ROBERT J. (Bob) LIPSHUTZ
Senior Partner
RobertLipshutz@lgklaw.com

    Born in Atlanta, Georgia on December 27, 1921, Robert J. (Bob) Lipshutz, a senior partner in the Atlanta law firm of Lipshutz Greenblatt LLC, has had an active career of more than 60 years in the practice of law and in public service to his country, state, and community.

    After being educated in the public schools of Atlanta, Bob entered the University of Georgia where he was Cadet Colonel commanding the Cavalry R.O.T.C. regiment and Captain of the University Debate Team.  He was admitted to the Georgia Bar in 1943. He served as an officer in the United States Army for three years during World War II. In 1947, he began the private practice of law.
 
    Bob Lipshutz gained national prominence as the National Campaign Treasurer and Legal Counsel for Jimmy Carter’s successful 1975-76 Presidential Campaign, both in the Primary Campaign and in the General Election. His most significant public post was Counsel to the President of the United States, a position held from January, 1977 to October 1, 1979. During his years as the Legal Counsel on the White House staff, he was intimately involved with the President’s negotiations that led to the signing of a peace treaty between Israel and Egypt. 

    Bob Lipshutz remains a close friend and confidante of former President Carter, serving the former President as a Trustee Emeritus of The Carter Center. He was a member of the Georgia State Commission on Compensation from 1971 until 1975, and was Vice Chairman of the Board for Georgia’s Department of Human Resources from 1972 until 1976. 

    He has served as a director and attorney of financial institutions and private corporations, including banks, savings and loan associations, credit unions, manufacturing companies, and real estate companies. Bob Lipshutz served for three years as the President of Atlanta’s largest and oldest Reform Jewish Congregation, “The Temple,” and is a past President of the Atlanta Lodge of B’nai B’rith. He was honored in 1976 as “Man of the Year” by the Gate City Lodge of B’nai B’rith. He has served on the Board of Trustees of the Atlanta Jewish Federation. 

    From 1982 to 1984 he served as national Co-Chairman of the “Commission on Law and Social Action” of The American Jewish Congress. From 1983 through 1986 he served as a Trustee of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (Reform). He has served in recent years as a Trustee and National Vice President of “Americans United For Separation of Church and State.” His private law practice is in the areas of corporate, financial, and real estate law; governmental affairs; and federal and state regulatory agencies. He is the grandson of refugees who fled to America to escape Czarist oppression in Russia in the late 19th century. Both of his parents’ families settled in Georgia upon arrival in America. 

    He and his wife, Betty, have six adult children. Both of their sons are practicing attorneys, one in Atlanta, Georgia, and the other in Washington, DC. Their four daughters are engaged in the fields of social work, public health, and history education; two live in Atlanta, one in Philadelphia, and one in Brooklyn. He and Betty also currently have nine grandchildren.



EDWARD L. GREENBLATT
Senior Partner
EdwardGreenblatt@lgklaw.com

    Edward L. Greenblatt was born and reared in Augusta, Georgia. Following Emory Law School (1964) and a stint with the Treasury Department in Washington, Ed returned to Atlanta to practice law. He and President Carter’s counsel have practiced together as Lipshutz, Greenblatt & King for many years.  Ed is engaged in the general practice of law
and active participation in community activities, from Marching in Americus in the early 1960s to serving on charitable boards and as President of the Temple on Peachtree Street. Ed’s primary focus has been Wills, Trusts & Estates,bankruptcy reorganization and business-oriented activities.


RANDALL M. (Randy) LIPSHUTZ
Managing Partner
RandyLipshutz@lgklaw.com

    Randall M. Lipshutz is managing partner with the law firm of Lipshutz Greenblatt LLC in Atlanta, Georgia. He is a graduate of Dartmouth College and the University of Georgia School of Law. Randy is a member of the bar of the United States Supreme Court and the State Bar of Georgia, and is licensed to practice in the state and federal courts of Georgia. The majority of Randy's practice is in the area of community association law. 

