Leah Ward Sears

On September 16, 2016, Justice Sears announced her moved from Schiff Hardin to Smith, Gambrell & Russell, with a focus on appellate litigation and commercial disputes. The chairman and managing partner of Smith, Gambrell, Stephen Forte, said: "We are thrilled to have Justice Sears join our firm. Not only is Justice Sears a preeminent attorney and jurist, she also possesses the leadership qualities that enhance the culture and profile or our law firm."

In October 2016, she joined the law firm of Smith, Gambrell & Russell, LLP in Atlanta, Georgia and has served as a partner since then.

In December 2016, Sears was featured in Balancing the Scales, a documentary that explores the history of women in law. Topics range from discrimination to work life balance, what it takes to become a partner in today's firms, and what we need to change for women to break the glass ceiling and really have a seat at the table where society wide decisions are made.

The Sears–Brantley election contest was the first in the state to be conducted under rules that allow opposing candidates to discuss legal issues and each other's records. Until 2004, a restriction existed that forbade discussion of candidates' records or other issues. George Weaver, who tried unsuccessfully to unseat Sears in 1998, brought a successful lawsuit to end that restriction.

Following her resignation from the Court, Sears was named as one of five finalists to become dean of the University of Maryland School of Law. However, in February 2009, Sears withdrew her name from consideration. Sears then taught courses in family law at the University of Georgia Law School and accepted a fellowship at the Institute for American Values.

On May 13, 2009, Sears announced that she would join the Atlanta offices of the law firm Schiff Hardin, with emphasis on appellate work and white-collar crime. "I'm going full steam ahead," Sears told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. At the time, Sears was thought to be in consideration for a U.S. Supreme Court vacancy.

Sears announced in October 2008 that she would resign from the state Supreme Court at the end of June 2009 when her term as Chief Justice ended.

In 2004, Sears ran for re-election against challenger Grant Brantley. During the election campaign, Sears was characterized by conservative opponents as an activist judge.

Sears currently lives in Atlanta, Georgia with her husband Haskell Ward, former Deputy Mayor of New York City under Mayor Ed Koch. She is the mother of Addison Sears-Collins and Brennan Sears-Collins. Sears and her first husband, Love Collins III, divorced in 1994.

Sears was appointed as a state Supreme Court justice in 1992. Twelve years later, in what is historically a non-partisan election, the Georgia Republican Party and Georgia Christian Coalition targeted Sears for defeat in 2004. However, she easily defeated her challenger with 62 percent of the vote, and became Chief Justice of the Court in June 2005.

Sears was appointed by Mayor Andrew Young to the City of Atlanta Traffic Court in 1985. She then became a Superior Court judge in 1988, becoming the first African-American woman to hold that position in the state.

After graduating from law school, Sears was an attorney from 1980 until 1985 with the Atlanta law firm Alston & Bird. For many years she was also an adjunct Professor of Law at Emory University School of Law. She also taught at the University of Georgia School of Law.

The Georgia Historical Society holds the Leah Ward Sears papers, a collection that includes clippings, photographs, awards, correspondence, writings authored by Sears, and other materials that date from 1980-2009. A 2017 book published by the University of Georgia Press, "Justice Leah Ward Sears: Seizing Serendipity," tells the story of Sears' life.

Sears received a B.S. from Cornell University in 1976, her Juris Doctor from Emory University School of Law in 1980, and a Master of Laws from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1995. At Cornell, Sears was a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority and the Quill and Dagger society. She holds honorary degrees from Morehouse College, Clark-Atlanta University, LaGrange College, Piedmont College, and Spelman College.

Leah Ward Sears (born June 13, 1955) is an American jurist and former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia. Sears was the first African-American female chief justice of a state supreme court in the United States. When she was first appointed as justice in 1992 by Governor Zell Miller, she became the first woman and youngest person to sit on Georgia's Supreme Court.