J.D. Humphries, III is Of Counsel in the Construction Law Practice of Smith, Gambrell & Russell, LLP.
Mr. Humphries represents general contractors, architects and designers, subcontractors and owners on projects not only in Atlanta, but throughout the country. He assists with contract drafting and interpretation, employment, entity governance, transactional work involving acquisitions, and dispute resolution, including mediation, arbitration, and litigation if necessary. Mr. Humphries also represents manufacturers and distributors addressing acquisition or sale of assets or stock, contracts, licensing, employment, governance issues, as well as dispute resolution. Additionally, he addresses succession planning for businesses in the construction and other industries, and estate planning and administration.
Surety and bond issues often arise, either before, during or in achieving project completion. Mr. Humphries has been involved in each of such circumstances as well as qualification of construction industry companies in various states. While most disputes are resolved, Mr. Humphries has participated in mediations, arbitrations and litigation in numerous States and different tribunals.
Mr. Humphries has been repeatedly selected as a Best Lawyer in the areas of Commercial Litigation, Construction Law, Construction Litigation, Employment Law-Management and Labor Law-Management, as well as selected to Super Lawyers. He is AV rated® by Martindale Hubbell®.
Graduating from high school in Jacksonville, Florida, Mr. Humphries attended Washington & Lee University and received a B.S. degree with Special Attainments in Commerce in 1966. He attended law school at Washington & Lee, and was an editor of the Law Review, receiving a J.D. degree in 1969, cum laude. He served as president of the Washington & Lee Atlanta Alumni Chapter following his move to Atlanta after law school.
He has had an active interest in the community, incorporating what is now known as Communities in Schools, Inc., which is a national nonprofit devoted to getting high school dropouts a high school to college education and job opportunities. Additionally, he incorporated Resolve of Georgia, Inc., a nonprofit working with infertility issues. He was president and on the board of the Georgia Lacrosse Foundation, Inc., a chapter of the national governing body of the sport of lacrosse, U.S. Lacrosse, and elected to the Georgia Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2015. For many years he served as an usher and is a former Sunday school teacher at the Cathedral of St. Philip.
He has an active interest in world and American history, and is a member of the Civil War Round Table of Atlanta, serving as its president during the 2010-2011 Campaign year. Mr. Humphries has been involved with the Atlanta Legal Aid Society, Inc., a non-profit founded by E. Smythe Gambrell in 1924. After serving on the Board, and Executive Committee, he served as President in 1992, and was Chair of the 2007 Annual Fund Raising Campaign. He served as Chair of the Building Committee which assisted in locating and renovation the new Legal Aid headquarters building at 54 Ellis Street in downtown Atlanta. He received Atlanta Legal Aid’s Life Time Commitment to Legal Services Award for 2014.
Bar activities include being a Chairman of a State Bar of Georgia Committee, being on the Executive Committee of the Lawyers Club of Atlanta for eight years, and serving as its President in 1983. He was a trustee of the Lawyers Foundation of Atlanta, and its Chairman in 1985. He is a member of the Georgia Bar Foundation, and the Old War Horse Lawyers Club.
American Bar Association
Associated General Contractors of America
Atlanta Bar Association
Lawyer’s Club of Atlanta, President (1982-83)
Lawyers Foundation of Atlanta, Chairman of the Board of Trustees (1984)
Georgia Bar Foundation
State Bar of Georgia
The Florida Bar
Old Warhorse Lawyer’s Club
Civil War Round Table, First Vice President, 2009
Atlanta Legal Aid Society, Inc., Chair of Annual Fund Raising, 2007
Cathedral of St. Philip, Usher