Full Service, and Fully Invested
Many firms can provide legal counsel across different areas. For James Bates, true “full-service” means delivering a breadth and depth of services to our clients in a way that makes sense—working together in cross-discipline teams to serve the whole enterprise’s needs. It means being engaged at every stage of the process. And it means acting more like partners than service providers, with advice that helps our clients think through issues and prepare for tomorrow’s challenges.
Practice Areas
Alternative Dispute Resolution
Banking + Financial Institutions
Churches + Religious Organizations
Corporate + Transactional
Creditors' Rights + Bankruptcy
Alternative Dispute Resolution
At James Bates, we believe that legal disputes should be resolved as quickly as possible, and at a cost that is reasonably related to the complexity of the case and legal and factual issues involved. For this reason, we often recommend that our clients’ disputes be submitted to mediation or arbitration.
Appellate
James Bates has handled numerous significant and/or precedent-setting cases in Georgia’s appellate courts, several federal circuit courts, and the Supreme Court of the United States.
Banking + Financial Institutions
The Banking & Financial Institutions Practice Group’s mission is to provide affordable consultative solutions to its clients in the banking and financial services industry. James Bates strives to assist financial institutions in addressing and resolving a variety of complex legal and regulatory issues in the most cost efficient manner possible. Our attorneys offer objective advice and recommendations, along with industry best practices to financial institutions.
Churches + Religious Organizations
The attorneys in James Bates’ Churches & Religious Organizations Practice provide quality representation to churches, Christian schools and other ministries throughout Georgia.
Construction
James Bates has an active construction law practice, representing owners, general contractors, subcontractors, suppliers, architects and engineers, in both private and public arenas.
Corporate + Transactional
James Bates enjoys a dynamic and sophisticated corporate and transactional practice. Our attorneys regularly counsel clients, negotiate, document, and close complex business acquisitions, draft a variety of corporate and contractual agreements, and develop creative solutions to business and transactional issues.
Creditors' Rights + Bankruptcy
James-Bates-Brannan-Groover-LLP’s Bankruptcy, Creditors’ Rights, and Restructuring Practice Group is among the most progressive and sophisticated practices in Georgia. Our attorneys provide valuable knowledge and experience in the areas of traditional bankruptcy representation as well as more complex debtor’s and creditor’s rights matters.
Eminent Domain
At James Bates, we have successfully represented both condemning authorities and landowners in numerous eminent domain and takings actions, and are prepared to help you navigate through these tumultuous waters.
Employment Law
James Bates serves as general counsel for a multitude of employers across a wide spectrum of industry. Our attorneys primarily provide advice and training on equal employment opportunity issues, workplace privacy issues, general employment counseling, and the development of personnel and employment policies. In addition, our experienced attorneys can draft, review, interpret, negotiate, and defend employment contracts, employee handbooks, severance packages, and covenants not to compete on behalf of both employees and employers.
Environmental
James Bates offers exceptional experience to guide our clients through all of the issues arising from federal, state, and local regulation of the environment.
Healthcare
The strength of the James Bates healthcare practice is rooted in our firm’s ability to integrate many areas of expertise to provide the legal guidance our clients demand in order to navigate the complex and wide array of issues faced in the healthcare sector. With reputations for deep industry knowledge and practical understanding of clients’ business needs, our attorneys have developed broad expertise and scope of experience within the healthcare sector.
Insurance
James Bates has extensive breadth and depth representing policyholders and insurers in insurance coverage and recovery disputes across all industry sectors, including healthcare, construction, consumer products, retail and financial services.
Litigation
James Bates handles a wide variety of complex litigation matters in both federal and state courts throughout the State of Georgia and surrounding states. Our litigation attorneys are experienced in negotiation, mediation and arbitration, and also offer advice to clients designed to avoid or minimize litigation exposure.
Medical Malpractice
Our attorneys oppose unwarranted malpractice claims, represent professionals subject to possible discipline, and strive to preserve healthcare providers’ reputations in the communities we serve.
Real Estate
Many business transactions include the sale, tax-free exchange or mortgage of real property as a component of the transaction. Our real estate attorneys work with the firm’s business attorneys to achieve the client’s objectives in these matters. Similarly many estate planning transactions and estate and trust administration matters involve real estate issues, and our Real Estate Practice Group provides needed assistance in these areas as well.
Tax + Wealth Planning
Our Tax & Wealth Planning Group services clients across the Southeastern United States, counseling individuals and families in the acquisition, preservation, management and transfer of their property. Our services weave together the laws of income, gift, estate and generation-skipping taxation, trusts, estates, charitable giving, employee benefits, securities, insurance, partnerships and corporations.