Patrick L. Meriwether
Partner
Phone: (404) 585-3530
Practice Areas
Family Law
Business Law
Patrick “Leh” Meriwether is an experienced attorney with over 16 years of experience. He is admitted to practice in both Georgia and Florida although he focuses his practice on Georgia cases. Mr. Meriwether is not only a licensed practicing attorney but he is also a certified arbitrator and mediator. Mr. Meriwether has handled thousands of family cases and is an invaluable resource when it comes to determining a spouse’s ownership rights, equitable division of a marital business and finding creative solutions on how to best address problems in a case.
Since working as an associate at Arthur Anderson, Mr. has been a partner at Meriwether and Tharp, LLC since 1998. Having focused primarily on business cases early in his career, working with both small and large businesses alike, Mr. Meriwether brings this wealth of knowledge and experience to his family law practice. His ability to quickly process financial statements, high attention to detail, familiarity with various methods of analyzing numbers and calculations, and keen understanding of business structures and models benefit his clients, in particular, business owners, professionals and other high asset individuals.
In addition to his proficiency with financial aspects of a divorce, he continues to educate himself in the psychological issues that customarily arise in contested custody disputes. He recently attended a Best Practices Conference titled, “Understanding Child Relocation, Domestic Violence and High Conflict Parenting, and Parental Alienation.” This conference was attended by not just lawyers, but also Judges, Psychologists, Custody Evaluators, and mediators.
Divorce is considered a domestic crisis and Mr. Meriwether understands the unique difficulties of going through a divorce, including not just the legal, but also the financial and emotional. He understands that a divorce can be one of the most life altering and stressful events someone can experience. Mr. Meriwether always offers his clients a cost-benefit analysis, assessing the legal strengths and weaknesses of a client’s case versus the financial repercussions involved of pursuing a specific matter. This evaluation includes a discussion of the financial cost of continuing litigation to achieve the desired result, and the emotional toll not only on the client but on the family as a whole. While Mr. Meriwether will fiercely litigate a case, he understands that some cases are better off being settled. As a trained mediator and arbitrator, Mr. Meriwether is not only very familiar with the alternative dispute resolution process but is able to offer sound insight into different strategies to help his clients receive the best settlement possible.
On a personal level, Mr. Meriwether holds a Black Belt in Judo and was the State Champion in his division while in law school. When he is not practicing law, Mr. Meriwether is very active in his sons’ Cub Scouts activities and is a den leader regularly planning and coordinating Cub Scout activities in his Pack. Mr. Meriwether is also an aspiring artisan in woodworking. He has built his children’s bedroom furniture, his kitchen table, and is currently working on building his new office desk out of Ambrosia Maple and a dining room table out of slabs of solid walnut. In his spare time, Mr. Meriwether also uses his woodworking skills to craft individualized and unique pens. Click here to see a link to Mr. Meriwether’s pen selection!
Qualifications and Experience
EDUCATION
University of Miami, Bachelor of Arts (1992)
University of Florida, Juris Doctor of Law (1995)
CERTIFICATIONS AND ADDITIONAL QUALIFICATIONS
Neutral Civil Mediator, Registered with the Georgia Office of Dispute Resolution (2010 through present)
Arbitrator, Registered with the Georgia Office of Dispute Resolution (2007 through present)
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS
American Bar Association, Family Law Section (2004 through present)
State Bar of Georgia, Family Law Section (2004 through present)
Forsyth County Bar Association, Member of Legislative Committee (2009 through present)
Blue Ridge Bar Association, Member (2009 through present)
State Bar of Florida, Member (1996 through present)
PUBLICATIONS
“Holiday Stress and the Courts,” Cherokee Tribune (2011)
“Reducing the Conflict in Divorce Cases,” Cherokee Tribune (2011)
“Avoiding the Conflict of a Divorce,” Cherokee Tribune (2011)
“Top 10 iPhone/iPad Apps for a Family Law Attorney,” Atlanta Bar Association Family Law Section (2011)
“Ask the Expert : Divorce and COBRA,” The Peaceful Co-Parent (2010)
Regular Contributor to the Divorce Blog, atlantadivorceattorneyblog.com
SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS
Family Law Practice Management for the 2011 Family Law Conference (2011)
Drafting Contracts and Transactional Documents for The Paralegal’s Guide to Contracts and Transactional Documents (2009)
Recent Trends and Developments with LLCs for LLC Trends and Development (2009)
Two recent reviews of Leh Meriwether
From a Review on AVVO.com
“Leh is highly professional, very experienced and hugely knowledgeable in his area of legal concentration. One thing I appreciated the most was his candor in helping me to assess the cost-benefit of where to have him and his team work “for” me, and when the cost was going to be greater than the “fight.” He always allowed me to make the ultimate decisions, but I was able to do that from an informed position. During those times where decisions tend to be made from an emotional standpoint, Leh was great at providing go-forward options or strategies focused on desired outcomes for my case, along with practical guidance that was most appropriate for achieving those goals. His strategic thinking skills and legal guidance were outstanding and contributed to reaching a fair settlement. I would highly recommend Leh and/or his Firm.“
http://www.avvo.com/attorneys/30114-ga-patrick-meriwether-1286015/reviews.html
From a Review from Kudzu.com
We worked with Leh & Emily and they were very polite and made us feel like they really cared and wanted to help us. They always returned our calls & responded to our emails very fast. Fees for this firm are more than fair. We did business with them 10/2011 and my husband did business with them years prior and was also pleased with them. We would most certainly recommend this firm.
http://www.kudzu.com/m/Meriwether-TharpLLP-1115980/reviews/
