Scott Holcomb

Partner, Holcomb + Ward, LLP, and Representative, State of Georgia

By Katlin Swisher

From the military to the statehouse, Scott Holcomb’s legal career has been defined by public service.

After graduating from West Virginia University (WVU) College of Law in 1997, Holcomb began his career as a lawyer in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps. He served on active duty for six years and was deployed overseas three times.

In this role, he advised generals during conflict on international law and prosecuted courts-martial. He also reviewed target sets during war for compliance with the laws of war, working diligently to avoid civilian casualties. During this time, Holcomb wrote a number of articles on his experiences, including one published by the Chicago Journal of International Law. Later, after leaving active duty, he taught a course on the laws of war at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

“The most important things I learned in the military were to work hard and do the job correctly,” says Holcomb. “I also learned—and this is just as important—that if you make a mistake, you take ownership and fix it. You don’t make excuses. You don’t lie. You stand up, accept responsibility, fix it and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

Holcomb’s military service did not begin in the U.S. Army, though. He served six years with the Air National Guard during both his undergraduate work at the University of Connecticut and throughout law school at WVU.

Before owning and managing his own law firm, Holcomb worked as a securities litigator for Sutherland Asbill & Brennan, LLP, known today as Eversheds Sutherland LLP, a large law firm in Atlanta, GA, and as general counsel for an Atlanta-based brokerage firm that was acquired by a public company.

After more than 10 years in private practice, Holcomb toyed with the idea of opening his own firm. He earned his MBA so he could learn about running a business, and then in 2015 he took a leap of faith and opened The Holcomb Law Firm, LLC.

“Admittedly, I was nervous at first because you never know if the phone will ring, but I’ve been really fortunate,” he says. “We built our firm the right way and have grown each year.”

In 2016, the firm evolved into Holcomb + Ward, LLP when Holcomb partnered with Bryan Ward, an attorney with whom he had worked at Sutherland.

“I trust Bryan completely, and we’ve built a practice based on outstanding client service and top-notch legal work,” says Holcomb. “To date, we’ve won every case we’ve taken to hearing, and many of them had very challenging facts. I enjoy building client relationships and the work that goes into solving challenging legal puzzles.”

Holcomb’s commitment to public service started early in his career—before he graduated from WVU. As a first-year law student, he completed training to become a Court Appointed Special Advocate, or CASA, rep. One of the most impactful cases he had in this role involved two sisters with fetal alcohol syndrome whose mother was incapable of caring for them and whose father was in prison.

“I worked with another WVU student, and we went through boxes and boxes of files and did our due diligence by speaking with case workers and family members,” he recalls. “Ultimately, we believed the parental rights should be terminated. I testified in court before Judge Larry Starcher, explaining why I believed this to be the case. He listened carefully and asked several questions. Ultimately, he agreed. The silver lining to the story is that one of my classmate’s parents adopted both of the girls before we graduated.”

Since leaving active duty military service in 2004, Holcomb has represented veterans and their family members on a pro bono basis. These cases can be incredibly challenging and take years to complete.

“I’ve helped veterans who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder and physical injuries related to their service, and I’ve helped family members with claims for survivors’ benefits,” he says. “Recently, I’ve been helping a disabled veteran resolve issues with his homeowners’ association because he had trouble maintaining his yard. As a veteran, I have a connection with other vets, and I want to help them.”

This dedication to service is also evident in Holcomb’s commitment to mentoring other lawyers. He is particularly passionate about mentoring women.

“I mentor a number of women because I know many women lack mentors who are men, which is an issue,” he says. “I think it’s really important for men to be mentors because they tend to be overrepresented in positions of power. Many men don’t feel comfortable mentoring women, and I think that says a lot about them.”

As a mentor, Holcomb makes a point to nominate young leaders for programs he has participated in, such as being admitted to the Council on Foreign Relations, accepted to Bucerius Summer School on Global Governance and named a Marshall Memorial Fellow, British-American Project fellow, French-American Foundation Young Leader, Manfred Wörner fellow, Truman National Security Project fellow, Emerging Leader in Environmental and Energy Policy and a NewDEAL Leader.

“These programs have been extremely inspiring both in terms of what I learned and the people I met,” says Holcomb. “I now have close friends from across the world. I never traveled outside of the country until after law school, and now I have a global network of friends. It’s a true blessing.”

Holcomb’s advice for lawyers just starting out is to listen and get involved.

“I don’t pretend to have the secret recipe for anything, but I do know that good leaders—and mentors—need to be good listeners, and they need to be actively engaged,” he says. “I tell young people all the time about programs I’ve been fortunate enough to participate in that I didn’t know about before someone told me. I encourage those who I think have a shot at being selected to go for it. It’s thrilling when they do and are accepted.”

This passion for helping others motivated Holcomb to run for the Georgia House of Representatives in 2010. He won his first election and has been reelected every two years since.

“I ran for public office because I sincerely believe in public service and I knew I could make a positive difference,” he says. “It’s been a journey. I have found common ground with my colleagues while representing my district and upholding my values. I believe in collaborating, and I’ve had considerable success crafting bipartisan measures. My greatest strength is my integrity. That’s not something I’ll ever compromise.”

Holcomb’s experience as a lawyer not only prepared him to be a legislator
but also allows him to aid his fellow representatives.

“Being a lawyer has certainly helped at the Capitol because I’m able to quickly read and understand complex bills,” he says. “I’m often asked to assist non-lawyers in the Legislature, and I’m happy to do so. When I draft bills, I work closely with our legislative counsel’s office to turn policy ideas into legislation. It takes time, and as every lawyer knows, every word matters. I was well trained at WVU to pay close attention to details, and I’m very grateful for that. It makes me a better legislator.”

Holcomb believes his legal and military backgrounds have been an asset for navigating the politics of state government.

“Being a lawyer helps me analyze legislation and policy, and that’s invaluable,” he says. “In terms of being a veteran, I use the leadership techniques I learned in the service: lead from the front, look after people, tell the truth, carry your weight, take responsibility and do what you say you’re going to do.”

One of the most memorable bills he worked on, which has been his primary focus since 2015, sought to strengthen Georgia’s laws on sexual and domestic violence and aid survivors of those crimes. In 2016, he helped pass legislation to address the state’s backlog of untested sexual assault kits.

“We had thousands of kits that were sitting on shelves, even though the victims wanted their cases to be investigated by law enforcement,” says Holcomb. “It was a travesty.”

After the bill passed, he worked with Georgia’s Speaker of the House and chairmen of the House and Senate appropriations committees to fund testing for the kits. “In 2018, the last kit was tested. As a result, serial rapists have been identified and prosecuted, and our law enforcement has leads in hundreds of cases,” says Holcomb. “I’m very proud of this.”

He has since gone on to author bills to allow domestic violence victims to break their leases without an early termination penalty and extend the amount of time the state of Georgia preserves evidence in sexual assault cases.

“I love working on policy, and it doesn’t feel like work for me even though it is,” he says. “I enjoy solving puzzles and problems, and public policy challenges are the most complex problems we have. I want to do everything I can to help make our state better for everyone I represent and all of our state’s citizens—that’s really what drives me.”