Meredith Shearer

Phillip Henry

Phillip graduated from the University of Georgia in 1998 with B.A. in English and was a member of the Dean’s List. After Graduation, he volunteered with Americorps in which he taught elementary school in Chattanooga, Tennessee and built houses for Habitat for Humanity-Greater Miami, Florida.

In 2003, Phillip received his J.D. from the University of Memphis. At Memphis, he was awarded the Cali award for his participation in the Domestic Violence Legal Clinic at Memphis Area Legal Services. Phillip has been admitted to the State Bar of Georgia since 2004. He is a member of the State Bar of Georgia, Real Property Law Section. He is an affiliate member with the DeKalb Association of Realtors, DeKalb Women’s Council of Realtors and Old Fourth Ward Business Association.

Phillip enjoys travelling, scuba diving, white water sports, volunteering with Habitat For Humanity, volunteering with Meals on Wheels and grilling on his Big Green Egg.

Marianne T. Shaver

Marianne T. Shaver is the managing attorney for the Suwanee office. She received a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in 1991. While a Lehigh, Marianne was a Teaching Assistant for the Business Law Professor and a Drill Instructor for the Beginning Latin course. She returned home to Atlanta’s Emory University to earn her Juris Doctorate degree in 1994. Marianne was involved in the Legal Association of Women Students at Emory and organized the club’s Res Judicata 5K which benefited a local AIDS foundation.

Marianne has been practicing residential and commercial real estate law since 1996. She is a frequent speaker for ICLE seminars for Georgia attorneys and has presented numerous seminars to agents regarding contracts, titles and general closing practice.

Marianne enjoys spending time with her husband, Matt, and running around to events with their two children, Matthew and Sarah. When they have a free moment, she loves exploring Georgia’s hiking trails and waterfalls or reading historical fiction novels.

Gillen Joachim

Gillen Joachim is the managing attorney for our Kennesaw office. He received his B.A. in English from The University of Mississippi in 1995 and his J.D. from the University of Georgia School of Law in 1999. While in college, Gillen was a member of the English Honors Society, the Society of Physics Students and the Ole Miss Drama and Theater Group. He served one year as the President of the Society of Physics Students. Gillen also volunteered with North Mississippi Habitat for Humanity and the Oxford Mississippi Rape Crisis Center. While in Law School, Gillen volunteered at the Athens Clark-County Public Defender’s office and clerked for the Cobb County District Attorney’s office.

Gillen’s initial practice was in the areas of immigration and civil litigation. After a few years in those areas, Gillen transitioned into transactional law and has been handling residential and commercial real estate transactions since 2002. He enjoys the challenges of complex title issues as well as working with people buying and selling their homes and the agents and lenders who help them to do so.

Gillen lives in Marietta with his wife, Lauren, and their three children. Most of his free time is spent watching his sons play baseball and coaching his daughter’s soccer team.

Vito Polera

Born in Omaha, Nebraska, Vito has lived in several states around the country, as well as Tokyo, Japan, but he has spent most of his life in Georgia, New York, and Florida.

Vito attended the University of Florida Honors Program, earning his Bachelor of Science in Finance in 2007 and his Doctor of Jurisprudence in 2010. He also attended a law school night classes in Tokyo, Japan while working for Ernst & Young. Vito’s coursework throughout his academic career focused extensively on transactional matters, contracts, negotiations, property, and alternative dispute resolution.

After law school, Vito began his career in real estate transactional law, environmental litigation, and corporate negotiations at McDermott Will & Emery’s Manhattan office. While at MWE, one of Vito’s projects included working closely with the firm’s Rome, Italy office to structure a major international commercial real estate agreement. Vito later served as the in-house counsel for a residential and commercial real estate development, construction, and consulting company in Palm Beach County, Florida. Most recently, Vito has been working as a closing attorney conducting hundreds of closings around Northwest Georgia and helping clients with all sorts of legal needs in complementary legal specialty areas such as estate planning, corporate, contract, and construction law.

Vito also has experience in dispute resolution as a Georgia state registered mediator and arbitrator and has worked as a general contractor for both residential and commercial construction projects. Vito is licensed to practice law in Georgia and New York and is the fifth generation of his family to be professionally involved in real estate.

Vito lives in Cartersville with his wife, toddler, dogs (a Wirehaired Pointing Griffon and an Airedale Terrier), and evil cat, and he loves spending time with them whenever he can. Vito thoroughly enjoys traditional archery, wooden bow and arrow making, fountain pens, bow ties, flannel, and coffee.

Traci Bridges

Renee Ferrara

Stacey Parker

Tish Kearney

Claudine Fletcher

Darlene Major

Ansley Shaver

Heather Gailey

Robin Roberts