Atlanta, July 29, 2021 – Verda M. Colvin was officially sworn in today to serve as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia.
Gov. Brian Kemp appointed the Georgia Court of Appeals judge to the state’s highest court on July 20, 2021 to fill the seat vacated by former Chief Justice Harold D. Melton, who retired on July 1. The governor administered the oath of office in the House Chamber of the State Capitol Building.
“I vow to each Justice and every citizen of Georgia to be an avid student of the law, open and ready to continually learn from my colleagues,” Justice Colvin said. “Equally as important, I will always remember that embodying the law must be tempered with remembering that people and businesses alike are the centerpiece of every opinion authored by the highest court in our state.”
A number of dignitaries attended the ceremony, including Leah Ward Sears, the Court’s first African-American, female Chief Justice. Justice Colvin is the first African-American woman appointed by a Republican governor to the state’s high court. She most recently served on the Court of Appeals, to which Gov. Kemp appointed her in April 2020. Prior to joining the appellate bench, she served for nearly six years as a Superior Court judge in the Macon Judicial Circuit.
“We are delighted to have Verda Colvin join the Supreme Court as our newest Justice,” Chief Justice David E. Nahmias said. “Justice Colvin brings us great experience and perspective, and she is a wonderful person as well. We look forward to working together to uphold the rule of law and administer the justice system in our state.”
Justice Colvin discovered her love for trial work early in her career as assistant solicitor in Athens-Clarke County. From there, she went on to serve as assistant general counsel to Clark Atlanta University and then as assistant district attorney in Clayton County. Before becoming a judge, she was an Assistant United States Attorney in the Middle District of Georgia, where she prosecuted a wide range of offenses from drug trafficking to white collar crime.
Justice Colvin is a member of several professional organizations and civic boards, including The Order of Barristers, Macon Bar Association, American Bar Association (ABA), Georgia Association of Black Women Attorneys (GABWA), Georgia Association for Women Lawyers (GAWL), Gate City Bar-Judicial Section, Rotary Club of Atlanta, Jack and Jill of America-Macon Chapter, The Chisholm Leadership Academy Board of Directors, Fuller Center for Housing of Macon, and the Regional Partnership Council of the Boys and Girls Club of Central Georgia.
Born and raised in Atlanta, Justice Colvin attended Daniel McLaughlin Therrell High School. She earned her bachelor’s degree in government and religion from Sweet Briar College in Virginia and her juris doctorate from the University of Georgia School of Law.
Justice Colvin resides in Macon with her husband, Nathaniel Walker, and children.