Robert B. Remar

Overview

Robert B. Remar is a partner with Rogers & Hardin LLP. In his more than 44 years of practice he has handled numerous complex, high profile litigation matters. He has tried scores of cases to juries in both state and federal courts. His practice focuses on complex commercial and business disputes, employment, administrative law, health care, class actions and civil rights/constitutional law.  He also acts as an arbitrator and mediator. He is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers.

Mr. Remar is selected by The Best Lawyers in America© as the 2018 Atlanta "Lawyer of the Year" in Administrative/Regulatory law.  He was also selected as the 2015 Atlanta "Lawyer of the Year" in Administrative/Regulatory law and, in 2014, as Atlanta "Lawyer of the Year" in First Amendment law. 

For 12 years Mr. Remar was an Adjunct Professor teaching litigation at Georgia State University College of Law and for 13 years his practice included serving as the Hearing Officer for the Georgia Public Service Commission. He has been on the National Board of Directors of the American Civil Liberties Union for 31 years and currently serves as Vice-President, Treasurer, and Secretary.

Representative Experience

• Mr. Remar and a team of Rogers & Hardin attorneys represent SouthStar Energy Services, Georgia’s largest natural gas marketer with operations in ten states, in all aspects of its business, including litigation, contract and regulatory matters
• Part of the Rogers & Hardin team defending nationwide class actions involving credit card processing fees.
• Has represented one of the country’s largest insurers in numerous complex matters, including commercial disputes and coverage issues
• Part of the Rogers & Hardin defense team that represented one of the country’s largest manufacturers of building products in product liability claims. Won motions to dismiss state-wide class actions in Florida and North Carolina.
• Lead a Rogers & Hardin team in filing amicus briefs in the Supreme Court and the Eleventh Circuit in the Georgia-Florida "water wars" cases.
• Co-counsel in the defense of financial institutions and consumer consolidated class actions involving a card payment data breach 
• Successfully represented the majority owners in a three week trial regarding ownership of the Atlanta Hawks, Atlanta Thrashers and the rights to the Philips Arena
• Defended a former director in a multi-party Delaware Chancery Court derivative action seeking over $120 million for alleged breach of fiduciary duty
• Represents health care professionals in licensing board complaints
• Defended county and county officials in highly contentious and publicized federal court jury trials involving civil rights and employment claims
• Successfully defended a county Board of Elections in a challenge to the election of the County Commission Chair and successfully defended another county Board of Elections in the District Court and Court of Appeals in a redistricting challenge
• Along with a team of Rogers & Hardin attorneys successfully represented then Georgia Attorney General Thurbert Baker in a suit brought by the Governor seeking to compel the Attorney General to dismiss an appeal pending in the United States Supreme Court
• Successfully represented in-town Atlanta neighborhoods in the contentious Presidential Parkway litigation
• Co-counsel in the successful defense of “yield spread premium” class actions against Bank of America and Chase Manhattan Mortgage Corporation
• Co-lead counsel to the plaintiff class in the ground-breaking “prime rate” case Kleiner v. First National Bank of Atlanta
• Represented the plaintiff class in a four-week §1983 “anti-slapp” jury trial, one of the first in the country to be tried
• Represented a nationwide class of women and children recipients of federal supplemental food benefits and three members of Congress challenging the Reagan administration’s “impoundment” of federal funds. The D.C. District Court issued an injunction directing release of the funds
• Represented the plaintiff class in a constitutional challenge to Georgia’s civil commitment procedures for persons found not guilty by reason of insanity
• Represented the plaintiff class in a constitutional challenge to the fee system for the compensation of small claims court judges

