O'Neal, Brown and Clark, Attorneys at Law, is a lawfirm with law offices in Macon and Atlanta Georgia
Our Firm
O'Neal, Brown & Clark, P.C. is oriented to helping people with claims arising from injury or death. Its genesis is in earlier law firms in which H.T. O'Neal, Jr. (1926-1983) was a principal participant. Mr. O'Neal was a widely respected trial lawyer and former prosecutor who was lead counsel in many of Middle Georgia's most celebrated trials.
As an example, Mr. O'Neal was special prosecutor (having been appointed by the Governor) in the Anjette Lyles murder case in which the defendant was accused of gradually poisoning her family with arsenic. The Lyles case is the subject of the recent (1999) Mercer Press Publication Whisper To The Black Candle.
H.T. "Hank" O'Neal was not only a great criminal lawyer (successfully using the Anatomy of a Murder defense in two celebrated acquittals he spearheaded) but was also an innovative civil litigator, particularly in the area of wrongful death and personal injury trials.
Mr. O'Neal was among the first plaintiff's attorneys in Middle Georgia to lead his firm in the use of courtroom mock up exhibits (model of a bridge, automobile parts, propane tanks, etc.) and expert witnesses in the area of economics, engineering and medicine. Under his leadership, the firm successfully experimented with and used "day in the life" videos (to illustrate disability), video depositions and accident reconstructionists with engineering backgrounds, many years before this became a common practice.
Mr. O'Neal was joined in his practice by Manley F. Brown in 1969.
Manley F. Brown was a former law clerk to retired United States District Judge W.A. Bootle. Continuing the tradition of Mr. O'Neal and his former partners, Mr. Brown graduated from Mercer University's Walter F. George School of Law in December of 1964, earning an LLB cum laude. Mr. Brown was Editor-in-Chief of the Mercer Law Review while a student at Mercer. Before entering practice with Mr. O'Neal, Mr. Brown was an attorney with the United States Department of Justice, having served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia for several years. During that period of time, Mr. Brown, working with the F.B.I. and other government agencies, prepared and conducted numerous jury trials.
Mr. Brown and Mr. O'Neal practiced together for 14 years, preparing and trying many cases, both civil and criminal, before juries. In particular, Messrs. O'Neal and Brown tried a series of civil fraud and personal rights infringement cases which resulted in record setting verdicts in the Middle Georgia area. Mr. Brown is a Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers and in the International Academy of Trial Lawyers. In 1972, he designed the first trial advocacy course ever taught at the Mercer University Law School and still teaches that course. He has also served as Chairman of the State Disciplinary Board and the Board of Bar Examiners.
Mr. Brown's current practice involves the preparation and trial of personal injury matters, including medical malpractice and product liability cases. A large portion of the firm's work is referred by other attorneys and law firms seeking assistance with substantial and complex personal injury matters.
Lamar W. Sizemore, Jr. graduated from Mercer University's Walter F. George School of Law in 1974 and came directly to the predecessor firm of O'Neal, Brown & Sizemore, accepting a position in its litigation division. He spent the majority of his professional life handling personal injury litigation on behalf of plaintiffs. Mr. Sizemore designed and has taught the course on insurance litigation at the Mercer University Law School since 1981, and has developed an expertise in this area of law. With the assistance of Charles R. Adams, III, he helped write and edit the GTLA Trial Practice Manual which was published in 1993 by the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association, and is now in its third edition.
Mr. Sizemore was active in state, local, and trial bar associations during his twenty-five plus years in practice. He graduated from Mercer University's Walter F. George School of Law has served on the Board of Governors of the State Bar of Georgia since 1985, serving a two-year term on the Executive Committee. He has chaired a number of Bar committees, and has been involved in the disciplinary process as a member of the Review Panel and as a Special Master in lawyer discipline cases. He is a past President of the Macon Bar Association and the Middle Georgia Trial Lawyers Association, and has been a Regional Vice-President of the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association since 1986.
In January 2001, Mr. Sizemore was appointed to the Superior Court for the Macon Judicial Circuit by Governor Roy Barnes and now serves as a Superior Court Judge.
O'Neal, Brown & Clark has an experienced staff with over 60 years of cumulative law office experience. The law firm utilizes the services of law clerks from the Mercer University Law School, as well as experienced outside investigative personnel. The firm also secures the services of many outside experts to work on its cases, including medical doctors, nurses and engineers from the private sector, as well as from educational institutions such as Georgia Tech and Clemson University.