming weeks, the governor is expected to interview the finalists before deciding whom to appoint to the seat. Based on questionnaires and résumés provided by to the JNC, plus Daily Report research, here are descriptions of the lawyers on the short list:

* Scott D. Delius, 39, a sole practitioner in Atlanta, who has spent the past seven years representing plaintiff's in general civil liability and worker's compensation cases and serving as a mediator. Prior to that work, he was a litigator with Magill & Atkinson. He began his career defending worker's compensation cases at Drew Eckl & Farnham after receiving his law degree from the University of Memphis' Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law in 1997.

Delius is a member of the Army National Guard and, from October 2006 to June 2007, he served in Afghanistan as captain in the Judge Advocate General's Corps, where he helped establish the first military court at the Kabul Military Training Center for Afghan soldiers. While there, he also helped organize a charitable program that delivered several tons of clothing and shoes to impoverished Afghans from U.S. donors. He was awarded several commendations, including the Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal, Rifle Sharpshooter Badge, Pistol Marksman Badge and NATO Medal.

* Kelly Amanda Lee, 40, is a corporate litigation partner with Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, where she handles contract and insurance disputes, RICO actions and fraudulent transfer cases, among other matters. Prior to joining the firm in 2000, she was civil litigator specializing in insurance defense with Mozley, Finlayson & Loggins. She began her legal career at Crim & Bassler, specializing in auto insurance defense cases, after graduating from the University of Georgia School of Law in 1993.

In the Nov. 4 election for the seat of departing Fulton County Superior Court Judge Thelma Wyatt Cummings Moore, Lee came in fourth among eight candidates, drawing 12.3 percent of the vote. In an October Atlanta Bar Association poll for that race, she was rated "qualified" or better by 127 respondents; 22 said she was not qualified; and 328 said they did not know enough about her to render an opinion.

* Jay M. Roth, 52, is the chief magistrate for Fulton County, where he has served since 1993. Among his other duties, he was assigned by Fulton State Court Chief Judge A. L. Thompson to hear Reynolds' cases after her departure. Prior to his appointment as a magistrate, Roth served as staff attorney to former Fulton State Court Chief Judge Charles L. Carnes, and was an investigator for the Fulton County solicitor's office before that. He earned his law degree from the Atlanta Law School in 1986.

In 1996, Roth was an unsuccessful candidate for Fulton County solicitor, and in 1997, 1998 and 2001 he was an applicant for vacancies on the Fulton County Superior Court bench.

* W. Travis Sakrison, 38, is a deputy chief DeKalb County district attorney, where he has served since 2006 and currently oversees the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area task force and asset forfeiture units. He was a senior Fulton County assistant district attorney, where he worked from 2001 until 2006. He also served as an attorney for the Consumers' Insurance Advocate of Georgia and as a senior staff attorney for Georgia Court of Appeals Judge John J. Ellington.

Sakrison is a 1998 graduate of the Oklahoma City University School of Law.

* Robert D. Wolf, 41, is a chief senior assistant Fulton County district attorney. He started working as a Fulton prosecutor in 1996, and he currently supervises the trial division. Prior to that, Wolf was an assistant Cobb County solicitor general, where he began his legal career after graduating from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1992.

Wolf is also an instructor and lecturer in the areas of trial preparation and presentation to medical, law enforcement and child advocacy professionals.

Perdue spokesman Bert Brantley said the governor will interview all the candidates as closely together as possible, accompanied by his executive counsel, Joshua B. Belinfante, and a state court judge from a neighboring jurisdiction, as soon the interviews can be arranged.

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