Today we’d like to introduce you to Timothy White.
Hi Timothy , we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
As I’ve told high school students and others with whom I’ve spoken by invitation, my journey to become an attorney isn’t going to be anything they’re expecting to hear. My father was an attorney and he passed away in 2024. Growing up, I had a typical 1970s childhood, played lots of sports, and was exposed to several cultural experiences like operas, symphonies, etc. I was truly blessed to have a hard-working father and an incredible, caring mother, both of whom exposed me to sports and the best of Atlanta culture. As a teenager, like so many others my age, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. I knew my father was very successful, but, as a teenager in the 1970s, I had other things on my mind, like girls, cutting up with friends, and all the other typical teenager things. Back then, there were no cell phones, and I was constantly skateboarding or bicycling somewhere to play video games, hang out in the woods, and just waste a lot of time to be honest.
My parents separated when I was 13 and I found myself getting into a lot of trouble with my friends. Nothing too serious, never anything violent, but by the time I got to high school, my parents knew I had some issues. By age 14, my parents had enough of me, and I was sent to Riverside Military Academy in Gainesville, GA, and Hollywood, FL. That place really shocked me. I saw the absolute worst of humanity there and had a hard time dealing with all the violence I witnessed. You see, at least 80% of students there, like me, were difficult to handle, so, next to jail, this place was where you’d be sent, and was hell on earth. I got kicked out in 9th grade, went to Northside High School in Atlanta, now it’s North Atlanta High, I believe. In 10th grade, I returned to military school-not my idea by the way, got kicked out again, then returned to Northside High School. The same things happened in 11th and 12th grades. I finally graduated in 1981 from Northside High School after going AWOL (absent without leave) from military school. My issues in military school involved marijuana use. I got busted a few times with contraband and that was an expellable offense. I had no problem with authority and following non drug-related instructions, however. My senior year, I left military school one night, stole a motorcycle in Roswell, GA, got caught, then went to jail in Downtown, Atlanta, GA. I had hit rock bottom!
Fortunately, and I mean FORTUNATELY, my father being an attorney, I was bailed out of jail within hours. Having graduated from Northside, my parents wanted me to go to college, and live with my older brother. College? Me? Uh, why? Anyway, I went, as they were helping me with a place to live, and to pay for some classes. Well, it took me 11 years on and off to graduate college. I got kicked out of UGA pretty early on, due to failing grades, missing classes, and not taking college seriously. I still had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. When I turned 18, I learned to be a bartender, and worked at my father’s friend’s Italian Restaurant, Vittorios, located on Peachtree Rd. in Buckhead. After several years, my boss opened a new restaurant named Bardi’s, and it was located across the street from the Radisson Hotel in downtown Atlanta. I would work weekends at these places while the rest of the week, I was up at UGA fumbling through college. I worked there full-time when I wasn’t currently enrolled in college. I had no real ambition, and was just a young man enjoying the best of Buckhead, which anyone old enough to remember will tell you was THE happening nightlife in Atlanta for decades. It was the 80s, too. I had so many great times partying my life away with all my friends and complete strangers. After being kicked out of UGA, I eventually spent two years in Miami, FL, and attended college at a couple of associate degree schools. I also had a bartending job at a killer Italian restaurant located on the Intracoastal waterway, and loved that job until the restaurant failed. I returned to Georgia, continued bartending, and working in liquor stores for several years. By that time, a lot of people I grew up with were parents, had great jobs, careers, nice cars, money, children, and here I was a total loser. I was embarrassed at how little I’d achieved given my parents’ monumental efforts to make me a decent person.
Eventually, miraculously, I was accepted back into UGA in 1990. This time, I took it very-seriously, and finally graduated in 1992 with a BA in psychology and a Minor in Spanish. Once I graduated college, I was hungry for more. I wanted more education and considered a masters degree in psychology. At age 33, I decided to go to law school. It had absolutely nothing to do with my father being an attorney. It also had nothing to do with me wanting to make lawyer money, although I assumed money would come automatically. It was more of me being totally embarrassed with where I was in life. I knew that if I became an attorney, when people ask me what I do, when I say lawyer, they’d automatically assume I was a success. Pretty selfish reason to become a lawyer, but hey, I’m just being honest. I must say, before going to law school, I was forever fearing the “what do you do” questions from others. I’d answer oh, I’m a bartender, or I sell burglar alarms, or I sell windows and doors. I was humiliated. Now you can understand why I wanted the prestige of becoming a lawyer.
Well, in 1995, I was accepted into John Marshall Law School right here in Atlanta. I was admitted on academic probati0n as my college credentials and GPA were atrocious. I didn’t care about academic probation-I was admitted to law school!
