Hodges joins Georgia Chamber Board

ATLANTA (November 30, 2011) - Ashe Rafuse & Hill, LLP, partner Ken Hodges has been appointed to the 2012 Board of Directors of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce.

“I am honored to serve the state’s largest business advocacy group,” Hodges says. “As a former public servant and, now, as a business person and active community member, I welcome the opportunity to lend my voice and perspective to a myriad of issues that affect our great state.”

Hodges is a partner in Ashe Rafuse & Hill’s general litigation division. He is familiar to many Georgians as the 2010 nominee of the Democratic Party of Georgia for Attorney General after carrying 158 out of 159 counties in the primary. Hodges previously spent 15 years of his 20-year career as a prosecutor, including 12 as the District Attorney of the Dougherty Judicial Circuit

“As evidenced by his lengthy public service as a district attorney, by his run for statewide office and by his work in the private sector, Ken has demonstrated his commitment to shaping the ongoing dialogue about public policy and business in Georgia. I look forward to working with him on the state’s pro-business activities,” says Edward S. Heys, Jr., 2012 Chair of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce. Heys is Managing Partner of the Atlanta office of Deloitte (http://www.Deloitte.com), an international organization focusing on audit, financial advisory, tax and consulting.

Hodges previously served on the Board of the Albany Area Chamber of Commerce when he was District Attorney in that area, and chaired its subcommittee on education and was active on the legislative committee. He is an alumnus of Leadership Georgia, which is affiliated with the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, and served on the board of Leadership Georgia. Hodges has been active in many Georgia Chamber events throughout the years, including the Georgia Quail Hunt, which brings both international and stateside business leaders to Southwest Georgia. He also has been part of Chamber delegations which met with the legislators in Atlanta and in Washington, DC.

The Georgia Chamber of Commerce is the state’s largest business advocacy organization. Its membership includes thousands of businesses of all sizes in every industry sector and every region of the state. Its mission and focus is creating and growing jobs in Georgia, advancing the state’s economic competitiveness, and enhancing the business-friendly climate. http://www.GAChamber.com

Atlanta-based Ashe Rafuse & Hill, LLP (http://www.AsheRafuse.com) focuses on employment, civil rights, and commercial litigation nationally.

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Kenneth B. (Ken) Hodges, III, spent 15 years of his 20-year career as a prosecutor, including 12 as the District Attorney of the Dougherty Judicial Circuit. He has appeared before juries hundreds of times in both civil and criminal matters, supervised literally thousands of cases and argued before the Georgia Court of Appeals and Supreme Court of Georgia. Ken was the 2010 nominee of the Democratic Party of Georgia for Attorney General after carrying 158 out of 159 counties in the primary. He garnered more votes than any other Democratic candidate in the General Election. Ken now applies his distinguished trial skills in a practice focused on commercial litigation, civil rights, government investigations and RICO matters. He was District Attorney of the Year in 2002 in part due to his work as co-counsel in the case of State v. Sidney Dorsey. Ken received the Justice Robert Benham Award for Community Service for his dedication to public service from The State Bar of Georgia and the Eagle Award for outstanding work on behalf of victims of crime by the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council of Georgia. He is a former Chairman of the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia, a past President of the District Attorneys’ Association of Georgia, and past President of the Dougherty Bar Association. He is a graduate of Leadership Georgia and served on its Board of Directors. Ken has been recognized by Georgia Trend Magazine as one of Georgia's "40 Under 40" and by the Fulton County Daily Report as an attorney "On The Rise." Ken received his B.A. from Emory University and his J.D. from the University of Georgia School of Law. Ken and his wife Melissa, and their two young children, reside in Buckhead. Notably, both children were born during Ken’s campaign for Attorney General; one was born during the primary and the other during the general election.