ATTORNEYS

Founding partner Tom Affleck is a 1970 cum laude graduate of Emory University and a 1973 graduate of Georgetown University Law Centers located in Washington, D.C. He then served as Managing Attorney for Georgia Legal Services in Brunswick, Georgia. The efforts of Tom and his colleagues at Georgia Legal Services are chronicled in the best selling book "Praying For Sheetrock". Tom at that time represented indigent clients throughout a 17 county area of Southeast Georgia. He has served as an Administrative Law Judge and as a Hearing Officer for a variety of state agencies in the past. He is a past president and former long time Member of the Board of Directors of the Epilepsy Foundation of Georgia. He is a member of the Georgia Bar Association, Atlanta Bar Association, the DeKalb Bar Association, the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association, and the National Organization of Social Security Claimants Representatives (NOSSCR).

Larry Gordon obtained his B.A. (1974) and JD (1976) at the University of Florida and his L.L.M. in Taxation at Emory University in 1982. Prior to joining Tom Affleck in private practice in 1983, he was Attorney/Advisor to the Social Security Administration's Office of Hearings & Appeals where he served as Advisor to the Chief Administrative Law Judge of the Social Security Administration at the national level as well as an Attorney/Advisor to the Atlanta Office of Hearings & Appeals. Larry is a sought-after lecturer on matters of Social Security law and has been victorious in numerous District Court cases and in 11th Circuit cases. He has also received several awards for pro bono activities on behalf of low-income individuals. In addition to being a sustaining member of the National Organization of Social Security Claimants Representatives (NOSSCR), he is a member of the State Bar of Georgia, the State Bar of Florida and the Bar of the District of Columbia. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Atlanta Track Club, the Southeast Region of the Anti-Defamation League, and the Marcus Jewish Community Center of Greater Atlanta.

Judy Bloom joined Affleck and Gordon in 2008.  She is a 1983 graduate of Bryn Mawr College and a 1988 graduate of Emory University School of Law. She is a veteran of Legal Services, having interned at Atlanta Legal Aid in 1987 and having worked at Southeast Tennessee Legal Services in Chattanooga from 1990 through 1997. She also worked as an attorney/advisor at the Chattanooga SSA, Office of Disability Adjudication and Review. Over the past 21 years, Judy has represented thousands of disabled claimants. In 1999, she relocated to Atlanta and has been successfully representing only disability claimants since then. Judy is a member of the State Bar of Georgia and is licensed to practice law in both the state and federal courts of Tennessee and Georgia.

Joel Thrift joined Affleck and Gordon in 2007.  He is a 2007 graduate of the University of Notre Dame Law School and a 2003 graduate of Georgia Tech.   Joel practices primarily in the areas of workers’ compensation and personal injury.   

Marci W. McKenna joined Affleck and Gordon in 2005.  She graduated from University of Akron in 1983 with a degree in political science. She obtained her Juris Doctorate from The Ohio State University School of Law in 1987. Prior to joining Affleck & Gordon, Ms. McKenna primarily practiced in the areas of workers’ compensation and general liability defense. Reported cases include: Wier v. Skyline Messenger Svc and Georgia Baptist Medical Center v. Moore. She is a member of Georgia Bar Association Workers’ Compensation section.