Firm Profile

Among the oldest law firms in Georgia, Jones Cork & Miller LLP traces its beginnings back to 1872 when Isaac Hardeman and James H. Blount became partners in the practice of law. Could they have imagined that the traditions of exceptional legal service, community leadership and professional integrity they started would last for 130 years?

Rising from the rank of private to lieutenant colonel and being captured twice during the Civil War, Hardeman moved to Macon from nearby Clinton and was an important figure in the reconstruction of the city of Macon, including chairing the board of trustees of what was then Wesleyan Female College.

Blount was also from nearby Clinton and, like his future law partner, enlisted as a private and rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel during the Civil War. Elected to Congress in 1872, Blount served for 20 years, being elected to several important chairmanships. President Grover Cleveland appointed him as "Commissioner Paramount" to the Sandwich Islands (now known as Hawaii). A newspaper reporter who interviewed him on his way to Hawaii wired back "Compared with Commissioner Blount, the Sphinx is a chatterbox."

The firm thereafter evolved through a succession of partnerships, including Hardeman & Jones until after the turn of the century, Hardeman, Jones, Callaway & Johnston through World War I, Jones, Jones, Johnston & Russell through the 1920's, Jones, Johnston, Russell & Sparks until the late 1930's, Jones, Jones & Sparks until after World War II, Jones, Sparks, Benton and Cork until 1968, Jones, Cork, Miller & Benton until 1980, and Jones, Cork & Miller through the present.

While we are proud of our past, we do not live in it. At Jones Cork & Miller LLP, we recognize that our worth and vitality hinges on our ability to adapt to meet the ever-changing needs of our clients in an evolving legal landscape.