Elliott Blackburn Meet Our Attorneys

Jim Elliott is the head of the firm’s Mediation practice group. He has successfully assisted hundreds of parties in reaching settlements in a wide variety of cases including automobile and tractor trailer accidents, premises liability, employment discrimination, catastrophic injury and wrongful death, contract and commercial disputes, insurance coverage, local government and products liability claims.

Jim is also a member of the firm’s Local Government Law practice group. Jim has represented counties and law enforcement agencies throughout Georgia in a wide variety of matters. Jim also represents local governments on behalf of ACCG-IRMA.

Prior to joining Elliott Blackburn Jim served as partner in the Savannah law firm now known as Ellis Painter.

Will Elliott is a member of the firm’s Local Government Law practice group. His practice includes general local government litigation and tax appeals litigation. He has represented Boards of Tax Assessors throughout Georgia in complex tax appeal litigation cases. He has also represented counties in a wide variety of matters including Service Delivery Strategy negotiations and disputes. Will serves as the County Prosecutor in the Lowndes County Magistrate Court where he prosecutes county ordinance violations.

Hansell Watt is a member of the firm’s Litigation, Local Government, and Mediation practice groups. He has extensive litigation experience in the areas of personal injury, automobile and tractor trailer accidents, premises liability, employment litigation, construction litigation, local government and municipal law, commercial and business litigation, agriculture litigation, and appellate litigation. Hansell is a certified mediator specializing in mediating personal injury cases. 

Hansell is Martindale-Hubbell Rated AV® Preeminent™.

Hansell is a native of Thomasville, Georgia. Prior to moving to Valdosta in 2006, Hansell practiced law in Atlanta, Georgia with Troutman Sanders, LLP.  Hansell has served on the board of directors for a number of local non-profit organizations, and in his free time, Hansell enjoys spending time outdoors with his family.

Jimmy’s primary practice areas include commercial litigation, business and corporate transactions, secured lending, real estate, and local government law. Jimmy has been practicing law in Valdosta since 2010. Prior to that, Jimmy spent more than four years as an associate at Parker, Hudson, Rainer & Dobbs, LLP in Atlanta, Georgia, where he represented banks and other institutional lenders in secured lending transactions.

Jimmy is a member of the State Bar of Georgia and the Valdosta Bar Association. He is admitted to practice in all Georgia state courts, the Supreme Court of Georgia, the Georgia Court of Appeals, the United States District Courts for the Middle, Southern, and Northern Districts of Georgia, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.

In 2013, Jimmy’s legal peers selected him for inclusion in Georgia Trend Magazine’s 2013 Legal Elite as one of Georgia’s top-rated attorneys. In 2014, Jimmy was selected to participate in the Georgia Trial Lawyer Association’s Leadership Education & Advanced Direction (LEAD) Program. Jimmy has previously served two terms on the Executive Committee of the Real Property Law Section of the State Bar of Georgia.

Tom is Of Counsel at Elliott Blackburn. His practice includes general commercial law, focusing on business formations, acquisitions and divestitures, commercial finance, real estate, and other commercial law matters. Tom is an experienced local government lawyer and has represented counties in all types of commercial and real estate transactions.

Tom formerly served as General Counsel and as part of the executive management team of a major international chemical company. Prior to that, Tom was a partner at Atlanta based Kilpatrick Stockton LLP (now Kilpatrick Townsend) where he practiced from 1981 to 1997.

Tom is a Martindale-Hubbell Rated AV® Preeminent™ attorney. Tom is a member of the State Bar of Georgia, the Florida Bar, and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.