Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp announced three appointments to the State Court of Cobb County, moving Judge Ashley J. Palmer from Division II to Division I and naming Cobb Magistrate Court Judge Mellori E. Lumpkin-Dawson and Marietta attorney D. Austin Gillis to Division II.
Palmer will fill the vacancy created by Judge Jane P. Manning’s resignation. Lumpkin-Dawson will fill Palmer’s seat, and Gillis will fill the vacancy created by Judge Marsha S. Lake’s resignation.
Ashley J. Palmer
Kemp appointed Palmer to Division II in June 2021. She began her career at an Atlanta law firm, where she handled bankruptcy, securities, corporate and fiduciary litigation. She later served as an assistant public defender in the Clayton Judicial Circuit and as a senior assistant Fulton County attorney.
Palmer earned her undergraduate and law degrees from Vanderbilt University. She serves on the board of Bridge Communities, a Cobb County nonprofit, and on the State Bar of Georgia’s planning board for the high school mock trial state finals.
Mellori E. Lumpkin-Dawson
Lumpkin-Dawson was appointed to the Cobb County Magistrate Court in 2024, where she hears criminal and civil matters. She began her career as a special assistant district attorney in the South Georgia Judicial Circuit and worked in private practice before becoming an assistant U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia in 2018.
A Bainbridge native who lives in Smyrna, Lumpkin-Dawson earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Florida A&M University and a law degree from the University of California, Berkeley.
D. Austin Gillis
Gillis, a Cobb County native and lifelong Marietta resident, began his legal career as a clerk for Cobb County Superior Court Judge J. Stephen Schuster. He has spent nearly 20 years in private practice and is an attorney with the Gillis Law Firm, where his civil litigation work has included personal injury, medical malpractice, construction, insurance coverage, education and business disputes.
Gillis graduated from Oglethorpe University and earned his law degree from the University of Georgia. He serves on Oglethorpe’s Board of Trustees.
Editor’s note: AI was used in the production of this article. To read about how, when and why we make use of AI, read our article “How, When and Why the Cobb County Courier uses AI.”