WEIL FIRM - Key Persons
Amy Levin Weil has been in private practice since 2008, after having served for 25 years as a federal prosecutor in the United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia, United States Department of Justice. For 18 years, from 1990-2008, she served as Chief of the Appellate Division, supervising the appellate work of over 70 lawyers. From 1992-95, Ms. Weil served as Senior Litigation Counsel; from 1987-1993 she prosecuted a wide range of violent crime and drug cases in the General Crimes Section of the Criminal Division; and from 1983-1987 she represented the United States in civil litigation as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Civil Division.
Ms. Weil has argued and briefed hundreds of cases before the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, five of which she argued before the full court sitting en banc. Valued for her experience, Ms. Weil was inducted as a Fellow of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers (AAAL) at its Fall 2016 meeting in San Antonio, Texas. Membership in AAAL, which is limited to 500 members, is reserved for experienced appellate advocates who have demonstrated the highest level of skill and integrity. Ms. Weil was appointed by the Attorney General of the United States to serve on the Department of Justice's Appellate Chiefs Working Group (ACWG), which advises the Attorney General on appellate matters and helps shape legal positions for the Department of Justice. Ms. Weil served on the ACWG from 2003-2008. In 1999, Ms. Weil received the highest honor awarded by the Executive Office for United States Attorneys, the Department of Justice Director's Award, in recognition of her appellate work. Since 2008, Ms. Weil has consistently been named a Georgia Super Lawyer in appellate law by Atlanta Magazine, and in 2016 was named to the Top 50 Women Lawyers in Georgia.
Ms. Weil also has been an active member of the appellate bar. In 1998, she was appointed by the Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit to serve on the Eleventh Circuit Lawyers Advisory Committee (LAC), which advises the Court on proposed rules of practice. Ms. Weil served on the LAC for nine years, the last four years as Chair of the Committee. Ms. Weil served as Chair of the Appellate Practice Section of the State Bar of Georgia, and was instrumental in establishing and organizing the Eleventh Circuit Appellate Practice Institute (ECAPI), a biennial appellate seminar sponsored by the Appellate Practice Sections of the Alabama, Florida and Georgia Bar Associations.
Ms. Weil also has been active in local bar and community activities. Since 2002, Ms. Weil has served on the Executive and Advisory Committees of the Atlanta Chapter of the Federal Bar Association, and served as the Chapter's President from 2006-2007. She served from 2005-2007 as a member of the Emory University Board of Governors, and from 2003-2008 served on the Emory University Law School Advisory Board (formerly the Law School Council), which advises the Dean of the Law School. She served from 1993-2001 as a member of the Executive Committee of the Emory Law Alumni Association (ELAA), and served as President of the ELAA from 2002-2003. Ms. Weil is active with the Atlanta Legal Aid Society, and is a member of the Lawyer's Club of Atlanta, the Eleventh Circuit Historical Society and the United States Supreme Court Historical Society.
Ms. Weil has authored several articles on appellate practice, criminal law and sentencing, and is a frequent speaker and television commentator.
Harry Leon Smith, III, pleaded guilty to running a check-kiting scheme, and was sentenced pursuant to the Federal Sentencing Guidelines. The probation officer initially recommended in her presentence report that Smith receive a three-level reduction in his offense level for acceptance of responsibility pursuant to § 3E1.1, but later withdrew the recommendation after Smith objected to several paragraphs of the report. At sentencing, the judge refused to award Smith acceptance of responsibility, and on appeal a panel of the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals vacated Smith's sentence and remanded the case for resentencing. According to the panel, the sentencing judge improperly considered Smith's objection to the presentence report in denying acceptance. The full Court vacated the panel opinion, ordered rehearing en banc, and affirmed the sentence. The en banc Court ruled that it was not improper for a sentencing court to refuse to grant acceptance of responsibility based on a defendant's objections to his presentence report PSR; the refusal to award a reduction under § 3E1.1 may be based on conduct inconsistent with acceptance of responsibility, even when that conduct includes the assertion of a constitutional right.
Jay Scott Ballinger entered a negotiated guilty plea to five counts of church arson, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 247, based on an arson spree during which Ballinger destroyed or badly damaged 11 churches, killing a volunteer firefighter, and seriously injuring three other volunteer firefighters. As part of his plea agreement, Ballinger reserved the right to appeal the constitutionality of § 247 under the Commerce Clause, U.S. Const., Art. I, § 8, cl. 3, both on its face and as applied to him. On appeal, a panel of the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals reversed Ballinger's convictions, holding that, although § 247 was a constitutional exercise of the commerce power, Ballinger's conduct did not fall within the ambit of the statute. The government's petition for rehearing en banc was granted, and the panel opinion was vacated. On rehearing en banc by the full Court, the Court reversed its previous position and upheld Ballinger's conviction, holding that Congress' authority under the Commerce Clause includes the power to punish a church arsonist who uses the channels and instrumentalities of interstate commerce to commit his offenses, and that Ballinger's use of channels and instrumentalities of interstate commerce to carry out an arson spree in which he crossed interstate borders six times to set fire to 11 churches in four states within a month met the statutory requirement that the offense be "in interstate commerce."
Maurie Shields pleaded guilty to conspiracy to manufacture marijuana after law enforcement officers discovered him growing plants in a hydroponic garden. At sentencing, the court calculated Shields' sentence using the number of the harvested plants, rather than the weight of the marijuana derived from those plants. On appeal, a panel for the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a grower who is apprehended after harvest may not be sentenced according to the number of plants involved. The full Court vacated the panel opinion, granted rehearing en banc, and affirmed the sentence. The en banc Court held that a defendant who has grown and harvested marijuana plants should be sentenced according to the number of plants involved in the offense, rather than the post-harvest weight of consumable marijuana.
Ms. Kohler has more than 24 years of legal experience. In 2008, she took early retirement from the United States Department of Justice after a 20-year career. Her experience includes holding the position of Criminal Division Support Staff Manager for the United States Attorney's office, Northern District of Georgia, which entailed supervising approximately 30 legal assistants and docketing technicians. During her legal career, Ms. Kohler also worked as an assistant for a United States District Court Judge for the Northern District of Georgia, as a case administrator for the United States Bankruptcy Court in Atlanta, and as a collections clerk for the Internal Revenue Service.
In 2007, Ms. Kohler was awarded the United States Department of Justice's Director's Award, the highest honor in the Department, for her Outstanding Performance as a Member of an Administrative Team for developing, and then assisting in the creation and implementation of, a grand jury and trial subpoena database used by United States Attorney Offices. Ms. Kohler also was the recipient of the 1997 Federal Employee of the Year Award, for her work in developing a system of automation for various legal forms.
Ms. Kohler received her Paralegal Certificate in 2002.