Valdes, Irama

Ben Land graduated with Highest Honors as a First Honor Graduate, Summa Cum Laude, from the University of Georgia in 1989, finishing with a 4.0 grade point average. He also graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Georgia School of Law in 1992, finishing second in his class of 202 students. While in Law School, Ben served on the Editorial Board of the Georgia Law Review, clerked for the Georgia Supreme Court, and was elected to the Order of the Coif.

Since 1992, Ben has represented a wide variety of clients in civil litigation matters, including plaintiffs and defendants in cases involving nursing home negligence, medical malpractice, automobile collisions, premises liability, wrongful death, fraud, will contests, non-compete covenants, insurance claims, business disputes, employment disputes and class actions.

Ben currently spends a significant amount of his time prosecuting nursing home negligence cases on behalf of injured nursing home residents and their families. He has obtained two of the largest jury verdicts ever rendered in such cases in the state of Georgia, including what is believed to be the largest such verdict to be affirmed on appeal in Georgia. See Tucker Nursing Center, Inc. v. Mosby, 303 Ga.App. 80 (2010). On the defense side, Ben has played a key role in the defense of numerous class action lawsuits, including several nationwide class actions filed in Muscogee County, Georgia. He has also handled many personal injury, wrongful death, and business litigation cases for individuals and businesses of all sizes. Ben is licensed in both Georgia and Alabama.

Ben has been active in his profession and his community. He is a current member of the American Association for Justice, the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association, the Alabama Association for Justice, the Columbus Bar Association, the State Bar of Georgia’s Business Court Committee, Lawyers Foundation of Georgia, the Muscogee County Law Library Board of Trustees, and St. Paul United Methodist Church. Ben is a past recipient of the State Bar of Georgia’s William B. Spann, Jr. Award for Pro Bono Advocacy and has served by appointment of the Supreme Court of Georgia as a Special Master for State Bar disciplinary proceedings and by appointment of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia as a member of its Local Rules Advisory Committee. He is a graduate of Leadership Columbus and has served as the President of the Chattahoochee Judicial Circuit Bar Association, a District Representative for the State Bar of Georgia’s Younger Lawyers Division, a member of the Georgia Board of Court Reporting, a Board member for the Columbus Children, Youth and Family Coalition, a Board member for the Columbus Area Habitat for Humanity, a youth sports coach (baseball, basketball, and soccer), and a volunteer and Board member for the Pine Mountain Trail Association. Ben is a lifelong resident of Columbus where he currently resides with his wife and three children.