Leftridge Running for State Court Judge on Passion, Experience

Magistrate Judge and Fulton County resident Melynee Leftridge is running for State Court Judge and after years of service within the legal system of Fulton, she feels certain her experience and passion for the job makes her the ideal candidate.

Leftridge is a former Southwest Atlanta resident and a Spelman College graduate.

"This has been a career long aspiration to become a judge," Leftridge, who has been sitting Magistrate Judge in Fulton County since 2007, said. "I think it is an art form. You can really take it to its highest level if you are committed to doing the job the way it should be done."

A non-partisan race, Leftridge is running for Fulton County State Court Judge against Atlanta solo practitioner Jane Morrison in the July 31 general primary to fill the seat vacated by retiring Judge Brenda Cole.

Leftridge is a committed public servant who has worked as prosecutor in the Fulton DA's Office and clerked for the Fulton Superior Court and Georgia Court of Appeals. Now, as a magistrate court judge in Fulton (she has even been called upon by several of the state court judges to try their jury trials) and the fact that she has also served on a jury means she has been involved in all the most important aspects of the legal system within Fulton. Throughout her over 20 year career, she said she has seen first hand what it means to be a good judge. 

"I've had the opportunity to see many different judges do this job and I have taken good from a lot of them and developed my style, which I've utilized doing magistrate work and state court work," she said. "I've been in front of state court judges for the lion's share of my career as a lawyer."

Her style, she explained, is to treat people with respect when they come into the court room and do the job according to the law.

"I would approach the job in the way in which it should be done. I'll be fair and impartial to all litigants that appear before me," Leftridge said.

First time jurors and litigants can be intimidated by the process, she explained, which she always takes into account.

"We are up on the bench but if you can treat people as if you are not, it just makes for a better process for everyone involved —  the lawyers and litigants. It is a fabulous opportunity to serve."

Leftridge said she was "extremely honored" earlier this year to have been selected to make the short list of four finalists, vetted by the Governor’s twenty member Judicial Nominating Commission, to fill a vacant judicial seat on the Superior Court of Fulton County. She began her career as an attorney in 1991 following graduation from Georgetown University Law Center.