Moultrie native plans run for Georgia Court of Appeals

ATLANTA — Former public defender, insurance defense counsel, small business owner and Moultrie native Tabitha Ponder Beckford has formally announced her candidacy for the Georgia Court of Appeals.

The spot was opened when current Appeals Court Judge Sara Doyle announced her run for a Georgia Supreme Court seat last week.

“I’m incredibly honored by the large number of people who have encouraged me both to run and throughout my entire legal career, and by all of those who have mentored me along the way,” Beckford said. “As a preacher’s kid, I learned early the importance of faith and community, and that focus served me well through Mercer (University School of) Law, in private practice and in opening my own firm.

“I’m eager to launch our positive campaign dedicated to talking about the incredibly important role our Appeals Court plays in protecting the rights of every Georgia resident and the importance of diversifying our courts.”

The daughter of the Rev. C.L. Ponder Jr. and Shirley Ponder, Beckford graduated from Colquitt County High School, then Albany State University and Mercer in 1999. She served as an insurance defense attorney for Clyatt, Clyatt and Golden in Valdosta, and then an indigent defense attorney for Tift Judicial Circuit before opening The Ponder Law Group LLC, and Ponder-Solomon Law Group PC, where she practices throughout Georgia.

Beckford currently staffs the Georgia Judicial Council’s Access to Justice Committee under the leadership of state Supreme Court Justices Robert Benham and Charlie Bethel. She is a member of the State Bar of Georgia, American Bar Association, National Legal Aid and Defender Association, Georgia Association for Black Women Attorneys, a board member of the Georgia Association of Women Lawyers, a member of the Cobb County Bar Association, Gate City Bar Association, the NAACP’s Cobb County branch and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc.

She and her husband, Dwane Beckford, have five children and are active members at Faith Christian Center in Austell.

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