People
Real
W
hen Jim Stein first came to Southeast
Georgia, there were only three practicing
lawyers—including himself—in Camden
County. One died. One went to jail. And
then there was one.
Stein is known to friends, adversaries,
and the courts as “brutally honest, highly
moral, and a tireless crusader for a good
cause”—characteristics reminiscent of
one of history’s most beloved characters,
Atticus Finch of “To Kill a Mockingbird”
fame. The difference is Finch was
fictional, and Jim Stein is as real as real
can be.
Stein’s roots grow
deep in Coastal Georgia,
having been raised
i n a n i d y l l i c To m
Sawyer/Huckleberry
Finn environment in
the little town of
Ridgeville, Georgia. He
roamed the rivers,
went on shrimp runs
with his seafaring
father, and rode a horse
into town (Darien) to
go to the movies.
“Ridgeville was a
town of seafarers,
bankers, and ordinary
folks,” Stein recalled.
The Steins hailed from
the seafaring side. His
father captained ships
for researchers like
Jacques Cousteau. His grandfather was
the captain for the renowned tobacco
magnate, R. J. Reynolds. Stein said his
grandfather had a major influence on his
upbringing.
“He was a good, decent man with
respect for everyone.”
Like his daddy and granddaddy and
even his son, Jay, Stein loves fishing the
waters of Coastal Georgia. His other passions
include classic cars and the law. A 1963
red 2-door hardtop Chevy Impala is one
testament to his passion for classic cars.
The testament to his love for the law is
his record in the courtroom.
With a courtroom style like no other—
a cross between an “Aw shucks” Andy
68
Griffith and a pit bull bearing down on a
raw side of beef, nobody ever accused
Jim Stein of being a middle of the road
kind of guy.
“The only thing in the middle of the
road is a line and a dead dog,” Stein
quipped. “You ought to take a side.
There are just too many wishy washy
politicians out there. I tend to get
sideways with them.”
Indeed, Stein often finds himself
“sideways” with local politicians who
take Stein’s incisive accounting of their
Jim Stein
shortcomings as a thorn in their paws
and an unwelcome reminder to their
constituents that there is always another
election day, and there are always other
choices. Though many would love to see
Jim Stein sit in a county commissioner
or city councilman’s chair, his refusal
to talk out of both sides of his mouth
doesn’t make him a likely candidate.
Stein was Camden County Attorney—
for a day. “They fired me.” And he was
St. Marys City Attorney once. “They
fired me, too.” It seems Stein has the
admirable ability of standing firm in his
professional decisions, even when those
decisions aren’t the decisions of those
who can hire and fire him. Perhaps this
Last Man Standing
is Jim Stein’s most endearing quality—
standing up for what is right.
It is often said that to get respect, one
must give respect. Stein’s respect for the
law has earned him respect among his
peers and those he stands before in the
courtroom. Judge Amanda Williams had
this to say about Jim Stein:
“Jim is honest, industrious, and a
great attorney who is loyal, but candid
with his clients. He is zealous in his
representation of his clients, but he
never disrespects his peers or the court.
He has taken actions
for the benefit of the
community that were
not always ‘safe’ for
him.”
Judge Williams went
on to say that she
considered Stein a
“great friend and a
wonderful member of
our community.”
From whence did
Jim Stein’s ambition to
become a lawyer come?
“I always wanted to
be a lawyer,” Stein
said, though he can’t
articulate exactly why,
b u t r e c k o n s i t ’s
because he always
wanted to be involved,
and “the best way to be
involved is through the
law because the law is in everything,”
Stein said. Clearly, Stein’s legal ambition
has transcended into a profound love
and respect for the law and the
courtroom. And the courtroom—most
often—loves him back.
