Jerry A. Buchanan graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Georgia in 1973, where he was elected to the honor societies of Phi Beta Kappa and Phi Kappa Phi. He graduated Cum Laude from the University of Georgia School of Law in 1976, and was elected a member of the Order of the Coif. During his 27 years of law practice, he has been involved in a broad range of civil litigation matters, including insurance defense litigation; the representation of banks in cases of alleged fraud, cases involving the Uniform Commercial Code and other banking laws and regulations, and cases involving fiduciary duties, including will contests and guardianship matters; the representation of both plaintiffs and defendants in litigation over insurance policy coverage issues; the defense of wrongful death actions; the prosecution and defense of product liability cases, including cases involving prescription drugs, meat cutting equipment, automobiles, ladders, nail guns, hot water heaters, propane gas, and various other industrial and consumer products; the prosecution and defense of libel and slander actions; the prosecution and defense of construction litigation cases; wrongful termination actions; the defense and prosecution of medical malpractice actions; the defense of public utilities in a variety of litigated matters, including electrical contact cases, natural and propane gas explosion cases, premises liability actions, and cases involving federal law and regulations. He has also been involved in a number of cases involving environmental issues, including both State and Federal laws and regulations. He is licensed to practice in both Georgia and Alabama.

Mr. Buchanan has been actively involved in the community and the profession, serving at various times as a Director of the Younger Lawyers Division of the State Bar of Georgia; president of the Columbus Bar Association; on the Board of Directors of the Georgia Defense Lawyers Association, where he is currently President; the Board of Directors of the Georgia Institute of Continuing Legal Education; the Board of Directors of the Childhood Autism, where he is now president; and on the administrative board of his church. He was appointed by the United States District Court to serve as a member of the Civil Justice Reform Act Committee for the Middle District of Georgia in 1995, and subsequently for two years he served by appointment of the Court as Chairman of the then newly created Advisory Group on Civil Justice in the United States Court for the Middle District of Georgia.  Mr. Buchanan is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and a Fellow of the Lawyers Foundation of Georgia.

Mr. Buchanan has spoken at seminars on subjects of civil litigation, discovery, and trial practice, and has served both as Chairperson and on the faculty of the Georgia Defense Lawyer’s Association Trial Academy for the last ten years. He is Chair of the GDLA Technology Committee, and has been instrumental in the establishment of that organization’s web site, www.gdla.org.

     Ben Land graduated with Highest Honors as a First Honor Graduate, Summa Cum Laude, from the University of Georgia in 1989, finishing with a 4.0 grade point average. He also graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Georgia School of Law in 1992, finishing second in his class of 202 students. While in Law School, Ben served on the Editorial Board of the Georgia Law Review, clerked for the Georgia Supreme Court, and was elected to the Order of the Coif.

     Ben joined Buchanan & Land, LLP after his graduation from the University of Georgia School of Law in 1992. During his 11 years of law practice, Ben has represented a wide variety of clients in civil litigation matters, including plaintiffs and defendants in cases involving nursing home negligence, medical malpractice, automobile collisions, premises liability, product liability, wrongful death, fraud, will contests, non-compete covenants, insurance claims, business disputes, employment disputes, and class actions.

     Ben currently spends a significant amount of his time prosecuting nursing home negligence cases on behalf of injured nursing home residents and their families. He recently represented 10 major insurance companies in 10 separate class action lawsuits filed in Muscogee County, Georgia, and he played an instrumental role in resolving the claims asserted in those lawsuits on behalf of his clients. Ben is licensed in both Georgia and Alabama.

     Since joining the firm, Ben has been active in his profession and his community. He is a current member of the Alabama Trial Lawyers Association, the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, the Columbus Bar Association, the Muscogee County Law Library Board of Trustees, and St. Paul United Methodist Church. Ben is a graduate of Leadership Columbus and the former President of the Chattahoochee Judicial Circuit Bar Association. He has previously served as a District Representative for the State Bar of Georgia’s Younger Lawyers Division, a member of the Georgia Board of Court Reporting, a Board member for the Columbus Children, Youth, and Family Coalition, and a volunteer and Board member for the Pine Mountain Trail Association.