Joyce Gist Lewis

Joyce Gist Lewis is a skilled and tenacious advocate for private companies and governmental entities in and out of the courtroom. Joyce’s two decades of experience includes serving as lead counsel for claims involving professional liability, director and officer liability, business divorce, real estate litigation, employment discrimination defense, and catastrophic injury defense. Her appellate experience includes arguing cases before the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals and successfully petitioning for certiorari to Georgia’s Supreme Court. Joyce is also a top choice for government clients seeking counsel in sensitive intra-agency disputes and investigations. Her reputation as a principled trial advocate has resulted in Joyce being named to the “short-list” of nominees recommended by Georgia’s Judicial Nominating Commission for appointment to the Georgia Court of Appeals in 2018 and to the Atlanta Judicial Circuit in 2011 and 2012.

Joyce received her BA, magna cum laude from Wake Forest University (1993) and her law degree from Georgia State University College of Law (1999). She is Chambers ranked in Litigation: General Commercial, holds a Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent rating, and has been repeatedly recognized by her peers in the Top 100 Lawyers in Georgia, the Top 50 Women Lawyers, Top 5 2026 Business Litigation Georgia Super Lawyers, and in Best Lawyers in America (Commercial Litigation; Employment; Personal Injury Defense). Joyce represents the Atlanta Circuit on the State Bar of Georgia Board of Governors, where she serves on the Executive Committee, the Advisory Committee on Legislation, and the Statewide Judicial Evaluation Committee. Joyce is a past recipient of the State Bar of Georgia’s Thomas O. Marshall Professionalism award and the Atlanta Bar Association’s Outstanding Woman in the Profession Award.

Joyce’s past leadership positions include serving as President of the Lawyers Club of Atlanta, President of the Board of the Federal Defender Program, Inc., and President of the Atlanta Chapter of the Georgia Association for Women Lawyers. She is a Master in GSU’s Bleckley Inn of Court, a Member of the American Board of Trial Advocates, and a Fellow in the Litigation Counsel of America.

State Bar of Georgia: Executive Committee (2024-present); Board of Governors Atlanta Circuit Post 12 (2018-present); Chair, Statewide Judicial Evaluation Committee (2014-2017); Co-Chair, Committee to Promote Inclusion in the Profession (2015-2019); Advisory Committee on Legislation (2018-present)

Lawyers Club of Atlanta: President (2017-18), Executive Committee (2010-2019)

Federal Defender Program, Inc. Board of Directors (2014-2020) – President (2018-19)

American Inns of Court, Bleckley Inn – Master; Executive Committee

Leadership Institute for Women of Color Attorneys (LIWOCA) – Sponsorship Chair

American Board of Trial Advocates – Member; Georgia Chapter Executive Committee

Georgia Association of Black Women Attorneys – Inter-Bar Relations Chair (2020-21)

Georgia Association for Women Lawyers – Chair/Co-Chair, Judicial Applicant Comm. (2010-12); Statewide Rep-at-Large (2008-09); President, Atlanta Chapter (2007-08)

Barrister, Litigation Counsel of America Order of Veritas

Advocate, Litigation Counsel of America Order of Certus

Member, Litigation Counsel of America Trial Law Institute

Member, Litigation Counsel of America Diversity Law Institute

Member, Atlanta Bar Association

Member, Gate City Bar Association

Member, Federal Bar Association

Member, American Bar Association

Atlanta Neighborhood Charter School Board Of Directors (Governance Chair)

Catholic Shrine of the Immaculate Conception (Chair, Parish Council)

Alliance Theatre Advisory Council

Wake Forest University

Bachelors

1993

Georgia State University College of Law

J.D.

1999