Since 1897, Oliver Maner has been guided by a perpetual commitment to service and excellence. Whether we are representing individuals, families, or some of Savannah’s largest businesses, this commitment drives the Firm’s lawyers to find solutions that serve our clients’ best interests. With dozens of lawyers and legal specialties, Oliver Maner is Savannah’s top law firm.
Our People
Oliver Maner's leadership upholds the founding values of integrity, ethics, and professionality and the continued tradition as an award-winning law firm servicing clients across the South and beyond.
Find an AttorneyOur Expertise
From representing governments and large businesses to families and individuals, our Firm has the legal expertise to provide legal services across a broad spectrum of disciplines for nearly any kind of situation.
Practice Areas
Today
Since 2009, when the firm became Oliver Maner LLP, the firm has achieved unprecedented growth. In the past decade, the Firm’s partners have tackled some of the most significant cases in the State of Georgia and the Southeast, ranging from one of the only death penalty defense cases the federal courts in Savannah have seen in the past thirty years to defending or prosecuting civil cases involving precedent-setting legal issues and tens of millions of dollars. At present, Oliver Maner is proud to be the home of 28 lawyers. One thing has not changed: Oliver Maner is still guided by the same principles of justice and excellence which have sustained the firm since 1897. Oliver Maner remains, as it has since 1897, the Savannah law firm for tough cases and extraordinary professional service.
1837
Judge Twiggs, born in Richmond County, Georgia, was the great grandson of Major General John Twiggs, a Revolutionary War hero for whom Twiggs County, GA was named, and who has been given the apropos appellation, the “Savior of Georgia.” John Twiggs was never defeated in battle by the British. Nearly eighty years later, H.D.D. Twiggs was a military hero in his own right.
1897
Oliver Maner LLP and its predecessor firms have provided superior-quality legal services to Savannah and the State of Georgia for more than 124 years. The firm was organized in 1897 when Judge Hansford Dade Duncan (“H.D.D.”) Twiggs joined in partnership with Francis McDonald (“Frank”) Oliver in Savannah for the general practice of law.
1898
Frank Oliver, an 1896 graduate of Vanderbilt University, moved to Savannah in 1897 and started his legal career with the seasoned military and legal veteran, Judge Twiggs. In one of the firm’s first cases, Twiggs & Oliver successfully defended members of an African American family in Darien, Georgia, who had been wrongfully accused of murdering law enforcement agents: Judge Twiggs successfully proved that the family members had acted in self-defense. The jury acquitted Judge Twiggs’ clients.
1930
In 1905, Judge Twiggs left the firm to form a partnership with Simon N. Gazan. At that time, Frank Oliver continued the partnership with his brother, Edgar Oliver, under the name of Oliver and Oliver (1905-1941). In 1930, Joseph McDonald (“Joe”) Oliver, son of Frank Oliver, was graduated as the First Honor Graduate from the University of Georgia School of Law and joined the firm which practiced under the same name until 1942 when Fred B. Davis joined the firm then known as Oliver, Oliver & Davis. Joe and Fred had been roommates in college. Joe Oliver, who joined the firm on the crest of the Great Depression, once reminisced: “it was not an auspicious time to commence the practice of law.”
1955
In 1955, Edwin (“Ed”) Maner, Jr., became a partner in the firm and the name was changed to Oliver Davis & Maner and remained under that name until Fred B Davis departed in 1963 when it became Oliver & Maner. In 1967, with the admission of Thomas S. Gray, Jr., the firm became known as Oliver Maner & Gray. In 2009, the firm adopted its current name, Oliver Maner LLP.
1989
William T. Moore, Jr., former United States Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia (appointed by President Jimmy Carter), joined the firm heading up its “white collar crime” practice. Mr. Moore left the firm in 1994 when he was appointed Judge for the United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia. In the year 2004, he became the Chief Judge of the Southern District.
1993
Patricia T. Paul became the first female partner of the firm on January 1, 1993.
1999
In 1999, Christopher L. ("Chris") Ray, a graduate of Princeton University and Fordham Law School, and former Captain in the United States Army Judge Advocate General Corps, joined the firm and worked extensively in the areas of criminal and civil litigation. In 2019, Chris was appointed Magistrate Judge for the United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia.
Today
Since 2009, when the firm became Oliver Maner LLP, the firm has achieved unprecedented growth. In the past decade, the Firm’s partners have tackled some of the most significant cases in the State of Georgia and the Southeast, ranging from one of the only death penalty defense cases the federal courts in Savannah have seen in the past thirty years to defending or prosecuting civil cases involving precedent-setting legal issues and tens of millions of dollars. At present, Oliver Maner is proud to be the home of 28 lawyers. One thing has not changed: Oliver Maner is still guided by the same principles of justice and excellence which have sustained the firm since 1897. Oliver Maner remains, as it has since 1897, the Savannah law firm for tough cases and extraordinary professional service.
1837
Judge Twiggs, born in Richmond County, Georgia, was the great grandson of Major General John Twiggs, a Revolutionary War hero for whom Twiggs County, GA was named, and who has been given the apropos appellation, the “Savior of Georgia.” John Twiggs was never defeated in battle by the British. Nearly eighty years later, H.D.D. Twiggs was a military hero in his own right.
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218 West State Street, Savannah, GA 31401
(912) 236-3311