GRSMB - Key Persons
Alex Joseph is a partner at Gray, Rust, St. Amand, Moffett, & Brieske, and currently focuses her practice on civil litigation within the public sector, regularly defending governmental entities against liability arising out of automobile accidents, premises liability, and civil rights violations on both the state and federal level. Prior to joining the firm, Alex served as an Assistant District Attorney in South Carolina and as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Northern District of Georgia. Alex is a member of the LEAD Atlanta Class of 2022 and is a board member of NAMI Georgia. Alex received her bachelor's degree in history from Wellesley College and attended law school at the University of Georgia School of Law, where she graduated cum laude.
Barton Malow Co. v. Metro Mfg., Inc., 214 Ga.App. 56 (Georgia Court of Appeals 1994)
Camille Jarman joined Gray, Rust, St. Amand, Moffett & Brieske as an associate and her practice focuses on civil litigation. Prior to joining the firm, Camille maintained her own firm where her practice focused on defending companies and individuals in personal injury litigation, medical malpractice, and business litigation actions. She has served as lead counsel and co-counsel in numerous trials and has garnered both wins and dismissals for her clients. Camille also served as a jury consultant on dozens of trials.
Camille is admitted to practice in both state and federal courts throughout Georgia including the U.S. District Court, the Northern District of Georgia, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court of Georgia.
Currently, Camille serves on the Board of the Sickle Cell Foundation of Georgia. She also volunteers her time representing individuals in cases through the DeKalb Volunteer Lawyers Foundation as pro bono counsel.
While not at work, Camille enjoys traveling and spending time with her husband and two kids.
Job Titles:
- Associate Attorney at Gray, Rust
Charity Wood is an associate attorney at Gray, Rust, St. Amand, Moffett & Brieske LLP that practices in both Georgia and Tennessee. She is a graduate of Vanderbilt University and Georgia State University College of Law. Her primary practice focuses on automobile collisions, general insurance defense, and premise liability. Over her legal career, she has successfully tried numerous jury trials and bench trials as lead counsel in multiple courts. Although she specializes in litigation, Charity also has many years of experience in research and drafting which aids her in pre-trial motions and hearing.
Before starting a career in insurance defense, Charity focused on family law and criminal defense. She regularly provides pro-bono services to clients in both areas of law. Through this work, Charity learned skills that allows her to provide empathetic advocacy to her clients.
In her spare time, Charity enjoys spending time with her family, traveling, reading historical fiction novels, and attending musical festivals.
Chris Perniciaro is a partner at Gray, Rust, St. Amand, Moffett & Brieske practicing primarily in the premises liability and commercial general liability practice groups. Chris has a wide range of skills as an accomplished legal writer, advocate, and presenter. His practice primarily focuses on defending business in wrongful death and serious injury claims stemming from criminal attacks, automobile accidents, construction accidents, and product liability claims. Chris has been successful in trials, appeals, and multiple high exposure cases obtaining dismissals in favor of the defense.
In 2014, Chris obtained his J.D. from Mercer University School of Law graduating magna cum laude. During law school, he served on the Mercer Law Review, several moot court teams, and a student group devoted to providing volunteer legal services.
Chris is admitted to practice in Georgia's trial and appellate courts as well as the U.S. District Courts for the Northern and Middle Districts of Georgia. He often serves as a speaker at continuing legal education courses and seminars for the civil defense bar.
Clinton F. Fletcher is a Partner with GRSMB, whose practice is focused in General Liability. In particular, Clinton has extensive experience in the areas of products and premises liability, trucking, aerospace, construction equipment and material handling equipment.
With respect to Clinton's aerospace experience, Clinton has defended large air carriers from personal injury and cargo loss claims, applying laws and principles arising out of the Montreal Convention, Air Carrier Access Act, Carmack Amendment and various Federal Aviation Regulations.
As Georgia counsel for three major auto manufacturers, Clinton has significant experience defending warranty claims arising under the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act and Georgia's Lemon Law. On behalf of one auto manufacturer's financing arm, Clinton defended consumer protection claims in both state and federal courts.
Clinton is rated AV Preeminent by Martindale-Hubbell and was named to Georgia Super Lawyers Rising Star list consecutively from 2009 to 2014. He was previously the the Georgia State Membership Chair for the Defense Research Institute (DRI) and is former chair of DRI's Recreational Products Specialized Litigation Group. In addition to his practice with the firm, he is a published author and respected presenter. A devoted volunteer, Clinton is a member of Skyland Trail Advisory Board. Skyland Trail is a mental health treatment center for adults and adolescents.