Born with the uniquely southern gift
of talking in picture words—he never
met a metaphor or simile he didn’t
like—Jim Stein is simply fun to listen
to. And much to the chagrin of his
adversaries, the “folks” who sit on the
juries are often highly entertained by
Stein’s way with the language as he
paints his persuasive arguments. In an
environment fraught with fatigue and
boredom, he is a welcome breath of
continued ...
www.StMarysMagazine.com
RealPeople
Jim Stein
fresh air, causing those who must sit in
judgment to sit up straighter and render
more willingly their rapt attention.
Stein’s gift for persuasiveness has not
been limited to the state of Georgia. He’s
traveled all over the world doing trial
work. But some of his most formidable
landmark cases were Georgia born.
Jim Stein set the record for
condemnation cases involving the federal
government.
“Miss Rockefeller had some land over
on Cumberland Island, and the
government wanted it,” Stein said, with
not so much as a miniscule pause as the
name of one of America’s most eminent
families passed his lips. That case was
the one that broke the federal
government of condemning property
and one of many cases that perpetuated
Stein’s reputation as the “David” of
“David and Goliath” litigation. He was
also responsible for getting “no fault”
insurance declared unconstitutional in
the state of Georgia. As the defense
lawyer, he successfully represented the
insured. Nothing, it seems, gives Stein
more pleasure than defending the “little
man,” or—as in the Rockefeller case—
the “littler” man.
Never shying away from the impact of
drama in the courtroom, Stein once
demonstrated the length of a threeminute time period by simply walking
out of the courtroom and returning
three minutes later, during the very
heart of a cross-examination. Stein was
defending a man charged with the
murder of his child. The man’s wife was
also a suspect but used the defense that
she couldn’t possibly have committed
the act because she was only with the
child for three minutes. When Stein
returned to the courtroom after what
seemed an interminable length of time,
the jury was fully convinced that three
minutes was plenty of time to end a
child’s life. The verdict for Stein’s
client—not guilty. Demonstrating so
vividly the potential of a three-minute
timeframe might seem, to some, a stroke
of genius. To Jim Stein it was just good
storytelling mixed with a huge helping of
common sense.
Was it the storytelling or the common
sense that won the heart of Jim Stein’s
love of his life, Ginna? Maybe a bit of
www.StMarysMagazine.com
both when he met her as a neighbor in
Atlanta, where he served as Georgia’s
Deputy Insurance Commissioner. (Stein
also worked with Lester Maddox when
he was serving as Governor of Georgia.)
Having graduated from the University
of Georgia, Stein was an authentic
Georgia boy and destined to spend
his life in his boyhood state. But not
necessarily in a big city.
“I came home to my apartment one
day, and there was a sign on my
apartment building that said, ‘no pets
allowed,’” Stein said. Well, that just
didn’t sit right with Stein. After all, his
definition of a good restaurant is one
where you walk in and see three dogs.
“A one-dog restaurant’s not bad,” he
said. “But a three-dog restaurant—now,
that’s what I call a good restaurant.”
The “no pets allowed” sign sent Jim
heading back toward his roots, and
Camden County was the farthest south
he could get and still stay in Georgia. So
he and Ginna (who has been the director
of Happy Apple Preschool for 29 years,
and who Stein calls the ‘most
compassionate person I know’) ended up
on the river, just like when he lived his
Huckleberry Finn days as a small child.
Stein calls St. Marys a “hidden
paradise” and says, “If you’re lucky
enough to live near the water, you’re
lucky enough.”
When asked if Stein has any advice
to share with the readers of St. Marys
Magazine, he said.
“Well, for sure, don’t ever take the
cheapest airplane when you’re going
skydiving.”
In his mid 60s, Stein decided to
skydive, despite his fear. He was a bit
disturbed when he saw that parts of the
airplane he had hired were put together
with duct tape. But he was much more
disturbed when he learned that same
airplane had crashed the very next day
taking the lives of several people with it.
One man who has embraced the
wisdom and experience of Jim Stein
since the launch of his law career is
Stein’s law partner and friend Bert Guy.
Stein has known Guy since Guy was
born, and he always saw something
special in him “from day one.” Stein
says Guy has the same passions as he.
“He loves people, and he’s conservative
continued ...
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