New attorney is practicing here
LAWTON C. HEARD JR., is hanging his shingle alongside longtime Cairo attorney Tom Lehman. Heard has practiced law for more than four years in Statesboro, but is not unfamiliar with the legal community in Cairo.
Heard, a native of Baker County, had just graduated from Florida Coastal School of Law in December 2005 when he first moved to Cairo. After working 10 months as Judge Porter’s clerk, Heard took a position in Statesboro where he practiced in that city’s largest law firm, Franklin, Taulbee, Rushing, Snipes and Marsh. Heard says he appreciates the opportunity to return to Cairo, where he plans to be a general law practitioner, working on probate, real estate, litigation and more cases.
It appears this may be Heard’s last career move. “I like Cairo. Even though I was raised in Baker County, the year that I spent here with Judge Porter and lived here, it feels like home to me, a place I can see myself staying for the rest of my days,” he says.
Cairo is also the place where Heard’s wife, the former Lacie Cox, graduated from high school in 1999. She holds an MBA from Georgia Southern University and has worked in the banking industry, and is now working at home raising their nearly 13-month-old son, Lawton Chad Heard III.
