Jessica R. Towne
Clark & Towne, P.C.
1995 to present

Jessica Towne began practicing law in Gwinnett County (northeast metropolitan Atlanta) in 1989 as an Assistant Solicitor, prosecuting DUIs and misdemeanor crimes.  In 1995, she entered private practice, opening Clark & Towne, P.C.  Since that time, she has represented more than 1200 drivers accused of DUI, Reckless Driving and other serious traffic offenses.  She accepts a limited number of non-DUI clients, but does no civil work.  Between 1996 and 2005, Clark & Towne employed and mentored eight other attorneys and kept an extensive staff of personnel busy with a “volume” practice.  Since 2005, she has intentionally scaled back her practice.  Clients have appreciated having their cases personally handled by Jessica Towne, and not merely overseen by her expertise and advice.  She has been the primary attorney in 15 reported appeals in Georgia. 

Other Experience
Assistant Solicitor, State Court of Gwinnett County
DUI Prosecutor, November 1989 - March 1995
Represented the State of Georgia in DUI and other misdemeanor prosecutions; approximately fifty DUI jury trials, ten misdemeanor jury trials and two hundred non-jury trials.  Wrote appeal briefs for the State and appeared before the Georgia Court of Appeals.

Education
University of Georgia School of Law
Juris Doctor, 1989
Outstanding Achievement in Moot Court Program; Winner, ABA Award for Professionalism.

Rutgers University
B.A., 1982 Douglass College

Special Qualifications

Jessica is active in local attorney activities, serving as President of the Gwinnett County Bar Association in 1999-2000, President of the Criminal Defense Section of the Gwinnett County Bar Association from 1998-99, and Vice President of the Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers from 2006-07.  She volunteers with the Georgia Mock Trial program.  On the national level, she is a member of the National College for DUI Defense since 2000, serving as the delegate from Georgia for the NCDD from 2002-06.  She is also a member of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and NORML.

Jessica has been trained in the field sobriety tests that drivers “volunteer to take” on the roadside, and she has taken the operators’ course on the breath machine.  She has lectured over the years to attorneys, law enforcement officers and judges on the administration of standardized field sobriety tests, trial preparation, license suspension issues, trial techniques and tactics.  In 2003, she addressed the NCDD/National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers conference on DUI in Las Vegas.  Since 2003, she has limited her speaking engagements to focus on clients.

• Member in good standing of Georgia Bar since admitted in 1989
• Member, National College for DUI Defense (NCDD) since 1999 (State Delegate 2004-08)
• Member, Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers since 1995 (Vice President  2006-08)
• Member, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) since 1995 (Lecturer 2004)
• Member, Georgia DODD exclusive DUI defense lawyer network since 1995
• Member, Gwinnett County Bar Association (President 1999-2000)
• Member, Criminal Defense Section of Gwinnett County Bar Association (President 2001)
• Admitted to practice, Georgia Supreme Court, Georgia Court of Appeals
• Faculty, Georgia ICLE DUI Defense Seminar, 1996 - 2001, 2003, 2006
• Faulty, NACDL/NCDD DUI Defense Seminar, Las Vegas, NV 2004
• Faculty, Handling ALS Hearings Seminar, May 2000
• Faculty, George Indigent Defense Council, Defending Drinking Drivers, 1999, 2000
• Faculty, Probate and Municipal Court Judges' Traffic Law Seminar, July 1997
• Faculty, Practical View of New DUI Laws, July 1997
• Faculty, Georgia Basic Litigation Course for Prosecutors, 1993, 1994, 1996
• Faculty, DUI Advocacy Training Seminar for Prosecutors, 1993, 1994 - 1996
• Instructor, How to Try a DUI Case From the Prosecutor's Prospective, 1992, 1993
• Instructor, Misdemeanor Case Law Update, Prosecuting Attorney's Council Conference 1993
• Instructor, Traffic Law, Gwinnett Police Academy, 1992
• Co-Editor and Author, What Prosecutors Want the Police to Know About DUI, 1992 -  1994
• Panelist, The Layman's Lawyer TV program on DUI law, 1994

Significant Appeals and Famous Cases

Jessica is rated “AV,” the highest rating for professionalism and ethics by Martindale-Hubbell, a peer-reviewed achievement.  She gained national coverage in 1999 for two major cases in Georgia.  In the Izer case, laser-based speeding tickets were thrown out in the entire state based on Clark & Towne’s appeal.  The law was immediately changed to close the loophole.  In the Love case, Clark & Towne successfully challenged Georgia’s DUI-marijuana law.  While the original law is still on the books, it is unconstitutional, and most DUI-marijuana cases are now extremely difficult for prosecutors to win.  Jessica serves as co-counsel nationally on DUI-marijuana cases.

• SUDDUTH V. STATE, 288 GA. APP. 541 (2007) SUCCESSFULLY CHALLENGED SEARCH OF DRIVER'S POCKET; CONVICTION REVERSED AS SEARCH EXCEEDED PERMISSIBLE SCOPE OF PAT-DOWN SEARCH.
• LINDSEY V. STATE, 282 GA. APP. 644 (2006)  SUCCESSFULLY CHALLENGED CONVICTION ARISING FROM WARRANTLESS SEARCH OF MAN DETAINED PURSUANT TO A PROBATE COURT COMMITTAL ORDER.
• WILSON V. STATE, 272 GA. APP. 291 (2005) SUCCESSFULLY CHALLENGED DRUG CONVICTION OF CLIENT WHO ENDURED A "ROUTINE PAT-DOWN" BY AN OFFICER WHO DID NOT ESTABLISH THAT CLIENT WAS A THREAT TO OFFICER SAFETY OR INVOLVED IN THE DRUG TRADE.
• STATE V. KACHWALLA, 274 GA. 886 (2002) FURTHER CLARIFIED THE DUI STATUTES; THE COURT ULTIMATELY DECLARED THAT THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN "INCAPABLE OF DRIVING SAFELY" AND "LESS-SAFE TO DRIVE."
• LOVE V. STATE, 271 GA. 398, 517 S.E.2D 53 (1999)   SUCCESSFULLY CHALLENGED GEORGIA'S DUI LAW REGARDING DRIVING WITH "ANY AMOUNT OF A CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE OR MARIJUANA" IN BLOOD OR URINE, ON GROUNDS THAT STATE'S DISTINCTION BETWEEN LEGAL AND ILLEGAL USERS OF MARIJUANA DID NOT RELATE TO LEGISLATURE'S PURPOSE AND VIOLATED EQUAL PROTECTION.
• IZER V. STATE, 236 GA. APP. 282, 511 S.E.2D 625 (1999)    SUCCESSFULLY CHALLENGED THE USE OF LASER AS A SPEED DETECTION DEVICE.
• BROWN V. STATE,  268 GA. 76, 485 S.E.2D 486 (1997)    UNSUCCESSFULLY CHALLENGED THE STATUTORILY-CREATED HEARSAY EXCEPTION USE OF INSPECTION CERTIFICATES AS EVIDENCE THAT BREATH TESTING DEVICES HAVE ALL MANUFACTURER'S PARTS ATTACHED AND IN GOOD WORKING ORDER.