I raced through law school in 2.5 years instead of the typical 3. I took my first bar exam and failed. I was devastated! It was the absolute worst exam I’ve ever taken and trust me, by then I’d taken hundreds of exams in my illustrious educational journey. I was extremely depressed. After all, law school is very competitive. Most of my fellow graduates passed the exam and were moving on as lawyers. I wanted nothing to do with such people as I felt like a total idiot. I immediately signed up for the next available bar exam, studied even harder, and failed again. Again! I was beyond devastated. My past life led me to believe I’d never pass the hardest exam known to mankind. It is said that the CPA exam is harder, but I read somewhere by one person that took, and passed both, who claimed the bar exam was the hardest of the two. Who was I to think I could pass the hardest exam known to man what with my marijuana and alcohol use and all? For a few months, I gave up on being a lawyer. After all that effort and cost, I actually applied with the FBI, as I heard they take law school graduates as FBI agents. I figured why not? Well, I applied, and they didn’t want anything to do with me. One question on their application asked about previous drug use. I answered honestly, mentioned marijuana use, and that was it. God forbid I was being honest. Oh well, I struck out yet again. I was absolutely devastated and depressed. By this time, people I knew that passed the bar exam were making a ton of money, and I was left in the dust. What now? I asked myself. Well, in 1998, I kicked myself in the butt, studied like hell, took the bar exam for a third time, and, by the grace of God, I PASSED. Funny thing: when you fail the bar exam, a letter comes in the mail, and it has two stamps because it contains information for the next exams. I’d heard that when you pass the exam, the letter comes with just a single stamp. You can imagine my reaction when I received my third letter and without opening it, I saw just the single stamp. I PASSED! Yes, I did open the letter to confirm. Let the party begin!
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Has it been a smooth road getting where I am, you ask? Anything but. My struggles included, but were not limited to, growing up in the incredible 70s and 80s. It was too easy to have fun. Yes, I used alcohol, and recreational drugs like so many of my friends. We partied hard and never wanted to think of how we’ll pay for life in adulthood. It was all about now! Peer pressure got to me really bad, too. If I was hanging out with the druggies, I’d be a druggie too.
Also, I, like many other people, struggled with standardized tests. Frankly, I struggled with all tests, who am I kidding? I just wasn’t very intelligent or motivated to make myself better in any way. Many classes I took over the decades involved subject matters that my brain just couldn’t comprehend. Examples include, but are not limited to, statistics and all math classes. And the bar exam? Now that was very-difficult to me. It’s a two-day exam. Day one consists of the multi-state exam questions. Multi-state means all 50 states in the US have these same questions as. They are all multiple choice questions and every possible answer seemed correct to me. Seriously! If I remember correctly, we had all day to complete these questions. Lots of people were finished in what seemed to be no time at all. I was blown away at how quickly other test takers finished day one. There I was struggling big time on every question.
Day two consists of the written examination. Unlike the multi-state questions, these involve GA law only. If I remember correctly, there were 11 or 14 law subject areas that you had to prepare for this exam. You knew this in advance so you could study those subjects completely. In the exam, however, there were only six questions, meaning only six of the 14 areas of law you studied for appeared on the exam. Great, right? Some of the 14 areas of law for this part of the bar exam consisted of torts (civil wrongs for which the law provides a remedy), criminal law, constitutional law, contracts, evidence, real property, and others I cannot even remember. Frankly, any memory of either day of this exam practically brings me to tears. In fact, I still have nightmares every few years about the whole ordeal.
At the time, the GA bar exam only had a 75% pass rate. Not very promising odds in my opinion. Most people passed the bar exam their first time and I looked at them as brilliant people that would surely become successful lawyers. I hated myself for wasting so many years of education on drugs, alcohol, and partying. I will say this, however. The third time I took the exam, I left day two very happy with how I answered the questions, and thought surely I just passed this exam.
Also, in case you think all my years of education must have been paid for by my parents, you’re wrong! I had so many student loans and the thought of having to pay them back was frightening. I’m talking close to a couple of hundred thousand dollars in all. On a happy note, in 2005, I settled a really-serious automobile collision case that almost killed my client. With my earned attorney fees from that one case, I paid my taxes for the year, the largest taxes I’ve ever owed up to that point, and paid off every penny of my remaining student loans. Now that was a great year.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Timothy F. White, Attorney at Law, LLC?
