Prominent Trial Lawyer Loses Support Fight

Recently, a prominent Georgia trial lawyer was ordered to pay his former paramour $6 million in child support payments. Willie Gary, whose law practice is based in Florida, claimed in court papers to have a net worth of $60 million. <i>Gowins v. Gary</i>, No. 2004CV88406. (Fult. Super. Ct., July 15, 2004). Gary is known in Georgia law circles for his representation of race discrimination plaintiffs against The Coca-Cola Co., and Centennial Olympic Park bombing victims suing Atlanta Olympic organizers. His Web site boasts of winning a $240 million verdict against The Walt Disney Co. in 2001 in an intellectual property theft case; a $139.6 million verdict against brewer Anheuser-Busch; and a half-billion-dollar verdict against the Loewen Group, a large Canadian funeral-home chain.