Tamara Wayland
Principal Attorney

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Tamara guides clients through their litigation process, representing them and their interests in probate, domestic and employment-related matters. She is known for being a great listener, a tough negotiator and compassionate.

For Tamara, the ideal outcome in a case is one where both sides feel like they won. She’s motivated to do this work because of what it can mean to clients and how it can affect their lives.

“It gives me great satisfaction to know that I have changed someone’s life for the better, by obtaining the best results legally possible,” she said.

Born in Champaign, Illinois, and raised in the Philadelphia area, Tamara received her bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Pennsylvania in 1985, and her law degree from Temple University School of Law in 1993.

After law school, Tamara moved to Atlanta, where she began her legal career as a public defender. Over seven years, Tamara represented hundreds of defendants on the trial and appellate levels, and tried numerous felony cases as lead counsel.

In 2002, Tamara took a position as an administrative law judge for the state of Georgia, where she adjudicated appeals individuals brought against the state of Georgia that involved a broad spectrum of matters, including driver’s license suspensions, employment and licensing board matters, and the reduction or termination of public assistance benefits.

In 2005, Tamara became an assistant attorney general for the state of Georgia. In that position, Tamara managed a sizable caseload of complex civil rights cases involving issues related to free speech on public campuses, conditions of confinement by inmates, and alleged unlawful searches and excessive force by law enforcement officials.

Three years later, Tamara was admitted to the Colorado Bar. Since then, Tamara’s practice has focused on the defense of individuals and entities in employment, domestic and insurance matters at the trial and appellate levels in both federal and state courts.

Education

  • Temple University School of Law
    Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Juris Doctor
    May, 1993

  • University of Pennsylvania
    Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Bachelor of Science
    August 1985

Bar Admissions

  • Colorado District Courts, 2008

  • Supreme Court of Colorado 2008

  • U.S. District Court, District of Colorado, 2008

  • U.S. District Court Northern District of Georgia, 2005

  • U.S. District Court Middle District of Georgia, 2005

  • U.S. District Court Southern District of Georgia, 2005

  • U.S. Court of Appeals 11th Circuit, 2005

  • Supreme Court of Georgia, 1998

  • Superior Courts of Georgia, 1993

Professional Associations

  • Colorado Bar Association

  • Presenter, Recent Developments in First Amendment Litigation in Higher Education, Georgia Board of Regents Annual Meeting, 2006, 2007

  • Presenter, Special Issues in Juvenile Justice, Georgia Indigent Defense Council, 1996

Representative Cases

  • Arrington v. Chavez, 646 F. App’x 590 (10th Cir. 2016)

  • Peters v. Community Connections, Inc. Employee Ben. Plan, 2013 WL 4046686 (D. Colo. 2013).

  • Davis v. City of Aurora, 705 F.Supp.2d 1243 (D. Colo. 2010).

  • Sklar v. Clough, 2008 WL 5381961 (N.D.Ga. 2008).

  • Reese v. Herbert, 527 F.3d 1253 (11th Cir. 2008).

  • Sklar v. Clough, 2007 WL 2049698 (N.D.Ga. 2007).

  • Manning v. Wilson, 2007 WL 3090969 (N.D.Ga. 2007).

  • Commissioned II Love v. Yarbrough, 621 F.Supp.2d 1312 (S.D.Ga. 2007).

  • Steward v. State, 251 Ga.App. 657, 555 S.E.2d 33 (Ga. App. 2001).

  • Travis v. State, 243 Ga.App. 77, 532 S.E.2d 430 (Ga. App. 2000).

Publications

  • Note: The National Stolen Property Act and Its Applicability to Property Rights in Computer Source Code — Do Rights Exist? 11 Temple Env’l L. & Tech. J. 151 (1992)

  • Co-authored, Administrative Law Judges “Ride the Circuit” to provide Georgians with a Day in Court, Georgia Bar Journal, February 2004