Blackwell, Dillard get Appeals Court judgeships

By Bill Rankin

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Gov. Sonny Perdue on Wednesday appointed Atlanta lawyer Keith Blackwell and Macon lawyer Stephen Louis Dillard to fill vacancies on the Georgia Court of Appeals.

Both Blackwell and Dillard are members of the governor's Judicial Nominating Commission. The vacancies on the 12-member appellate court were created by the retirement of Judge Alan Blackburn and the death of Judge Debra Bernes.

Blackwell is a partner with Parker Hudson Rainer & Dobbs in Atlanta and once served as an assistant district attorney in Cobb County. He received his bachelor of arts and law degrees, both summa cum laude, from the University of Georgia. 

Dillard chairs the appellate practice group with the Macon firm James Bates Pope & Spivey. He received his law degree cum laude from the Mississippi College of Law and his bachelor of arts degree from Samford University.