Since 1998, I’ve had the motto of changing the public’s negative perception of lawyers one client at a time. I’m a sole practitioner. That means I’m on my own, with no partners or associates. In 28 years of practice, I’ve never even had one single employee. No secretary, no paralegal, nothing! I handle every aspect of every case by myself. My practice involves criminal defense and personal injury cases (car wrecks, etc.) I started in Marietta, GA in 1998, but quickly moved to Jasper, GA in 2000. By then, I was so tired of neighbors living too close to me, traffic, and barking dogs. Why Jasper, you wonder? Well, I’m licensed to practice law anywhere in GA, and I used to ride my crotch rocket motorcycle in Jasper on weekends when I lived in Marietta. While speeding up a mountain road one day, I saw a home for sale in the mountains on 5 acres, and it was perfect! I moved there with my incredible girlfriend at the time, now my wife, without knowing anything about where’d Id open up shop. I decided a home office was right for me.
I very-quickly introduced myself to the Chief Superior Court judge of my three-county circuit (Pickens, Gilmer, and Fannin), and from there, my practice took off. BIG TIME! I got on the court appointed lawyer list for indigent people accused of crimes. Serious crimes! Within one year, I had over 100 cases to defend. In addition to the criminal cases, I also represented people accused of depriving their children (DFCS cases). My father assisted me in my early years whenever I got a personal injury case. Through him, I learned a great deal of what it means to be a good attorney. He also taught me everything I know about personal injury cases and I am extremely fortunate to have had him as a mentor. After eight years representing indigent people, I had enough. I wanted to stop visiting clients in disgusting, smelly jails, and it was time to focus on more money and better cases.
What sets me apart from other lawyers is the personal attention I give every client. That may sound like hogwash, but all one needs to do is look at my 145 five-star reviews from former clients. 105 of those are client reviews done on Google. I write and type every letter, personally conduct all legal research, make all telephone calls and emails, and handle representing people in court, by myself, without assistance from anyone. That’s unusual. Most lawyers have support staff, secretaries, paralegals, assistants, etc. Doing everything by myself may seem difficult, but once I got into law school, and passed the state bar, I was, suffice it to say, way motivated to succeed.
I chose sole practitioner for a reason. I had a saltwater fishing boat and went fishing at least twice a year, every year, beginning in 2002. For me, quality of life was more important than the almighty dollar. I also lived in the mountains and in 2003, I bought myself a 1986 Porsche 911 Carrera. Man, did I love driving that car in the mountains, and to work in my three-county circuit where I had the majority of my cases. Times were good to say the least. But I did work my butt off to get to this point.
I can honestly say after 27+ years that criminal defense cases really are my most favorite. The lead up to trials is kind of miserable, but once I get in front of a jury, I’m in my comfort zone. I absolutely love looking jurors in the eyes as I make arguments. The courtroom is my stage and I absolutely love what I do during trials. Personal injury cases have always been a part of my practice. But, with the GA tort reform laws that passed in 2025, there’ll likely be fewer of these case I’ll take. I will tell you that I have some very heavyweight Atlanta lawyers with whom I handle serious cases. Lawyers are so generous with one another and are very happy to help fellow lawyers any way they can. Whenever I get a very-serious injury case, it is those Atlanta lawyers from whom I seek assistance.
With 27+ years of experience in this profession, I’m most proud of my positive former client reviews. I’m also extremely proud of myself. Having struggled with my life for decades, earning little to no money, I finally found the strength to do something that wasn’t easy to say the least. I proved to myself that I’m capable of doing anything I put my mind to. That makes me smile. Oh, that Porsche 911 I mentioned, I had it for three years, and it really made me smile. I bought it, in part, to reward myself back then for all my struggles I endured to get me where I was in life. I’m extremely proud to say that in 2025, I bought a very-gently used 2017 twin turbo Porsche 911. After 15 years of driving my Toyota Camry, driving to court in the Porsche feels very good. And so does earning a living wearing a suit instead of dirty work clothes. Whenever I’m feeling a tad bit down, all I need to do is fire up the 911 Carrera, and I’m on mountain roads in seconds. That car is also my way of rewarding myself for a job well done.
I’ve been asked and have accepted two different invitations to speak to Gilmer County, GA high school students over the last decade. I was also invited to and did speak to a class at a north Georgia college in Blairsville, GA. Imagine that from a former deadbeat like me. I was also recently contacted by A&E network to be featured in a one-hour episode of their show called “Accused, Guilty or Innocent.” They ended up not accepting the criminal aggravated assault case I had at the time because the alleged victim had mental health issues that I intended to bring into evidence. That was, to A & E, too risky for the network, as they focus on the accused, not the victim, and didn’t want the victim to sue A & E, I guess. Too bad for them as in 2025, I tried the case in front of a Fannin County jury. My client was a former National Football player accused of beating and strangling his girlfriend in a rental cabin in the middle of nowhere. During the trial, there were lots of fireworks. At one point, I asked the judge to dismiss the charges due to prosecutorial misconduct, and other reasons. The judge denied the motion to dismiss, but the jury returned a not-guilty verdict on the felony count. Suffice it to say, my client was absolutely thrilled with my representation, and he provided me with an incredible five-star Google review. Lastly, Voyage Atlanta Magazine reached out to me for this interview. At this point in my life and career, with such invitation, in addition to the above-mentioned invitations, I’m humbled to say the least.