Daveed Lift is a partner at Gray, Rust, St. Amand, Moffett & Brieske. Since joining the firm, Daveed has expanded the scope of his practice to include pre-litigation issues including relating to coverage, pre-suit time-limited demands and evaluating claims in addition to in-suit defense against those claims throughout the litigation process. Daveed has defended both first- and third-party coverage from lawsuit initiation through trial in State, Superior, and Federal Courts, and treats all cases with the same vigilance regardless of the nature or extent of coverage. Daveed is also a member of GDLA and DRI and has presented to insurance adjusters with regard to time-limited demands and bad faith.
David C. Rhodes joined Gray, Rust, St. Amand, Moffett & Brieske, LLP as an associate, and focuses his practice on civil litigation. Prior to joining the firm, David spent several years as an associate in a boutique law firm, where he represented a major Atlanta hospital system in all types of civil litigation.
David graduated from Emory University in 2006 with a bachelor's degree in economics, with high honors, and as a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He attended law school at the New York University School of Law, where he graduated in 2009. David is admitted to practice law in California, as well as the trial and appellate courts of Georgia, and the U.S. District Courts for the Northern and Middle Districts of Georgia.
Essie Ndem is an Associate Attorney and concentrates her practice on civil litigation with specialization in the areas of insurance defense and insurance coverage.
Before joining the firm, Essie practiced international and domestic family law. She was also a legislative intern with Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly in Nigeria, a legal extern for First Performance, a fintech company, and a legal intern practicing general liability internationally.
Essie earned her Juris Doctorate from Mercer University School of Law. While pursuing her J.D., Essie served in several leadership positions, including President of the International Law Students Association (ILSA) and Professional Development Chair for the Black Law Students Association (BLSA). She is a two-timed Oxford scholar with the Oxford Human Rights Consortium in Oxford, England and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in English at Columbus State University and graduated with English honors.
In addition to her law activities, Essie enjoys community activism. She is the founder of the Young Professionals Development Initiative (YPD) and serves on the executive board for several non-profit organizations.
Georgia, Tennessee, Georgia Court of Appeals, Supreme Court of Georgia, U.S. District Court Northern District of Georgia
Ian Bucy is an associate attorney for civil defense litigation with Gray, Rust, St. Amand, Moffett and Brieske in Atlanta, Georgia.
Ian received his J.D. from the University of Notre Dame where he was a research assistant for Intensive Trial Advocacy and Deposition courses. Following law school, he began his practice in Appellate Litigation in the field of criminal defense. He represented defendants post-conviction on a variety of felony charges and was one of the youngest attorneys to present oral arguments before both the Georgia Court of Appeals and Supreme Court of Georgia. After transitioning to civil law, Ian began handling trial-level work and has represented major corporations around the state in trials, motion for summary judgment hearings, and related matters.
In his spare time, Ian enjoys spending time with his family and pets and officiating college and high school football.
Skye Wellesley is a partner with Gray, Rust, St. Amand, Moffett & Brieske LLP where he specializes in all stages of civil tort litigation in Federal and State Court. Skye is admitted to practice in the courts of Alabama and Georgia including the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.
Prior to joining Gray, Rust, St. Amand, Moffett & Brieske LLP, Skye primarily focused on insurance defense litigation including premises liability, construction litigation, and automobile negligence defense. Skye's legal career also includes experience in the mass tort litigation group of a large Atlanta area law firm and an internship with the Environmental Protection Agency.
Skye received his law degree from Tulane University Law School, cum laude, in 2008. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in history and a Bachelor of Science in political science from Presbyterian College.
Outside the office, Skye is an active in the Darlington School Alumni Association and enjoys traveling and spending time outdoors.
Job Titles:
- Founding Partner of Gray Rust St Amand Moffett
James (Jim) Brieske is a founding partner of Gray Rust St Amand Moffett and Brieske. He graduated from the University of Georgia School of Law in 1990. Since that time, he has maintained a defense litigation and insurance coverage practice
Mr. Brieske currently serves as Georgia coverage and bad faith prevention counsel for several national insurance carriers specializing in automobile, commercial general liability, and homeowners' coverage. He has also taught and chaired
seminars in handling Georgia time limited demands, bad faith litigation, insurance coverage, presuit mediation of complex claims and uninsured motorist litigation. Mr. Brieske is also a registered neutral with the Georgia Office of Dispute Resolution.
James R. Reeves is a partner at Gray, Rust, St. Amand, Moffett & Brieske specializing in automotive torts, Premises Liability, and insurance coverage. James has defended both first- and third-party coverage from lawsuit initiation through trial in State, Superior, and Federal Courts in Georgia.
