ATLANTA, Ga. | Lawrenceville attorney J. Michael Levengood is to be honored with the Justice Robert Benham Community Service Award by the state Bar of Georgia and The Chief Justice’s Commission on Professionalism, to be presented on March 2, 2023. This is the top award and Levengood is the first Gwinnett resident to be honored by this statewide honor.
Levengood
The award is named for former Justice Robert Benham of the Georgia Supreme Court, and first awarded in 1998. The award is focused on the community service of an attorney, not on legal services.
Several people suggested Levengood for this award. Among their comments:
Craig Pett of Suwanee: “Mike’s impact on Gwinnett County is remarkable and seldom seen. Mike has volunteered as a community leader in the areas of healthcare, education, community leadership development, public transportation, politics, recreation and as a leader in the Boy Scouts of America in the Northeast Georgia Council that includes not only Gwinnett County but 25 other counties in northeast Georgia.”
David McClesky of Hoschton: “Mike has distinguished himself by preparing future leaders to recognize and celebrate Gwinnett’s rich diversity. Modeling the pioneer examples of success Justice Benham championed….Mike also has beaconed, by design, opportunities for persons of color to be successfully engaged in the pursuit of a positive transition of leaders in the greater Gwinnett community.”
Wayne Sikes of Snellville: “Around 2016, the Medical System board, led by Chair Mike Levengood, made a bold move: they decided to act while Gwinnett Medical Center was financially strong, and seek a large partner to match the Gwinnett culture. After an exhaustive search, they chose Northside Hospital. What followed was two years of gut-wrenching, detailed work to win approval. (Without this approval, it would have been a disaster for GMC.) Though Northside had to spend a fortune on lawyers, they did not walk away. And in 2019, the Federal Trade Commission granted approval of the merger.”
Mike Levengood was born in Miami, Fla., and grew up in New Jersey and New Mexico, before his family moved to Georgia. His father was a senior electrical engineer for Western Electric Company when it opened its cable plant in Norcross in 1970.
He is a 1977 graduate of the University of Georgia, then graduated from the UGA law school in 1980. While on campus, he was a member and president of Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity and winner of the J. Edward Zollinger Outstanding Senior Award. He was also a member of Blue Key, national honor fraternity, and president of the Gridiron Secret Society.
His professional accomplishments focus on estate planning and administration, and counseling business clients and helping them resolve their commercial disputes through negotiation, litigation, workouts, and corporate reorganizations.
Prior to his solo practice in Lawrenceville, he was associated with McKenna, Long and Aldridge of Atlanta and its predecessor firms as a partner since 1986. He has been an adjunct professor at the UGA School of Law and at the Emory University School of Law.
His community service is extensive. He has been on the board of directors and in leadership roles of many institutions: Northside Hospital, Gwinnett Health System, Georgia Hospital Association; Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce; Leadership Gwinnett; Partnership Gwinnett; Community Foundation for Northeast Georgia; Gwinnett Parks Foundation; Northeast Georgia Boy Scouts Council; and the University of Georgia Young Alumni Council.
The Benham Awards also recognizes district winners of this award. Only three attorneys from Gwinnett have been recognized as district winners. They include Terry Franzen, Duluth, who now lives in Jasper; Chung Lee, Duluth; and Kathryn M. Schrader, Lawrenceville.
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