Former DeKalb Superior Court Judge R. Keegan Federal Will Speak on
“The Times They Have Changed: A Historical Perspective of the DeKalb Law Practice”
Food service begins at 11:30 a.m.
Judge Keegan Federal, then and now
Judge R. Keegan Federal was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, and grew up in Columbus, Georgia. He studied for the ministry at St. John’s Seminary, and attended Loyola University in New Orleans, received his undergraduate degree and his law degree, with honors, from Emory University. Judge Federal was admitted to practice in Georgia on June 14, 1966, at the age of 22. He began his trial practice at Shoob, McLain & Jessee in Atlanta, and worked with his mentors, Marvin Shoob (later judge, USDC, Atlanta), Willis Hunt (later chief justice, Georgia Supreme Court, and judge, USDC, Atlanta), and Jim Jessee from 1966 to 1968. During these same two years, Keegan pursued an MBA in Insurance Law at Georgia State University’s evening division.
Two years later Judge Federal was commissioned a lieutenant in the U.S. Army and assigned to Ft. Gordon, Georgia, trying court-martial cases. From 1969 to 1970, Keegan served in Vietnam, and was awarded the Bronze Star. Keegan remained active in veterans’ affairs: he chaired Georgia’s Vietnam Veterans’ Leadership program, which conducted seminars for veterans starting a business, and he is a member of the Atlanta Vietnam Veteran’s Business Association, which honors fallen Vietnam veterans each Memorial Day with the placement of a bronze plaque at a ceremony in their memory. In 1970 he again found himself in private practice with Nall Miller & Cadenhead (now Nall & Miller) where he tried a number of injury and death cases. Two years later Judge Federal and his friend Fred Orr started Orr & Federal in Decatur, representing individuals and small- to-medium-size companies in a wide variety of legal matters.