Prior to joining the firm, James worked for an Atlanta-area firm focused on defending against automobile torts and premises liability claims. Additionally, James has worked for several insurance companies providing coverage opinions, exposure analysis, and adjuster guidance.
James received his bachelor's degree in Psychology from Baylor University in 2006. He received his Juris Doctor from the University of Georgia in 2013. Finally, James received his Charted Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) designation in 2016.
James is originally from California but has been a resident of Georgia since 2010. He is an avid golfer and a fan of the Georgia Bulldogs. While away from the office, James enjoys spending time with his family exploring events around the City of Atlanta.
Jeffrey M. Wasick is a partner at Gray, Rust, St. Amand, Moffett & Brieske in Atlanta, Georgia. He practices civil defense litigation focusing on premises liability, products liability, and commercial general liability. Jeff earned his J.D. from Emory University School of Law and his undergraduate degree, summa cum laude, from Kent State University.
Jeremy A. Freiman is a talented litigator and attorney at Gray, Rust St. Amand, Moffett & Brieske law firm. His area of expertise is representing businesses and individuals in personal and bodily injury claims arising from general negligence, premises liability, and vicarious liability claims.
Jeremy earned his undergraduate degree from Florida State University and his Juris Doctor from The George Washington University Law School, where he also served as Senior Managing Editor of the George Washington Journal of Energy and Environmental Law. He is admitted to practice in Georgia's trial courts and Court of Appeals, as well as the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.
With a keen eye for detail and a deep understanding of the law, Jeremy is committed to providing his clients with the highest level of representation possible. He is dedicated to helping his clients navigate the legal system and achieve the best possible outcome in their cases.
Job Titles:
- Associate Attorney With Gray, Rust
Lindsay Lee is an Associate Attorney with Gray, Rust, St. Amand, Moffett and Brieske in Atlanta, Georgia. Her practice is focused on civil litigation, specifically in the areas of insurance defense and insurance coverage.
Prior to joining GRSMB, Lindsay clerked for Honorable Holly W. Veal, a Superior Court judge in Henry County. As a senior staff attorney, she spent most of her time researching an array of topics on the civil side of the law, preparing orders for both criminal and civil cases, and corresponding with attorneys to close out cases. Outside of work, Lindsay is a Member-at-Large with the Atlanta Bar Association's CLE Board of Trustees. She works to put on CLEs to update practicing attorneys on the changing laws and provide opportunities for networking.
Lindsay received her J.D. from the University of South Carolina School of Law where she served as Deputy Editor-in-Chief for the Law and Education Journal. She also served as a Juvenile Arbitrator for Lexington County through USC's pro bono office. Lindsay earned her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and a double minor in Criminal Justice and Spanish at Mercer University. During the summer of her sophomore year, she studied abroad in Seville, Spain with Cross-Cultural Exchange where she learned to speak Spanish.
In her spare time, Lindsay enjoys any outdoor activity with friends, traveling, and exploring new restaurants in the Atlanta area with her mom.
M. Ryan Del Campo's practice is devoted to defending a wide range of businesses and individuals, focusing on claims for catastrophic injuries and/or wrongful death. Ryan also has experience handling complex premises liability, product liability, and sexual misconduct litigation. Since he began practicing in 2017, Ryan has obtained defense verdicts or summary judgment in multiple high-profile claims.
Having begun his professional career handling first-party property insurance claims prior to attending Georgia State University College of Law, Ryan is a former vice-chair of the Property Insurance Law Committee in the Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Section (TIPS) of the American Bar Association. He remains involved in the Atlanta Bar Association and Georgia Defense Lawyers Association (GDLA) and spends his spare time with his family and assisting local mutual aid organizations.
Marc Hood is an experienced trial attorney who handles a range of liability defense claims.
Marc focuses his practice on diverse and complex liability issues such as premises liability, trucking and transportation, and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accommodation claims. He also has experience with matters related to negligent security and insurance coverage. Marc is a trusted and knowledgeable adviser who is comfortable dealing with challenging property and liability coverage questions, such as the distinct issues that arose along Georgia's coast in the wake of Hurricane Irma.
Before pursuing a legal career Marc spent years working as an educator. This experience helped him hone his litigation and communication skills, as it gave him the ability to tailor his messages to different audiences and personalities.
As a result of his unique experience, Marc has been able to protect and defend business owners from various lawsuits and legal claims by handling coverage and liability matters exceeding $1 million, as well as complex coverage matters involving multiple lawsuits.
Marc prides himself on being an empathetic advocate who truly understands his clients' concerns and treats them with the respect and attentiveness they deserve. In addition to providing advice on their cases, he gives them guidance to help them run their businesses efficiently.
