Please join us for GCBA's next luncheon on August 16, 2024 at 12:00 PM at the 1818 Club.

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The August Luncheon will feature:

Superior Court Judge-Elect Tuwanda Williams 

and 
Superior Court Judge-Elect Kimberly A. Gallant

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Superior Court Judge-Elect Tuwanda Williams 

Tuwanda Rush Williams was elected to Superior Court of Gwinnett County, Georgia on June 18, 2024. Judge-Elect Williams joined the law firm of Thompson, O’Brien, Kappler & Nasuti as Of Counsel on June 5, 2023.  She is formerly a Deputy County Attorney in the Gwinnett County Department of Law, where she supervised and managed the work of Senior Assistant County Attorneys who handle both transactional and litigation matters for Gwinnett County Government elected officials, departments, offices, and the judicial system.  She has been a member of the Georgia Bar since October 1992. 

Her 31 years of legal experience is expansive, as she has formidable knowledge of over twenty-five areas of the law.  For most of her legal career, she has been a local government lawyer, and her practice has been concentrated in section 1983 civil rights and constitutional law and litigation, state law claims of assault, battery, unlawful arrest, false imprisonment, and malicious prosecution, tort claims, tax appeals, eminent domain, public procurement and contract disputes, personal injury, property damage, and elections litigation.  She was also a seven-year member of the Gwinnett County Indigent Defense Governing Committee, responsible for recruiting, managing, and reviewing and paying the invoices of lawyers who represent indigent criminal defendants.

Prior to her employment with the Gwinnett County Department of Law, Tuwanda was employed with the City of Atlanta Law Department, where she practiced section 1983 civil rights litigation, Title VII, ADA, and ADEA employment litigation, contract and procurement litigation, personal injury, property damage, and workers’ compensation defense litigation.  She also handled transactional matters in the areas of procurement and contracts, and she drafted various policies and training materials for the department and the attorneys.  She managed jury trials as first chair in both the state and federal courts and prevailed in those trials.  Tuwanda’s legal experience also includes four years in private practice in the areas of personal injury litigation, workers’ compensation employer and insurance defense, domestic relations (family law), misdemeanor criminal defense as a court-appointed attorney in Fulton County State Court, simple wills, and landlord-tenant law.

Superior Court Judge-Elect Kimberly A. Gallant

Kimberly A. Gallant  was elected to Superior Court of Gwinnett County, Georgia on June 18, 2024. Judge-Elect Gallant has a wealth of experience and expertise in the legal field. She graduated from UGA in 1997 and earned her law degree from Georgia State University College of Law in 2000. She worked as a prosecutor for 10 years, fighting to ensure justice for all those involved in the criminal justice system.  She then became a staff attorney for a Gwinnett County Superior Court Judge, gaining valuable knowledge and insight into the judicial process.

In 2015, she was appointed to the bench, where she has served with distinction. She has presided over cases in Municipal Court, Juvenile Court, Magistrate Court, State Court, and Superior Court. 

Kimberly Gallant is not only a judge, but also a mentor, a teacher, and a volunteer. She is a Troop Leader for both of her children’s Girl Scout troops, teaching them the values of courage, confidence, and character. She serves on the local school council and as President of the North Gwinnett Schools Foundation, supporting the excellence and innovation of the schools in her district. She has served as a faculty member at Emory School of Law’s trial technique course and currently leads the SMILE Program (Summer Mentoring in Legal Education) for Gwinnett Courts, inspiring the next generation of lawyers and judges. She has also participated in the Principal for a Day program through the Gwinnett County Chamber of Commerce for six of the last seven years, learning about the challenges and opportunities of the education system. She was a finalist for the MOXIE award in 2019, recognizing her as a woman who leads fearlessly and boldly.  She is a proud graduate of Leadership DeKalb (2003) and Leadership Gwinnett (2017) and is a sustaining member of the Junior League of DeKalb County.