RALPH E. HUGHES, ESQ.

I have lived in Atlanta most of my life.  I grew up in Southeast Atlanta near Grant Park and now live with my wife Mica and sons Derek, Kurt, Billy and Patrick in the Atlanta suburb of Stone Mountain. 

I attended public high school in Atlanta, graduated from Mercer University in Macon, Georgia, attended graduate school for one year at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and later graduated from the Woodrow Wilson College of Law.  I am a member of the State Bar of Georgia, DeKalb Bar Association, Georgia Trial Lawyers Association, American Association of Justice (formerly Association of Trial Lawyers of America) professional negligence and product liability section.

I began my legal career in 1979 with a small Decatur, Georgia firm specializing in the representation of insurance companies.  My office was adjacent to the DeKalb County Courthouse which had an excellent law library (real books, pre-computer and internet) of which I took full advantage when circumstances required it.  One afternoon I was in the library when my secretary rushed over (pre cell phone) and told me a lady had walked into our office, crying because her husband had been killed by a drunk driver.  Her husband, Arnold, ran out of gas on the way to work.  He was able to coast off of the roadway and onto a grassy shoulder.  After Arnold returned from a service station and was putting gas into his tank, a twenty-two year old woman, on her way home from an all night party, ran off of the roadway and slammed into Arnold killing him instantly dragging his body over three hundred (300) feet.  Her blood alcohol content was .25 - two and a half times the amount required to be convicted for DUI.

Arnold was the only bread winner in his family.  He was survived by his wife Jean and four children under the age of sixteen.  I helped Jean settle his estate and file suit against the drunk driver.  I was able to assist Jean in recovering sufficient funds to ensure she and her children would not have any financial change of lifestyle and that she would not have to return to work soon.  I felt a tremendous sense of satisfaction from helping Jean and her children.  I decided I would thereafter focus my practice on representation of people who were seriously injured, or the survivors of people who had been killed by the carelessness or recklessness of others.  During the past twenty-eight years, I have been honored and privileged to help hundreds of families like Jeans.

I take my responsibilities and obligations as an attorney seriously.  If I agree to take your case, I will do my absolute best to help you.  I limit the number of cases I have at any given time so I can ensure each of my clients is properly represented.