Marc has represented clients in matters related to coverage and liability claims exceeding $1 million. He has also advised clients on multimillion-dollar cases related to wrongful death, such as a significant dram shop case involving the death of a teenager.
Matt Moffett is an experienced, civil defense trial lawyer of over 30 years, having tried well over 100 cases involving serious injury or death. He is listed among the top 100 lawyers in Georgia in Atlanta Magazine and among the Legal Elite in Georgia in Georgia Trend magazine.
Over the last several years, Matt has secured defense verdicts in many wrongful death and serious injury cases. One notable defense verdict occurred in a wrongful death case where the plaintiff attorney asked the jury to award $20 million. His last seven defense verdicts were in cases wherein each plaintiff attorney asked for either a seven or eight figure jury award.
Matt is a past president of the Georgia Defense Lawyers Association, and a current faculty member of the GDLA Trial Academy. He also serves as the state representative (Georgia) for the Defense Research Institute.
Over the last ten years, Matt has been the keynote speaker at the annual meetings of many legal organizations. From Florida to Washington, he has presented on effective and professional trial practice.
Matt is a Charter Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America, a member of The Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel (FDCC), Association of Defense Trial Attorneys (ADTA) and member of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA). He is a Fellow of the Atlanta Bar Foundation, which supports public service projects that assist youth, provides pro bono legal services, and promotes higher education through scholarships. He also is a current board member for Action Ministries, an organization that mobilizes communities to address the challenges of poverty by focusing on hunger relief, housing and education.
Married to his high school sweetheart for over 30 years, Matt and Diane have two daughters attending UTC and UGA. The family are longtime members of Peachtree Road United Methodist Church, where Matt has chaired the Administrative Board and now teaches in the adult education program.
When not lawyering, you likely will find Matt either water skiing in North Georgia or snow skiing out west. He also is a certified SCUBA diver and has dived both wrecks and reefs all over the Caribbean.
Megan Quisao is a partner at Gray, Rust, St. Amand, Moffett & Brieske LLP. Megan's practice focuses on civil litigation defense in federal and state courts and she represents businesses, insurance companies, and their insureds. Megan is an experienced litigator in personal injury suits, premises liability claims, construction litigation, community association disputes, bad faith/negligent claims handling defense, subrogation litigation, and insurance coverage matters. Megan has been successful defending cases through trial and the appeals process. Megan has trial experience in cases which resulted in judgments in favor of the defense and judgments for less than the claimed damages.
Michael Rust graduated from Emory University in 1980 and Emory University School of Law in 1983 where he was Notes and Comments editor of the Emory Law Journal (Law Review). Since that time, he has maintained an active trial practice in the state of Georgia both in State and Federal Courts, representing corporations and insurers in significant injury cases.
Michael Rust's areas of practice primarily concern wrongful death and catastrophic injury litigation, construction litigation, insurance coverage litigation and products liability litigation. Since 1983 Mr. Rust has handled numerous cases in each of these areas and obtained favorable results for his clients.
Along with his partner, Matt Moffett, Mr. Rust authored the Agency Section of West Publishing's Georgia Employment Law Treatise. Mr. Rust has received AV rating (the highest rating) from Martindale-Hubbell and since 1999 has been voted a Georgia Super Lawyer.
Michael Rust was lead counsel for Rogers Electric in a $3M subrogation claim arising out of a fire in an ice factory which was tried before a jury in the Superior Court of Fulton County, Georgia and which resulted in a verdict in favor of my client.
Michael Rust was lead counsel for The Atlanta Botanical Garden in 17 lawsuits arising out of the collapse of the "Canopy Walk" located on the premises of the Garden. After discovery and mediation all lawsuits were resolved with our client being released from all claims against it without having to contribute any money directly or through its insurance carriers to the settlement.
Michael Rust was lead counsel for the Defendant insurer in this Declaratory Judgment Action in which Plaintiff sought in excess of $3M in attorney's fees for defending against employment related claims in Mississippi. Summary judgment was granted to our client by Judge Horace Ward of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia and was affirmed on appeal by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Michael Rust was lead counsel for Defendant National Boiler in three lawsuits (two wrongful death and one catastrophic burn injury) arising out of the explosion of a black liquor recovery boiler in St. Mary's Georgia which was litigated extensively for several years. Summary judgment was granted to our client shortly before trial and was not appealed.
Practice Areas
Wrongful Death and Catastrophic Injury Litigation
Nicole C. Leet is a partner with Gray, Rust, St. Amand, Moffett and Brieske in Atlanta, Georgia. She practices civil defense litigation focusing on products liability, premises liability and construction liability. An active litigator, Nicole has been solo or lead counsel on multiple cases leading to a defense verdict at trial.