    Randy is a past member of the board of directors and secretary of the Georgia Chapter of CAI, past member of the nominating committee and program committee for the Chapter, has written articles for Common Ground, and served for many years as chair of the chapter's Legislative Action Committee where he is currently a member. Randy has lectured at various CAI seminars and programs in Atlanta and Washington D.C., and has talked on community association law topics at sessions of the annual Real Property Law Institute sponsored by the Institute of Continuing Legal Education of Georgia. Randy has also helped draft legislation related to community associations and has testified before committees of the Georgia legislature on behalf of CAI on a series of 1990 changes to the Georgia Condominium Act, additional changes to the Condominium Act enacted in 1994, and the Georgia Property Owners Association Act also enacted in 1994. He also was actively involved in CAI's work to shape and model the Community Association Manager Licensing legislation enacted in 1996, and he served on the panel which helped to draft and edit the questions on the state licensing exam for Community Association Manager. He is currently working on legislation to amend the Georgia Condominium Act and the Georgia Property Owners Association Act.  Randy was named in Atlanta Magazine as one of Georgia’s 2004 and 2005 Superlawyers.



TRACY L. LETTSOME
Attorney
TracyLettsome@lgklaw.com

    Tracy Lettsome is a graduate of University of Virgin Islands and received her Juris Doctor from Emory University in 1995.  She is a member of the State Bar of Georgia and the Virgin Island Bar Association.   Tracy previously worked in the Fulton County Solicitor's Office, where she primarily worked in the collection of child support.  Currently, she works as lead counsel in the assessment collection area.  Tracy, is also a member of the DeKalb Bar Association and the Community Association Institute where she is presently on the Fundraising Committee.

JODY L. PESKIN
Attorney
JodyPeskin@lgklaw.com

    Jody is a native Atlantan who has watched the Metro area grow from the three major counties of Fulton, DeKalb and Cobb, to the present 26 counties.  She graduated from American University in Washington, D.C. with a B.A. in communications Media and German.  

    After working in the book publishing industry for six years she decided to attend law school.  Jody received her Juris Doctor from Georgia State University College of Law in 1988.  Jody then worked as a judicial law clerk in the Superior Court of DeKalb County, first for the Honorable Curtis V. Tillman, then for the Honorable Michael E. Hancock, before joining the office of the Fulton County Solicitor General, drafting appellate briefs and responding to habeas petitions, as well as arguing before the Georgia Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court of Georgia.  Jody also litigated in the trial court, specializing in the prosecution of DUI and domestic violence cases.  Jody has been published in the Prosecuting Attorney's Council Traffic Newsletter.   

     Jody served on the Georgia State University College of Law Graduate Leadership Counsel from 1994-1996.  She is a graduate of the Leadership DeKalb Class of 2001.  She is an active member of the DeKalb Bar Association and served on the Board of Directors from 1999-2003.  Jody has been a member of the Community Association Institute since 2005.  She practices in the area of Declarations and Bylaws drafting, interpretation, and enforcement, working with associations and developers.

    


JAMES VINCENT (Jim)  ZITO, JR. 
Of Counsel
JamesZito@lgklaw.com

    Jim graduated from the Stony Brook University in 1974 with a B.A.degree. He received his Juris Doctor degree from Georgia State University College of Law in 1986. Jim was admitted to the Georgia Bar in 1986, at which time he began practicing law with the firm.  In 1991 Jim temporarily withdrew from the firm to accept the position of Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of Harry’s Farmers Market, and which company he assisted in its Initial Public Offering and expansion. In 1995, Jim returned to work at the firm, where he later became partner. Jim is also admitted to and practices before the U.S District Court for the Northern District of Georgia and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. 

    He is a member of the Atlanta Bar Association and the DeKalb Bar Association. Jim has served as lead counsel in dozens of jury trials and countless bench trials in virtually all Georgia courts, has tried numerous employment discrimination cases in federal court, and has successfully argued cases to Georgia’s Court of Appeals and Supreme Court. He is certified in Fulton County as a Guardian Ad Litem, advocating children’s interests in contested custody disputes in divorce actions. 
He has one son.



SUPPORT STAFF
Front row seated:  Katie McBride, Office Manager, Constance Hazelett, Receptionist
Back row left to right our Legal Assistants: Sandra Heartfield, Jennifer Beharie, Carmen Wheatley

Not Shown: Tanya Johnson, Lead Paralegal; Cynthia Colas, Legal Assistant