Who We Are

H.T. “Hank” O’Neal was not only a great criminal lawyer (successfully using the Anatomy of a Murder defense in two celebrated acquittals he spearheaded)but was also an innovative civil litigator, particularly in the area of wrongful death and personal injury trials.

Mr. O’Neal was among the first plaintiff’s attorney in Middle Georgia to use courtroom mock up exhibits (model of a bridge, automobile parts, propane tanks, etc.) and expert witnesses in the area of economics, engineering and medicine. Under his leadership, the firm successfully experimented with and used “day in the life” videos (to illustrate disability), video depositions and accident reconstructionists with engineering backgrounds, many years before this became a common practice.Mr. O’Neal was joined in his practice by Manley F. Brown in 1969.

Mr. Brown was a former law clerk to retired United States District Judge W.A. Bootle. Continuing the tradition of Mr. O’Neal and his former partners, Mr. Brown graduated from Mercer University’s Walter F. George School of Law in December of 1964, earning an LLB cum laude. Mr. Brown was Editor-in-Chief of the Mercer Law Review while a student at Mercer. Before entering practice with Mr. O’Neal, Mr. Brown was an attorney with the United States Department of Justice, having served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia for several years. During that period of time, Mr. Brown, working with the F.B.I. and other government agencies, prepared and conducted numerous jury trials.

Mr. Brown and Mr. O’Neal practiced together for 14 years, preparing and trying many cases, both civil and criminal, before juries. In particular, Messrs. O’Neal and Brown tried a series of civil fraud and personal rights infringement cases which resulted in record setting verdicts in the Middle Georgia area. Mr. Brown is a Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers and in the International College of Trial lawyers and in the International Academy of Trial Lawyers. In 1972, he designed the first trial advocacy course ever taught at the Mercer University Law School and taught it for more than 40 years. He also served as Chairman of the State Disciplinary Board and the Board of Bar Examiners.

Lamar W. Sizemore, Jr. graduated from Mercer University’s Walter F. George School of Law in 1974 and came directly to the predecessor firm of O’Neal, Brown & Sizemore, accepting a position in its litigation division. He spent the majority of his professional life handling personal injury litigation on behalf of plaintiffs. Mr. Sizemore designed and has taught the course on insurance litigation at the Mercer University Law School since 1981, and has developed an expertise in this area of law. With the assistance of Charles R. Adams, III, he helped write and edit the widely used GTLA Trial practice Manual, published by the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association.

In January 2001, Mr. Sizemore was appointed to the Superior Court of the Macon Judicial Circuit by Governor Roy Barnes and served as a Superior Court Judge until 2011 when he left the bench and returned to private practice.

Philip M. Brown joined the firm as an associate in 1995. He became a partner in 2001.