ABOUT Stephen Dillard

Judge Stephen Louis A. Dillard was appointed to the Court of Appeals of Georgia on November 1, 2010 by Governor Sonny Perdue. Prior to his appointment, Judge Dillard was in private practice with James, Bates, Pope & Spivey in Macon, serving as Chairman of the firm's appellate practice group.

Judge Dillard was born in Nashville, Tennessee on November 13, 1969. He attended and graduated from Hillwood High School in Nashville, Tennessee, Samford University (B.A. 1992), and Mississippi College School of Law (J.D., cum laude, 1996). During law school, Judge Dillard was a member of the Moot Court Board, and received the Judge Robert G. Gillespie Outstanding Achievement in Appellate Advocacy Award, as well as the American Jurisprudence Award in Appellate Advocacy. He also reactivated the Mississippi College Chapter of the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies, serving as its president for three years.

After graduating from law school, Judge Dillard joined the Macon law firm of Stone & Baxter, where he practiced from 1996 until 2001. In September 2001, he left private practice for a two-year period to serve as a law clerk to Judge Daniel A. Manion of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. In September 2003, Judge Dillard joined James Bates as of counsel, where he specialized in appellate practice and complex litigation. While in practice, he received an AV® Preeminent™ Peer-Review Rating from Martindale-Hubbell and was named by Super Lawyers as one of Georgia's "rising stars."

Additionally, Judge Dillard was appointed by Governor Sonny Perdue to the Judicial Nominating Commission and the Public Defender Selection Panel for the Macon Judicial Circuit. He is a member of the Speakers Bureau of the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies, a member of the Board of Advisors of the Atlanta Lawyers Chapter, and previously served as President of the Macon Lawyers Chapter.

Judge Dillard has published scholarly essays in the Encyclopedia of Civil Liberties, Encyclopedia of Great American Judges, and the Encyclopedia of Great American Lawyers. He is a member of the State Bar of Georgia's Appellate Practice Section, the Macon Bar Association, the Lawyers Club of Atlanta, the Lamar American Inn of Court, and the William Augustus Bootle American Inn of Court.

Judge Dillard was also a participating lawyer with the Criminal Justice Act Appellate Panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, handling pro bono publico appeals for indigent individuals. He also served as a legal policy advisor to Governor Mike Huckabee during the 2008 presidential campaign.

Judge Dillard is married to the former Krista McDaniel, and they have three children. He is an active
member of Saint Joseph Catholic Church and the former President of the School Board for Saint Joseph's Catholic School.