ATLANTA, GA – This year, the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association launched the Leadership Education & Advanced Direction (LEAD) Program. Designed to identify those with leadership potential from among the Association’s younger lawyers, the LEAD Program will train and equip those members to serve in future leadership roles in both GTLA and in the community. In order to qualify, applicants must have less than 10 years of practice experience or be 35 years of age or younger.

After a rigorous application and selection process, 16 attorneys were chosen to participate in the 2013-2014 GTLA LEAD Program. They are as follows:

“I would like to congratulate all sixteen attorneys who were selected as a part of our inaugural LEAD Program class. The qualifications of this year’s applicants were truly impressive, and as a result the selection process proved to be an enormous undertaking. With aspiring leaders such as these, I have no doubt that the future of our Association is bright,” stated Buck Rogers, President of the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association.

“These participants represent a diverse group of GTLA members from firms, big and small, located all over the state and in a variety of practice areas,” continued LEAD Program Co-Chairmen Ryals Stone and Michael Geoffroy. “The goal of the GTLA LEAD Program is to challenge our participants to think critically about our organization, the practice of law and their personal role as a leader in their communities. Through participation in our program, these young attorneys will be poised for success, both in the courtroom and the community.”

The 2013-2014 LEAD Program consists of five sessions, and will begin on November 22-23 in Athens, Georgia. The program concludes with graduation at the GTLA Annual Convention & Gala in Atlanta on April 24-25, 2014.