Nicole received her J.D., cum laude, from Cumberland Law School, Samford University. Nicole is able to frequently use her undergraduate degree in Biomedical Science from Texas A&M University in defending against questionable causation claims.
Nicole's practice includes defending hotels, retailers, convenience stores, general and subcontractors, and product manufacturers against claims brought at all levels. Nicole has been successful in defending cases at both the trial court and appellate levels.
Nicole is admitted to practice in both state and federal courts across Georgia, including to the State Bar of Georgia, the Court of Appeals of Georgia, the Supreme Court of Georgia, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia, and the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals.
Nicole is currently involved with: Atlanta Representative State Bar of Georgia Board of Governors; GDLA Construction Law Section Vice-Chair, Newsletter Editorial Board Member; DRI Construction Law Section Steering Committee; Retail and Hospitality Section Member; Women in the Law Member; Atlanta Cumberland Alumni; Atlanta Bar Association; Georgia Association for Women Lawyers and Lawyers Club of Atlanta. Nicole is also a Past President of the State Bar of Georgia Young Lawyers Division.
Nicole will be speaking at the ARMA International's InfoCon 2019 Oct 23, 2019. Topic: Internet of Things: Considerations and Case Law for IG and eDiscovery. https://www.arma.org/page/infocon
Sarah Raquel L. Lisle is a partner at Gray, Rust, St. Amand, Moffett, & Brieske, and currently focuses her practice on civil litigation.
Prior to joining the firm, Sarah was a litigation associate for a civil law firm in Pennsylvania focusing on public transportation defense, personal injury and business law.
Sarah received her bachelor's degree in English from Georgia State University, where she graduated cum laude, with Advanced Honor's from the Honor's College. Sarah attended law school at The Pennsylvania State University, Dickinson School of Law. During her second and third years, Sarah was heavily involved in the Community Law Clinic, where she gained valuable experience representing clients. Upon graduation from law school, Sarah was a judicial law clerk for the Honorable Michael W. Flannelly of the York County Court of Common Pleas, 19th Judicial District of Pennsylvania. Sarah is licensed in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, as well as the state of Georgia.
A native of Brazil, Sarah is fluent in Portuguese and enjoys Brazilian cuisine whenever she has the chance. While away from the office, Sarah enjoys events around the city of Atlanta with her husband and daughter.
Scott D. Gershkow joined Gray, Rust, St. Amand, Moffett & Brieske as an associate, with his practice focusing on insurance defense litigation, particularly automobile negligence, premises liability, products liability, and subrogation litigation and is dual licensed in both Georgia and Florida. Prior to joining the firm, Scott worked for a well-respected insurance defense litigation firm and has substantial experience representing claimants in personal injury matters.
Sean T. Herald is a highly skilled attorney and partner at Gray, Rust, St. Amand, Moffett, & Brieske, where he focuses his practice on defending individuals and businesses in a wide range of complex and high-stakes legal matters. With a particular emphasis on wrongful death claims, serious injury claims arising from automobile accidents, construction accidents, criminal attacks, product liability, and professional malpractice claims, Sean is widely recognized for his unwavering commitment to providing his clients with the highest level of representation and achieving outstanding results.
Before joining Gray Rust in 2020, Sean worked as an attorney at a well-respected law firm in Birmingham, where he specialized in representing architects, engineers, design builders, general contractors, and subcontractors in industrial, residential, and commercial construction disputes throughout the Southeastern United States. He has a deep understanding of the complex issues that arise in these types of cases and is highly skilled at navigating the legal landscape to achieve favorable outcomes for his clients.
Sean received his Juris Doctor degree from Cumberland School of Law in 2018, where he was an active member of the Student Bar Association and served as the managing editor for the Cumberland Law Review. He earned his undergraduate degree from Kennesaw State University and his Master's degree in Business Administration from Samford University. Sean has been admitted to the State Bar of Georgia since 2020 and the Alabama State Bar since 2018. He is licensed to practice law in both state and federal courts across Alabama and Georgia, including the United States District Courts for the Northern District of Alabama, the Northern District of Georgia, the Middle District of Georgia, and the Southern District of Georgia.
With his exceptional legal skills, broad experience, and commitment to client service, Sean is a valuable asset to the firm and a trusted advisor to his clients. Whether he is representing individuals or businesses in complex legal disputes, Sean works tirelessly to achieve the best possible outcomes for his clients and help them navigate the legal process with confidence and ease.