Preview: DeKalb Bar Luncheon June 24
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.
Judge Federal ran for a seat on the DeKalb Superior Court in 1976, defeating the incumbent, and became the youngest Superior Court judge in the state. Judge-elect Federal’s first official act was to hire the first African-American ever employed in the DeKalb County courthouse. He was considered a “reformer” for dramatically improving the Court’s case-calendaring system, eliminating wasteful calendar calls, curtailing the practice of judge-shopping, permitting expanded media and public access to court proceedings, and testifying against other judges for ethical violations.
In 1980 Judge Federal was reelected to the DeKalb Superior Court. During this time he was appointed as the Georgia judicial representative to the National Council of Superior Court judges, and he served on the Sentence Review Board to assure uniformity in sentences from courts throughout the state. In 1982 Judge Federal ran for a contested seat on the Georgia Supreme Court. Although Judge Federal was unsuccessful in his bid to unseat the incumbent in the statewide election, nevertheless, by pointing out during the campaign that there were no African-Americans working in the Supreme Court, and that there were no African-Americans on any of the boards appointed by the Supreme Court (e.g., the Board of Bar Examiners), Judge Federal had an impact on the Court and on racial equality in that appropriate actions were taken by the Justices of the Supreme Court, and African-Americans were hired and appointed for the first time.
During his eight years on the bench, Judge Federal gained a reputation as an innovative, fearless, and progressive jurist who ruled on causes before him according to the law, and without regard to any “political” consequences. In a highly controversial decision near the end of his term, Judge Federal refused to impose a death penalty verdict that had been announced by a jury, because he found that the jury’s verdict was the result of passion and prejudice and not based on the evidence presented. His decision stood.
In 1984 Judge Federal resigned his judgeship to join the Atlanta office of Dow Lohnes & Albertson, where he chaired the litigation practice for the next three years, representing the Atlanta Journal Constitution and WSB-TV. Although representing the media was exciting and rewarding, Keegan missed the autonomy of his own practice, and in 1987, he reopened his own firm, now known as Federal & Hasson.