Mike Terry

Mike Terry handles high-stakes class actions, trials, and appellate matters.

He has tried cases to verdict across a wide range of issues, including fraud, breach of contract, products liability, civil RICO, CERCLA, and antitrust. He was on the plaintiffs’ teams for the three largest verdicts in Georgia history.

Mike’s practice also focuses extensively on appellate litigation, particularly in the areas of constitutional law, class actions, and punitive damages. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers, an honor reserved for a small number of those demonstrating appellate advocacy excellence.

In recognition of his career achievements, Mike received the State Bar of Georgia’s “Tradition of Excellence Award” in 2024. He was also named a finalist for the national “Trial Lawyer of the Year” award by Public Justice in 2023 and was honored as Georgia’s overall “Lawyer of the Year” in 2021 by American Lawyer Media and the Daily Report, after being a finalist in 2017. Additionally, he received the inaugural “Guardian of Justice” Award from the Council of State Court Judges in 2017.

Mike has been ranked by Chambers USA for General Commercial Litigation every year since 2008 and has earned six “Lawyer of the Year” distinctions from Best Lawyers across three practice areas—appellate, antitrust, and banking litigation—split evenly between trial and appellate work. He was recognized as a Top 10 Georgia Super Lawyer in 2023, 2024, and 2025, and named a Top 100 Georgia Super Lawyer 15 times.

In 2021, the Supreme Court of Georgia selected Mike to reargue its most famous case, the “Three Governors Case,” during the Court’s 175th Anniversary event, a testament to his stature in the legal community.

Mike served as president of the Atlanta Bar Association from 2010 to 2011, where he prioritized judicial funding. In 2019, he received the organization’s highest honor, the Charles Watkins Award for lifetime service, and later served as president of the Atlanta Bar Foundation from 2018 to 2019. He served almost 20 years on the board of the Atlanta Bar Association, six years on the ABA’s House of Delegates, and served for a decade on the State Bar of Georgia’s Board of Governors.

He has published three books and numerous articles on appellate practice. He frequently writes and lectures on class actions and punitive damages and is often invited to moderate judicial panels, particularly on professionalism.

• Atlanta Bar Association, Past President and Executive Committee Member; Litigation Section, Past Chair; Continuing Legal Education Board of Directors, Past Chair; Judicial Campaign Conduct Committee, Past Chair
• State Bar of Georgia, Member, 2012 – 2022
• American Bar Association, Member, 2018 – 2024
• Lawyers Foundation of Georgia, Sustaining Member
• Georgia Trial Lawyers Association, Executive Committee, Member
• American Association for Justice, Member
• Lawyers Club of Atlanta, Member
• American Constitution Society, Member
• Lumpkin Inn, American Inns of Court, Executive Committee, Member; Program Committee, Chair
• Supreme Court of Georgia, Standing Committee on the Unauthorized Practice of Law, Member, 2005 – 2011, Chair 2010 – 2011; Emergency Management Committee, Member
• Druid Hills Civic Association, Former President
• Atlanta Youth Soccer Association, Board of Directors

University of Georgia School of Law, J.D., 1987, magna cum laude

University of Georgia, A.B., 1982, magna cum laude