Donald P. Edwards

A native of Buffalo, New York, Attorney Don Edwards’ professional accomplishments reflect a distinguished career. He has for the past four decades served his clients, his profession and the African American community in Atlanta.

Edwards has fashioned legal cases and landmark multimillion-dollar verdicts for his clients. As a civil litigation specialist, his professional focus is on personal injury cases. His work has annually earned him the Martindale-Hubbell “AV” rating, the highest rating offered by this nationally recognized law directory. Attorney Edwards has been selected as one of Georgia’s Super Lawyers in 2010 and 2012, 2013 and 2014.

An agent for social change, Edwards has an array of board affiliations with several major community and professional organizations. His personal commitment has been recognized with many awards and citations for leadership and service including the 2004 Inductee to the Gate City Bar Association’s “Hall of Fame” and the NAACP’s Thurgood Marshall Award “For Dedicated Service To The NAACP In The Fight For Freedom And Justice.”

Recently, the State Bar of Georgia recognized Attorney Edwards during its Annual Meeting with the “Chief Justice Robert Benham Community Service Award” for exemplary community service as a legal professional.

Edwards is currently involved with organizations that address issues affecting family, community, church, health care, and world peace. He is currently:

• Immediate Past Chairman of the Fulton County Board of Ethics

• Past Chair of the South Atlanta District for the Boy Scouts of America, where he has received the 2002 Silver Beaver Award, the highest award issued by the Atlanta Area Council for volunteer service

• Founding President of Southwest Hospital Foundation and a Trustee of Southwest Hospital

• Past Board President of the Christian Council of Metropolitan Atlanta

• Founding president of the Association of Metro Atlanta DFACS Boards

• Past chairman of the Board of the Fulton County Department of Family and Children Services, where a dormitory for boys in foster care was named after Attorney Edwards.

Edwards is also a past president of the Gate City Bar Association and the National Bar Association, where he has served as a member of the Board of Governors.

An activist in pursuit of a more peaceful world, Don served as the Southeast Coordinator of Every Church A Peace Church, and producer-host of the TV program, Every Church A Peace Church, which received the 2004 Allen Award presented by Atlanta Interfaith Broadcasters for best continuous faith-based program in 2004 and in subsequent years during is multi-year airing.

Don’s peace work also earned him the World Council of Churches “Blessed Are The Peacemakers Award”, personally presented to him by then WCC General Secretary Samuel Kobia in October, 2004. Edwards is an active and longtime member of Atlanta’s Hillside Chapel and Truth Center, where he had served as Chairman of the Trustee Board for several years.

“I am very much a beneficiary of the civil rights struggle of the 1950s and 1960s,” he says. “Not only did I learn the importance of people becoming active in social change, I also saw lawyers leading that change.” With that motivation, Edwards completed Boston University School of Law in 1973, after graduating with honors from Morehouse College to begin his legal career as a civil rights lawyer in the firm of well-known former Atlanta attorney, Howard Moore, Jr.

A well-respected trial lawyer, Edwards’ firm specializes in serving clients involved in automobile accidents, medical negligence, wrongful death and personal injury claims. “Clients who are injured or killed because of someone else’s fault have the same civil rights to obtain full compensation for their losses as the civil right to vote and to work without being discriminated against. My three decades of experience tells me that it requires competent, ethical and aggressive legal representation to assert those rights on behalf of injured victims.”Attorney Edwards resides in Southwest Atlanta with his wife of 39 years, Jo Roberson Edwards, an entrepreneur, daughter, Nia (Spelman College ’15) and daughter, Domia Edwards (USC ’20) remarks, “My family is my most important accomplishment.”

NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, 1973-77. The Earl Warren Fellowship is awarded to selected law school graduates and provides financial and moral support in the development of a civil rights' practice.

Producer and Program Host, Every Church A Peace Church, an award winning weekly TV program airing on the Atlanta Interfaith Broadcast Network, May, 2003-Present.

Chairperson, Fulton County (GA) Board of Ethics Appointed by Fulton County Bd. of Commissioners, 2003-Present

January, 2003 - 2006 Founding Member, InterFaith Atlanta Coalition For Justice and Peace In The World, November 2001- Present

Boy Scouts of America, Atlanta Area Council Executive Board of Directors District Chair, South Atlanta Sankofa District, May, 1999 - Present Board of Trustees, Southwest Hospital & Medical Ctr., Inc. 1991-Present

Board of Directors, Southwest Hospital Foundation, Inc., Founding President and Chairman of the Board 1991-1994

Board of Directors, American Cancer Society, Mid-Atlanta Unit, 1989-1991

Board of Directors, Southeast Region NAACP Education and Legal Advisory Board, 1989-Present

Board of Directors, Fulton County Department of Family and Children Services, 1986-1996; (Vice-Chair 1988, Chairperson, 1990-1993)

Founding President, Association of Metropolitan Atlanta DFACS Boards, 1991-1993

Christian Council of Metropolitan Atlanta, Vice-President, 1988-1992, President-Elect, 1997, President, 1998

Board of Directors, Hillside Chapel and Truth Center, Inc. 1978-83; Board President, 1980-83, Trustee, 1995- 1998

Leadership Atlanta, 1986, Executive Committee, 1993

Leadership Georgia, 1998, Board of Directors, Atlanta International Museum of Art and Design, 1989-1991

100 Black Men of Atlanta, Inc. 1993-Present

Georgia Association of Black Elected Officials Legal Advisory Team Member. Member: American Association for Justice; Georgia Trial Lawyers Association; Tennessee State Bar; Gate City Bar Association; Atlanta Bar Association Fellow: NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, 1973-77. The Earl Warren Fellowship is awarded to selected law school graduates and provides financial and moral support in the development of a civil rights' practice.

Producer and Program Host, Every Church A Peace Church, an award winning weekly TV program airing on the Atlanta Interfaith Broadcast Network, May, 2003-Present.

Chairperson, Fulton County (GA) Board of Ethics Appointed by Fulton County Bd. of Commissioners, 2003-Present

January, 2003 - 2006 Founding Member, InterFaith Atlanta Coalition For Justice and Peace In The World, November 2001- Present

Boy Scouts of America, Atlanta Area Council Executive Board of Directors District Chair, South Atlanta Sankofa District, May, 1999 - Present Board of Trustees, Southwest Hospital & Medical Ctr., Inc. 1991-Present

Board of Directors, Southwest Hospital Foundation, Inc., Founding President and Chairman of the Board 1991-1994

Board of Directors, American Cancer Society, Mid-Atlanta Unit, 1989-1991

Board of Directors, Southeast Region NAACP Education and Legal Advisory Board, 1989-Present

Board of Directors, Fulton County Department of Family and Children Services, 1986-1996; (Vice-Chair 1988, Chairperson, 1990-1993)

Founding President, Association of Metropolitan Atlanta DFACS Boards, 1991-1993

Christian Council of Metropolitan Atlanta, Vice-President, 1988-1992, President-Elect, 1997, President, 1998

Board of Directors, Hillside Chapel and Truth Center, Inc. 1978-83; Board President, 1980-83, Trustee, 1995- 1998

Leadership Atlanta, 1986, Executive Committee, 1993

Leadership Georgia, 1998, Board of Directors, Atlanta International Museum of Art and Design, 1989-1991

100 Black Men of Atlanta, Inc. 1993-Present

Georgia Association of Black Elected Officials Legal Advisory Team Member. Member: Gate City Bar Association (President, 1984); National Bar Association (Member, Board of Governors, 1984-1987).