Atlanta – State Bar of Georgia President Bryan M. Cavan has announced the appointment of Norman Zoller as the coordinating attorney for the State Bar’s new military legal services program in support of veterans and service members.
 

Zoller has devoted the majority of his 34-year legal career to public service. He served as the first clerk of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Judicial Circuit from 1981 to 1983, when he was named circuit executive, a post he held until his retirement in 2008. Previously, he managed the Hamilton County, Ohio, courts for nearly a decade. Zoller holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in public administration from the University of Cincinnati and a law degree from Northern Kentucky State University. He is admitted to practice in Georgia and Ohio.
 

An Army veteran, Zoller served almost seven years on active duty in the field artillery, including two tours in Vietnam, first with Special Forces and then with the 82nd Airborne Division. He also served 15 years in the National Guard and Army Reserves as a judge advocate officer.
 

“At a time when our country is making increased commitments of men and women in uniform both at home and abroad, the State Bar wants to do all we can to supplement the excellent work provided by military judge advocates on active duty and in the National Guard and Reserves,” Cavan said. “We think this is a place where the private bar can help as well, and we intend to do our part by providing professional legal services on a reduced fee or on a fully pro bono basis.”
 

Jeffrey O. Bramlett, immediate past president of the State Bar, who first advanced the idea for the military legal services program, said, “Nearly 700 Georgia lawyers have expressed an interest in participating in this opportunity to deliver needed legal services to the members of our armed forces, their families, and our veterans. Norman Zoller is precisely the right man to lead this Bar effort. Norman brings a unique package of management skill, legal training, and military experience to the challenge of building a superb service delivery organization with a state-of-the-art training component. I am confident that, under Norman’s capable leadership, our volunteer lawyers will deliver a tangible expression of thanks to Georgia’s military families for their sacrificial service to our country.”
 

Charles L. “Buck” Ruffin, chair of the State Bar’s special Pro Bono for Military Veterans & Service Members Committee, added, “The bar has been considering the mechanics of an effective program to address these unmet legal needs for many months, and we now look forward to this new program being able to translate Jeff’s vision into operational reality.”

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The State Bar of Georgia, with offices in Atlanta, Savannah and Tifton, was established in 1964 by Georgia’s Supreme Court as the successor to the voluntary Georgia Bar Association, founded in 1884. All lawyers licensed to practice in Georgia belong to the State Bar. Its more than 42,000 members work together to strengthen the constitutional promise of justice for all, promote principles of duty and public service among Georgia’s lawyers, and administer a strict code of legal ethics.