Atlanta, Feb. 7, 2018 – A student organization of Emory University School of Law has named Chief Justice P. Harris Hines of the Supreme Court of Georgia as the recipient of its Lifetime Commitment to Public Service award.
In a ceremony Tuesday night at the Emory law school, Presiding Justice Harold D. Melton of the Georgia Supreme Court presented the award to the Chief Justice on behalf of the Emory Public Interest Committee (EPIC). The Committee was established by law students in 1988 and is overseen by an advisory board comprised of Emory law school alumni. Annually, EPIC honors a law student and three community members for their outstanding contributions to public service.
At its 22nd EPIC Inspiration Awards ceremony, Chief Justice Hines was honored for his lifetime of service in the public interest. He has been a judge and lawyer for almost 50 years. Before his appointment to the Georgia Supreme Court in 1995 by then-Gov. Zell Miller, he served as a judge on the superior and state courts in Cobb County. A native of Atlanta and a resident of Marietta, Chief Justice Hines graduated from Emory University in 1965 and received his JD
from Emory University School of Law in 1968.
“I am humbled beyond belief by this wonderful award,” Chief Justice Hines said. “Time goes by quickly when you’re devoted to what you do and blessed to have a job you love. I thank Emory for all it’s done to shape my life, and I thank the people of Georgia and all of you for the opportunities I have had to serve.”
Others who received awards were law student Sai Santosh Kumar Kolluru, who received the Mark and Rebekah Wasserman Public Service Award; Monica Modi Khant, the executive director of the Georgia Asylum and Immigration Network (GAIN), who received the Unsung Devotion to Those Most in Need award; and Margaret W. Scott, a partner with the law firm, Alston & Bird, LLP, who received the Outstanding Leadership in the Public Interest award.