Just six months after moving to Atlanta with global law firm Jones Day, attorney John Henry Thompson has become Georgia’s top appellate lawyer.
The 32-year-old started the year as the sixth Georgia solicitor general, taking the reins from Stephen Petrany, who is moving back into private practice after four years in the role.
Thompson said he’d been eager to find a state solicitor general position after clerking for several appellate judges, including U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, and spending a year as a Bristow Fellow in the U.S. Office of the Solicitor General.
“It’s just an unparalleled opportunity to get appellate experience,” Thompson told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “At a big law firm, there’s tons of interesting work, but it’s just harder to have the opportunity to argue the cases.”
In his new role, Thompson will be appearing regularly in front of the state and federal appeals courts in Georgia, on which four of his predecessors sit. A critical part of his job is persuading those judges to rule in Georgia’s favor in all manner of cases involving the state.
“It is interesting to argue in front of judges who have stood where you stood,” Thompson said. “I think they expect a lot of our office. They were here, and they know how important it is for us to do a good job.”
Georgia was relatively late in establishing a state solicitor general role in 2012. The position, within the Georgia Department of Law, includes providing legal advice to the state’s elected attorney general.
Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Nels Peterson was the state’s first solicitor general and now shares the bench with Andrew Pinson and Sarah Hawkins Warren, who have both served in the role. Peterson’s successor, Britt Grant, is now a judge on the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which takes federal cases from Georgia, Florida and Alabama.
Thompson’s first argument in front of the state Supreme Court came Tuesday in a criminal case. He said preparation is key, particularly for oral arguments where lawyers must think on their feet while responding to judges’ questions.
Cases he’s inheriting include legal challenges to new Georgia laws, including the state’s abortion ban and voting restrictions.
“We have a lot of interesting, high-profile appeals coming down the pike,” Thompson said.
Credit: Natrice Miller
Credit: Natrice Miller
Petrany, hired from Jones Day in November 2021 by Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr, has been helping Thompson transition into the solicitor general role since stepping down at the end of 2025.
Petrany, 36, said he’s not yet decided which law firm he’ll move to, though a return to Jones Day is still on the table. Both Petrany and Thompson worked within the firm’s issues and appeals group.
The state solicitor general’s office has expanded in scope with each leader, Petrany said. He said he’s proud to have increased the unit’s staff and workload during his tenure, having handled more than 20 appeals in the last year alone.
“I think we accomplished a lot,” he said. “It was time for a new challenge. And time for a new leader with potentially new insights, ideas and thoughts.”
Credit: Natrice Miller
Credit: Natrice Miller
Carr thanked Petrany for his “tireless commitment to defending our laws, our constitution and the interests of all our fellow Georgians.” He said he’s looking forward to working with Thompson to continue providing top representation for the state.
Thompson, Carr said, “is an exceptional legal mind whose appellate experience will serve Georgians well.”
Originally from South Carolina, Thompson studied at the University of Georgia before obtaining his law degree in Chicago. He said he’s excited about the work ahead.
“It’s a great privilege to practice appellate law and to bring those skills to bear on behalf of the state and the people of the state,” he said.
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