Patrick Dawson is a trial lawyer with over 35 years of courtroom trial experience.
After law school graduation in 1988, Patrick practiced law first with a firm then-known as Kilpatrick & Cody in their intellectual property litigation section. In 1990, Patrick moved to Butler Wooten. Since then, he has participated in settlements and verdicts in excess of $450 million or more. In 1996, Patrick formed his own law firm in Marietta, Georgia, representing numerous clients at trial, in appeals, and in their mediations in eight different states. Patrick has lead counsel, associated counsel, and lead discovery and trial associate in various cases with verdicts and settlements totaling well over $450 million dollars, including several of the largest verdicts and settlements in Georgia history.
Patrick began working in the family law area in 1990 and has represented clients in contested and uncontested matters since then. His family law areas of practice include divorce, child custody, child support, paternity, legitimation, modifications, pre-nuptial agreements, contempt actions, restraining orders and Temporary Protection Orders (“TPOs”), and all areas that relate to family law except adoption. Patrick has tried or handled hotly contested divorce and family law matters in every county of the Metro Atlanta area, including Cobb, Cherokee, Paulding, Coweta, Hart, Gwinnett, and Fulton.
Patrick also has trial and courtroom experience in a wide range of other civil actions, including automotive products liability, medical malpractice, medical device litigation, firearms design litigation, product disparagement and libel defense, commercial litigation, patent infringement, dram (alcohol) shop litigation, discovery sanctions litigation, protective order litigation, franchisee/franchisor disputes, premises liability, negligent security, intellectual property issues, Hague Service Convention litigation, insurance coverage disputes, copyright infringement, and general civil liability of all types.
He is AV® rated with Martindale Hubbell. He has an AVVO® Rating of 10.0.
Pat has lived in Marietta, Georgia, since 1991. He enjoys time with his four children, his friends, SEC football, military history, and keeping up with technology.
Areas of Practice
- Divorce (Contested and Uncontested)
- Child Custody and Child Support
- Alimony and Spousal Support
- Contempt Actions
- Modification of Divorce and Custody Orders and Agreements
- Legitimation and Paternity
- Restraining Orders and TPOs
- Complex Divorce Litigation
Admissions
- Georgia Bar (1988)
- District of Columbia Bar (Inactive)
- Superior Courts of Georgia
- Supreme Court of Georgia
- Court of Appeals of Georgia
- United States Supreme Court
- United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
- United States District Courts for the Northern and Middle District of Georgia
- Pro hac vice admissions in Alabama, California, Indiana, Maryland, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, and South Carolina.
Education
Patrick graduated with honors from Mercer Law School in 1988, where he was an Editor of the Mercer Law Review and a Member of the Mercer Moot Court Board. He is a member of the Order of Barristers. He was the 1988 recipient of the James C. Estes Moot Court Award. Pat’s brief in the 1987 Georgia Intrastate Competition against Georgia, Emory, and Georgia State, won the coveted Best Brief Award. While at Mercer, Patrick was a three-year member of the Macon Rugby Football Club.
Patrick received his B.A., magna cum laude, in International Studies from the University of South Alabama in 1985. He concentrated in Spanish and International Business. While there, Patrick was inducted into the honor societies of Phi Kappa Phi, Omicron Delta Kappa, Mortar Board, and Phi Alpha Theta. He also worked part-time in the Biochemistry Department Laboratory for three years, conducting protease enzyme research.
Military and Medical
Before college, Patrick proudly served at home and abroad in the United States Air Force for five-and-one-half years, where he was a Medical Laboratory Technologist and Staff Sergeant. While in the Air Force, Patrick worked in all areas of the medical laboratory, including hematology, blood banking, clinical chemistry, and microbiology. He graduated with honors from Phase I and Phase II of his training program at Maxwell AFB in Alabama. While there, Pat also worked at Baptist Medical Center in Montgomery, Alabama as an evening and night laboratory technician. Pat served aboard and was selected Airman of the Quarter in 1979 at the USAF Hospital Torrejon, Spain. He finished his tour there with a stint in the Air Transportable Hospital (“ATH”), the Air Force’s equivalent of an Army MASH unit. Patrick’s oldest son served almost eight years in the Air Force, as did Patrick’s own father, who served for twenty-two years. He is proud to be part of three generations of military service.
Associations
- Master, Lamar Inn of Court (2005 to present)
- Bench & Bar Committee, State Bar of Georgia (2005-2008)
- Georgia Trial Lawyers Association (Sixth District Vice President, 2002 to 2005)
- Association of Trial Lawyers of America (1990 to 2005)
- Cobb County Trial Lawyers Association (President, 1999 to 2001)
- Cobb County Bar Association
- Attorneys Information Exchange Group
Community Involvement
Chairman of the Board, Georgia Watch; President of the Kemp Elementary School Foundation; School Council Member at Kemp Elementary School; Adjunct lecturer at Mercer University School of Law (discovery, sanctions, and protective orders); Dawson & Huddleston Scholarship Program; March of Dimes Regional Board Member; Kiwanis; Board Member of Kennesaw State University Center for Hispanic Studies; Hemophilia of Georgia Board Member; Coach, Harrison High School Mock Trial Team; Advisor, Wesleyan School Mock Trial Team; sponsor of various local school and community sports events.
