RAGSDALE, BEALS, SEIGLER, PATTERSON & GRAY - Key Persons
Brian graduated from Davidson College in 1978 with an A.B. in Economics. He then attended law school at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill obtaining his J.D. degree in 1981. Brian practiced with several firms in south Florida and metropolitan Atlanta before joining this Firm in 2006. He is the author of numerous articles and publications and speaks to professional and industry groups on insurance coverage and on construction law topics. He represents clients in a wide-range of business and litigation matters and is admitted to practice in the States of Florida and Georgia. His practice areas are construction, insurance and business law, and commercial litigation.
Brian has two grown daughters and resides in the Old Fourth Ward area of Atlanta.
Bill is originally from Mt. Airy, North Carolina. He attended Davidson College, graduating with honors in history in 1968. He received his Master's in international relations from The Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in 1970 before returning to North Carolina to manage his family's newspaper. During this time, he served as campaign manager in a U.S. Congressional race, taught economics and government at a community college, and completed his active duty training as a 1st Lieutenant and then Captain in the U.S. Army Reserves.
Bill completed his legal education in two years, receiving a J.D. with honors from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1975, having been elected to the Order of the Coif and Moot Court Bench, and having studied at Oxford, U.K. He practiced with Hansell & Post in that firm's corporate and tax section before forming his own firm. He joined us in 1981.
While his practice is varied, bill's primary focus is on the representation of closely-held businesses and family enterprises, assisting his clients in the formation of new ventures and the operation of their ongoing enterprises. In many ways Bill functions as "house counsel" for a number of small to mid-size firms, as well as serving his larger clients. He assists the principals of those firms in other areas such as real estate including ad valorem tax matters and appeals, estate planning, personal property tax matters, entertainment law, raising additional capital and shareholder/owner/employee relationships. He has served on the Atlanta Committee on Foreign Relations and has served on the advisory board to a financial institution acquired by a major bank and as an officer in the Tuxedo Park Civic Association Bill has also served as special assistant at the request of the Georgia Attorney General and the Georgia Insurance Commissioner, helped form a small firm law economics group and has lectured on the formation and economics of small firm law practices.
Bill and his wife Emily are active golfers. They have two grown daughters, and reside in the Buckhead area of Atlanta.