Professional & Community Activities

• Fellow, American College of Trial Lawyers 
• Member, Atlanta International Arbitration Society
• Hearing Officer (Administrative Law Judge), Georgia Public Service Commission 1984-1997
• Adjunct Professor (Litigation), Georgia State University College of Law 1984-1996
• Member, Bar Council, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Georgia 1996-1999
• Board of Directors, Federal Defender Program, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Georgia 2002-2007 (Chair 2006-2007)
• Special Assistant Attorney General, State of Georgia 1987-1997, 2003-2005
• Vice-President, Treasurer, and Secretary, National Board of Directors, American Civil Liberties Union (Board Member since 1986)
• President, American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia 1985-1987
• Board of Experts (in civil rights), Lawyers Weekly, Lawyers Weekly Publications (Boston, Mass.) 1985-1993
• Board of Directors (Former Chair), Georgia Appellate Practice and Educational Resource Center, Inc. 1987-
• President, Georgia Consumer Center, Inc. 1988-1991
• Board of Directors and President, Georgia Center For Law In The Public Interest 1992-1995 (now Greenlaw)
• Georgia Consumer Advisory Board (By Appointment of the Governor) 1982-1983
• Georgia Energy Regulatory Reform Commission (By Appointment of the Governor) 1980-1982
• Chair, Access to Civil Justice Committee, American Bar Association Individual Rights and Responsibilities Section 1983-1997
• State Bar of Georgia Special Committee on Post-Conviction Proceedings 1985- 2014 (Chair 1991- 2014)
• State Bar of Georgia Indigent Defense Committee 1999-
• Chair, Individual Rights Section, State Bar of Georgia 1981-1983
• Co-Chair, Consumer Rights and Remedies Committee, State Bar of Georgia 1979-1983
• State Bar of Georgia Special State Tort Claims Act Committee 1991-1992
• Board of Trustees, The Institute of Continuing Legal Education in Georgia 1981-1982
• Member, State Bar of Georgia Advisory Committee On Legislation 1995-1996
• Member, City of Atlanta Board of Ethics 2002-2005
• Board of Advisors, American Constitution Society, Atlanta Chapter
• Master of the Bench, Lamar Inn of Court, American Inns of Court
• American Bar Association
• Atlanta Bar Association
• Federal Bar Association
• Lawyers Club of Atlanta

Speeches & Presentations

• Chair and Presenter, “Ethics For In-House Counsel,” Georgia Chapter, Association of Corporate Counsel (2014)
• Panelist, “Practicing Psychiatry: A Moral Adventure,” Georgia Psychiatric Physicians Association 2014 Winter Meeting
• "Pretrial and Trial Conduct Dilemmas", Lamar Inn of Court (2014)
• Issues of Special Importance To Mental Health Professionals, Fundamentals of Health Care Law, Institute of Continuing Legal Education In Georgia (2008- 2018)
• “Courts and Secrecy”, Lamar Inn of Court (2011)
• Issues of Legal Privilege And Psychologist Ethics, DeKalb Bar Association Family Law Section (2017)
• Panelist, Genesis and Persistence in Advocacy for Peace, Muted Voices Symposium, National World War I Museum and Memorial (2017).
• Co-Author, Law and Mental Health Professionals: Georgia (APA Press 1996)

Professional Recognition

• Recipient of ACLU of Georgia 2018 Lifetime Achievement Award
• Recipient of Justice Robert Benham Award For Community Service presented by the State Bar of Georgia, 2018
• Fellow, American College of Trial Lawyers
• Vice-President, Treasurer, and Secretary, American Civil Liberties Union
• The Best Lawyers In America©: 2018 Atlanta "Lawyer of the Year" in Administrative/Regulatory Law, 2015 Atlanta "Lawyer of the Year" in Administrative/Regulatory Law, 2014 Atlanta "Lawyer of the Year" in First Amendment Law.  Also recognized in Bet-the-Company Litigation, Commercial Litigation, Litigation - Labor & Employment, Litigation - Regulatory Enforcement (SEC, Telecom, Energy)
• Legal Leader Chambers USA: General Commercial Litigation
• Georgia Super Lawyers 2017: General Litigation, Business Litigation, and Administrative Law
• Benchmark Litigation: Listed as Local Litigation Star in Georgia
• Who’s Who In America
• Who’s Who In American Law
• Georgia Best Lawyers 2016: Administrative/Regulatory Law, Bet-the-Company Litigation, First Amendment Law, Labor and Employment