Judge Robert Benham Biography

Judge Robert Benham an African-American first judge to serve on the Supreme Court of Georgia and the second African-American graduate of the University of Georgia School of Law. He as well served as a Captain in the U.S. Army Reserve soon after he completed law school.

Judge Robert Benham Age

Benham was born on September 25, 1946, in Cartersville, Georgia U.S.A.

Judge Robert Benham Supreme Court of Georgia

Benham began his career as a judge while he briefly served as a trial attorney for Atlanta Legal Aid Society, Inc., later returning to Cartersville, where he engaged in the private practice of law and served as Special Assistant Attorney General. and he has served for two terms as President of the Bartow County Bar Association.

He became the first African American to establish a law practice in Bartow County. In 1984, he was appointed by Governor Joe Frank Harris to the Georgia Court of Appeals, where he served for five years following his statewide election to the court and distinguishing himself as the first African American to win a statewide election in Georgia since Reconstruction.

He was distinguished as the first African American to serve on the Supreme Court of Georgia since 1989, after his appointment by Governor Harris. He then won the statewide election to a full term on the Supreme Court in 1990, where he continued as a Justice after serving as Chief Justice for six years, 1995-2001. On December 5, 2019, Benham announced he will retire on March 1, 2020.

Judge Robert Benham Net Worth

Benham has an estimated net worth of $54 million.

Judge Robert Benham Memberships

Benham is as well a member of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. He also holds membership in numerous professional organizations, including eight national, state, and local bar associations, the American Judicature Society, the Lawyers’ Club of Atlanta, the National Criminal Justice Association, the Georgia Bar Foundation, the Georgia Legal History Foundation (Trustee), and Scribes of The American Society of Writers on Legal Subjects.

He is the former vice president of the Georgia Conference of Black Lawyers, a former board member of the Federal Lawyers Association and of the Georgia Association of Trial Lawyers. He is as well the former chairman of the Governor’s Commission on Drug Awareness & Prevention, a member of the State Bar Task Force on the Involvement of Women & Minorities in the Profession, the Georgia Commission on Children & Youth.

And he is also the former chairman of The National Association of Court Management, and a member of the National Conference of the Chief Justices, a member of the Federal-State Jurisdiction Committee, President of the Society for Alternative Dispute Resolution, Chairman of the Judicial Council, Chairman of the Chief Justice’s Commission on Professionalism, and a member of the Governor’s Southern Business Institute.

Judge Robert Benham Office

On April 3, 1984, Benham was appointed to the Court of Appeals by Governor Joe Frank Harris. He won the statewide election and served on the Court of Appeals for five years. In December 1989, he got appointed to the Supreme Court of Georgia by Governor Joe Frank Harris. He won the statewide election to a full term on the Supreme Court on July 17, 1990.

Judge Robert Benham Awards

Benham announced the recipients of the 21st Annual Justice Robert Benham Awards for Community Service. The 21st annual Benham awards will be presented on March 14 at the Omni Hotel Atlanta at CNN Center. The doors will open at 6:30 p.m., and the awards ceremony dinner will begin at 7 p.m. The program is free and open to the public, but registration is required.

He as well received the 19th Annual Justice Robert Benham Awards for Community Service these awards have been presented to honor judges and lawyers in Georgia who have made significant contributions to their communities and demonstrate the positive contributions of members of the Bar beyond their official or legal work.

Judge Robert Benham Education

Benham joined and later graduated from Summer Hill High School in Cartersville in 1963. He then joined Tuskegee University where he received his Bachelor of Science in Political Science in 1967, he then attended Harvard University.

In 1970 he graduated from the University of Georgia School of Law with a Juris Doctor, and he received his Master of Laws from the University of Virginia in 1989. At the University of Georgia, he was a member of the Demosthenian Literary Society. After he completed law school, he worked in the U.S. Army Reserve, where he attained the rank of Captain.

Judge Robert Benham Family

Benham was born to Jesse Knox Benham and Clarence Benham in Cartersville, Georgia.

Judge Robert Benham Wife

Benham is married to the former Nell Dodson of Cartersville and they have two sons named Corey Brevard Benham and Austin Tyler Benham. Nel graduated from Albany State College, and she is employed by the Department of Labor in Cartersville, Georgia. An avid woodworker, Justice Benham spends his leisure time with his sons, making wooden toys and music boxes.