My name is George McCranie and I want to share with you my story of how I came to be an attorney, had a family and how much I appreciate my life. I graduated high school from Atkinson County High in 1985 and I went to college at Valdosta State College in Valdosta, Georgia. I was there for several years and enjoyed myself in school. As the little joke goes, I did not allow grades to get in the way of my education.
After a while, I was sort of taking it for granted, I had lost interest in school. I did poorly one quarter at Valdosta State and my dad decided that it was time for me to come home. So for the next year there was no school, only work. I worked at my dad’s factory. I worked two shifts at the time and sometimes I even worked three shifts. After working at the plant I determined that because the plant was originally operated by my dad and his two brothers they were able to cover all aspects of the operation. After I learned everything there was to know about working on the yard, I came into the office and started working in sales and then I also went on sales trips all over the Southeastern United
States. We had dealers in Georgia, Florida, Alabama, South Carolina, North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee and even some part time dealers out in Mississippi. After running ragged I decided that if I went back to school what I was going to do was make school a career. Remember I was in my twenties and I had a different mindset then. I thought if I stayed in school my standard of living would be better.
I graduated from Valdosta State College with a major in history and a minor in political science. It was one of those deals where I had to graduate because I had taken all of the classes I could take. I applied to law school. I had always been interested in law school. For me the real kicker was that there was no math on the law school exam, the L-SAT. I chose to go to Mississippi College, a private Baptist school in Jackson, Mississippi, which is an ABA approved school. I decided to go to Mississippi College as it was a smaller school, with the smallest number of students. I enjoyed the one on one class room situation. It turns out that I loved going to school at Mississippi College.
In early 1995 I graduated from Mississippi College and then returned to Atlanta to study for the bar. After passing the bar, I wanted to move back home. I wanted to be close to my family, my parents are a little older. I wanted to help the folks that I knew from my local area, Willacoochee, which is a very rural little town. People there do not have access to the things you have in a larger city. I hoped to help them in any way that I could.
After returning home, I was hired at the District Attorney’s office in the Alapaha Judicial Circuit. Robert Ellis was the DA at the time. I enjoyed working for Mr. Ellis and I learned a lot while working at the DA’s office. While at the DA’s office, I never prosecuted anyone that I did not believe was guilty. If I ever had a case where I thought law enforcement withheld information and tried to mislead me I would dismiss the charge. I always felt that I was doing what was the right thing to do in the cases.
I decided to go into private practice after several years of working in the District Attorney’s office. With my family’s help I opened my office in Douglas, Georgia. I would not have been able to survive if my parents had not helped me so much. My wife, Danielle, is the office manager and my daughter Alexandria, who is 20 years old, also helps at the office. Even on Wednesdays my five year old daughter, Madge, after her half day of school at the First Baptist Church wants to go to the office and work like mama and daddy. I really do have a family ran business, which is a blessing. We appreciate every phone call that we get and every referral that we get from a former client, a friend or other attorneys. I have recently started limiting my practice to criminal defense. I have always enjoyed criminal defense. Some people have issues with attorneys that defend criminal cases. My job is to ensure that law enforcement does their job correctly. If they do their job correctly I should never win a case. However, if they don’t do their job correctly, if they cut corners, if they hide information, then it is my job to find out the problem with the case and bring it to the Court’s attention and get a fair result for my client.
Recently, I participated in being a co-author on the book Protect and Defend. I am writing my own book which is titled Down and Dirty DUI Defense in which I go into what I think is the best tactics for a drinking driver to use if he encounters law enforcement to be able to win a DUI case. Before completing my book Down and Dirty DUI Defense I was asked to be a co-author for Protect and Defend. Protect and Defend was published before Down and Dirty DUI Defense and went to be a Best-Seller in the United States. I had no idea that something I had done would be nationally recognized. I was awarded the Quilly Statute (which is made by the same company that makes the Oscar’s) from the academy of Best-Selling Authors.
My wife, Danielle, and I traveled to California for the Red Carpet Gala where I was interviewed by actors and actresses and presented the Quilly Award at the Roosevelt Hotel on Hollywood Boulevard. I was humbled to be with everyone there in California as well as the other co-authors of Protect and Defend as they are some of the best attorneys throughout the nation. We have gotten a lot of interest in the upcoming book, Down and Dirty DUI Defense. Matter of fact I have even gotten a couple of different publishing companies which are interested in getting the rights to Down and Dirty DUI Defense. I never expected to be writing books much less a Best-Seller.
I was just working and trying to represent my clients and win every case that I could win and get home to be with my family. Outside of being an attorney and an author, my greatest accomplishment is simply being a husband and a dad. I really appreciate being able to share my story with you
