LRIS Attorney Spotlight
Edward R. Downs, Jr.
A True Advocate for the Legal Community
A
n Atlanta Bar Association and LRIS panel member,
Edward R. Downs Jr., graduated from George
Washington Law School in 1973. As a product of
the Perry Mason generation, Attorney Downs became
interested in law due to the civil rights legislation of 1964
and 1965, which opened new possibilities for Black America.
He graduated cum laude in Economics and History from
Morris Brown College. Later, at George Washington, he
clerked for the Bureau of Competition of the Federal Trade
Commission. After passing the DC Bar Exam, he practiced
as a Trade Regulation lawyer in that agency. In 1974 he
opened a primarily civil practice in Savannah, Georgia.
Fifteen years later, he relocated to the Metro Atlanta area
where he prosecuted felonies, misdemeanors, and code
violations for the City of Atlanta. In 1997, he founded Ed
Downs & Associates, P.C. in Riverdale, Georgia. Since then,
he joined the Atlanta Bar Association and Lawyer Referral
and Information Service where he has served on seven
LRIS panels including: Construction Law, Home Owners
Association, Insurance Law, Probate Estates-Litigation,
Real Estate-Litigation, Real Estate Purchase and Sales, and
Taxation. For the past 12 years, Attorney Downs has served
as a Pro Tem Juvenile Court Judge in Clayton County,
succeeding 1 year as a Pro Tem Magistrate Court Judge.
As a black male in the legal community, Attorney Downs
feels that Black History Month is a good start, better than
Black History Week that he experienced as a child; but
the shortest month of the year is simply not enough time
for Americans to truly appreciate the black impact on the
development of America. While in Savannah representing
the local NAACP, he broke new ground in his representation
of the Savannah NAACP by challenging the broadcast
license of WVAN television filed with the FCC in 1974/75.
The station employed one African American janitor and
produced virtually no black programming. Though the
challenge did not stop the re-granting of the license, it did
bring about major changes in Georgia Public Television,
which reacted by hiring and training large numbers of African
Americans in technical and on-air positions.
Attorney Downs’ advice to new lawyers is, “Every new
attorney should practice in several areas before settling in. A
new attorney may be partial to defense work, prosecuting, or
transactional work, but until varied legal problems are dealt
with, experience will remain narrow.” The best advice that
Attorney Downs received before entering law school was
from Dr. King personally who advised him to learn about
non-traditional legal areas beyond criminal law because of
the opening of professional opportunities to all which was
becoming quite apparent. Attorney Downs believes that the
LRIS program is a great tool to gain experience in various
areas of law.
If you would like more information about LRIS, please
contact Carla Brown at [email protected].
Refer Calls to LRIS
Remember, if your firm receives those
occasional calls regarding legal issues that
you do not handle, please refer them to the
Lawyer Referral and Information Service.
14 THE ATLANTA LAWYER
March 2015
The Official News Publication of the Atlanta Bar Association