Jason Carter's opponents hope to paint the Democrat as a left-leaning trial lawyer who took on partisan cases as he prepared to run for governor, while his campaign depicts him as a champion of vulnerable citizens in court.
An Atlanta Journal-Constitution review of his case history shows a more nuanced legal background. Carter played a limited role in the blockbuster legal challenge of Georgia’s voter ID law that figures prominently in his campaign, and he spent significant time defending large companies and organizations who were sued.
In short, he was a young attorney at a big-name firm who worked on a mix of cases he often didn’t get to choose. At the prestigious firm where he worked as an associate, Carter was assigned to help senior lawyers by doing legal research, investigation and taking pretrial deposition testimony.
The Atlanta state senator’s supporters see his legal record as a sign he honed his leadership in the courtroom despite limited experience in public office. To allies of Gov. Nathan Deal, his November opponent, the cases show he’s a liberal eager to press his agenda on the courts.
Voters across Georgia are now being presented with the latter take as the Republican Governors Association unveiled a new statewide attack ad that dismisses Carter as a "liberal trial lawyer." And the attempt by supporters of Deal, a lawyer himself, to hammer his legal record could prove an enduring theme of the campaign.
A pro bono push
Carter, a grandson of former President Jimmy Carter, clerked for a Clinton appointee at the federal appeals court after graduating from law school in 2004. He soon joined the Atlanta law firm Bondurant Mixson & Elmore, where he worked side by side with Emmet Bondurant, a veteran civil rights attorney and a well-known patron of Democratic causes.
One of Carter's first high-profile legal cases was a failed attempt to prevent a GOP effort that redrew state Senate lines by splitting in half the Democratic stronghold of Athens. The Georgia Supreme Court ultimately ruled that lawmakers have the right to redo district lines as often as they like.
The bigger splash, though, came when Carter helped challenge Georgia’s voter ID law, which Democrats claimed could disenfranchise poor and elderly voters. State and federal courts ultimately upheld the requirements, though the legal fight forced lawmakers to make the identification cards free.
His role in the case was frequently mentioned during his bid for a state Senate seat in 2010, and an award he won from the Anti-Defamation League for "efforts to protect voting rights" appeared at the top of his bio then. It still factors into his run, often mentioned in his campaign literature and by his supporters.
Carter, though, was a behind-the-scenes player through much of the litigation. Bondurant handled most of the oral arguments, and those involved in the cases say Carter stuck mostly to the sidelines, a typical role for a less experienced attorney in a blockbuster case.
A spurned car magnate
The pro bono work grabbed the headlines and helped Carter burnish his credentials as a Democratic loyalist beyond his famous pedigree. But Carter carved out a legal reputation further from the spotlight, rarely serving as a lead attorney.
Carter was among the attorneys who represented two customers of Columbus-based Synovus Bank who alleged the firm was charging excessive overdraft fees, prodding the bank to ultimately agree to a $24 million settlement.
He was involved in a 2006 lawsuit he brought on behalf of a peanut industry group who claimed the federal Agriculture Department prevented them from “competitively” marketing peanuts due to a loan repayment miscalculation. A federal judge dismissed it a year later, but it serves as a subtle reminder of his ties to his grandfather.
And he played a minor role in representing Texas car dealer David McDavid, who sued Turner Broadcasting System after his 2003 deal to buy the Hawks and Thrashers was scuttled. A jury awarded McDavid $281 million, though both sides later agreed on an undisclosed settlement.
But he was also involved in a number of cases from the other side of the counsel table. He was part of a team that successfully defended the NFL player’s union against a lawsuit filed by six former players who said they lost millions because the league and the union failed to perform background checks on financial advisers.
He was among the defense attorneys who persuaded a judge to dismiss a lawsuit brought by a woman who blamed her Jetta’s faulty anti-lock braking system for a crash. And he helped defend a manufacturing company that was sued by a man who said he was exposed to hazardous fumes while making a delivery to the company’s Rome office.
Does legal record matter?
The sharpening attacks on Carter’s legal record came as no surprise to him or his advisers. The campaign said in a statement that Carter has “fought for the interests of Georgians, from our biggest employers to some of our most vulnerable citizens.”
Few know how a case history can come home to roost better than former Gov. Roy Barnes, who faced attacks in all three of his gubernatorial runs by opponents who tried to portray him as a greedy trial lawyer.
In Barnes’ failed run against Deal in 2010, the RGA lobbed an online attack against Barnes that declared “there isn’t a doctor Roy won’t sue.” Deal’s campaign, riffing on the Johnny Cash hit, dubbed the Democrat “A Roy Named Sue.”
Barnes, who has since gone back to his legal practice, said the attacks had little to do with his defeat four years ago.
“They have been used against me in each election and have had little or no effect,” he said. “Even people who don’t like lawyers know they serve as a check on the power of large corporations and the government itself.”
Others view it as a critical litmus test that proves whether a candidate shares their values.
“If a candidate has represented questionable clients or had to take questionable positions while representing those clients, oftentimes those clients or positions are inconsistent with what the candidate wants to portray as their message or image,” said Chip Lake, a Republican strategist.
Deal, though, seems more reluctant to openly attack his candidate's legal record. The governor, a former prosecutor and judge, hasn't vilified the legal community like other Georgia Republicans and has benefited from a surge of campaign cash from trial lawyers who typically give to Democrats.
In an interview, Deal pointedly noted that it was the RGA who labeled Carter a trial lawyer and praised the plaintiff’s bar for being “very cooperative” with his administration. But he added that he believes Carter’s legal record should be open to scrutiny.
“I think everything in a campaign is fair game,” Deal said. “I wish I could convince y’all otherwise.”
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