In 27+ years, I’ve tried only 18 or so jury trials throughout north GA. In addition to trials, I’ve had a great many contested hearings in courts with various district attorneys and prosecutors. I’ve had, like many other lawyers, trial losses, and trial wins. The losses hurt, but never were they the result of poor or ineffective representation. I can honestly say there are at least three or four former clients that’d probably take a bullet for me. And, with 27+ years of courtroom combat, I have an unblemished discipline history with the State Bar of GA. Now that! to me, is special!
I really care about people in need of legal assistance. All one need do is read some of my five-star reviews to verify that claim. I provide free legal consultations all the time. In most consultations, I try to give enough information so that the caller may be able to handle the situation without paying any lawyer. People really do appreciate this about me.
On a personal note, I’ve been my elderly mother’s caregiver for eight years now (I’m in my ninth year). She lives in our basement apartment and honestly, I can’t imagine her life without me. Caregiving is the absolute worst job I’ve ever had. I’ve sacrificed so much over the last eight years. I’ve not been saltwater fishing or anywhere since taking her in and my sanity has taken a beating as a result. I do all that while I practice law full-time. Now you can understand me buying the 2017 Porsche 911 in 2025. I had to have some fun in my life. My wife of 28 years is incredible. Without her, I’d be lost. She truly makes my life worth living.
Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
My advice for anyone interested in a career as an lawyer/attorney: 1) Stay single in law school if you can. More relationships end when one person is in law school and when I was accepted, they told me this; 2) Forget your social life once accepted to law school. The amount of work thrown at you is beyond anything you’ve experienced until then. The first year they scare you to death. The second year they work you to death. The third year they bore you to death. You’ll read. Then you’ll read more. Then, you’ll read so much more, you’ll need thicker glasses. No joke! Your after school reading assignment from day one will be at least three hours. FOR EACH CLASS! EVERY DAY! And if you are called on to answer a question in class, and you didn’t do the assigned reading, oh boy! you’ll be humiliated in front of the whole class. That and the professor will possibly even make you cry. Law school is a tremendous undertaking and cannot be done without extreme dedication for the entire three years; 3) Do not skip on the bar exam review classes. Even though you finished reading a billion pages of law, you can’t ignore the extreme difficulty of the bar exam. These prep courses help train you how to answer the difficult test questions; 4) judges are not all the same and neither are lawyers for that matter. As a new lawyer in court, I quickly encountered many angry judges that didn’t tolerate newbies in “their court.” I’ve been ridiculed, scolded, and embarrassed a great number of times, even as recently as last year. Many people think it’s all glory and glamour, but there are struggles. But, the struggles are tolerable, and unless you’re rude or disrespectful, you’ll not likely be thrown in jail for contempt of court; 5) Take a speech class in college. If you say “UM” or “LIKE,” then STOP! I cannot stand people that use these words so regularly. Especially TV personalities, friends, colleagues, yes colleagues. So many lawyers say “um,” even in court. Lawyers are supposed to master the art of speaking. In my opinion, speaking to anyone without saying um and like every other word is a must. That is, assuming you want people to take you seriously. And your credibility as an attorney should be the most important thing to you. You lose it and you’ll not likely get it back; 6) In high school, try to make the best grades possible. The most successful lawyers usually are the ones with the best grade point averages in both college and high school. While high grades are important in law school, if you just intend to just hang a shingle, like me, there’s a saying: “A d equals a JD.” I’ll elaborate: The grade of d is a passing grade in law school. As long as you finish law school with at least d’s and then pass the state bar exam, you will be licensed to practice law anywhere in this state. In case you’re wondering, a JD is what you receive after graduating law school. A Juris Doctorate. A Doctor of Jurisprudence. Man, I like the sound of that. By the way, in 27+ years, I’ve never been asked by a potential client where I went to law school or what was my graduating GPA. And so you know, my cumulative GPA in law school wasn’t a d. But, I assure you, it wasn’t an a, either. Ha Ha!
Pricing:
- Criminal defense cases are paid on a flat-fee basis and all fees are due in advance. Expect to pay $10,000.00 – $20,000.00+
- Personal injury cases are handled on a contingency fee basis. No attorney fees unless I recover money for you. It’s 33.33% if no lawsuit is filed and 40% if a lawsuit is filed.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.timwhitelaw.com
- Youtube: @timwhitelawGA
Image Credits
Timothy White, via tripods. Ms. Patricia White, my mother (marching pic).
