J. Michael Bass, Attorney

PERSONAL INFO
Mike Bass was raised in Valdosta by Gary L. Bass, former mathematics professor and Director of Admissions at Valdosta State, and Betty M. Thackrey, former home economics teacher in the Lowndes County School System. He has two brothers, Gary and Mark Bass. 
 
EDUCATION
Mike was educated in the Valdosta and Lowndes County public school system, and graduated from Valdosta High School in 1981. He attended Valdosta State College and graduated in 1983 with an Associate of Arts degree and in 1985 with a B.A. in Philosophy. At Valdosta State University he was a member of TKE fraternity. He then attended the University Of Georgia School Of Law and received a J.D. in 1988. While in law school he worked for the law firm of Winburn, Lewis and Barrow. Mike has this to say about working for Mr. Winburn: "My two years working with him gave me the experience I needed to actually hit the ground running in the practice of law. He took time out of his busy schedule on a weekly if not daily basis to teach his clerks the nuts and bolts of trial practice. This was something from which he drew no benefit other than the satisfaction of our learning. I owe him a debt of gratitude that I will never be able to repay." Mike sat for and passed the Georgia Bar examination in 1988.

In 1993, Mike attended the National Criminal Defense College at Mercer University in Macon, Georgia. This is an intensive two-week hands-on training program for lawyers devoted to the defense of citizens charged with crimes. The instructors at the National Criminal Defense College are the finest criminal defense lawyers in America. Generally, if you see a lawyer commentating on television regarding criminal cases, he is also a likely NCDC instructor. Not only was he deeply honored to learn and train with these great defense attorneys, he also learned strategies and tactics for trying cases which changed his entire philosophy regarding preparation and trial of all cases.
 
 
CAREER
1988-1989 - Clerk for Superior Court Judges Willard Chason and Wallace Cato in the South Georgia Judicial Circuit. Based in Cairo at the time, this clerkship gave him the valuable experience of constantly seeing a variety of lawyers come before the court to practice. He not only observed and learned from them, but Mike also assisted the Judges with research and decision making.
1989-1991 - Mike worked a year and a half as the Assistant Solicitor in Clarke County State Court in Athens, GA. He prosecuted misdemeanor crimes through trial and appeal. Mike tried over 100 bench and jury trials in this time. While he never desired to be a prosecutor, he did find the experience to be very valuable as it taught him something about the prosecutorial mindset and it also gave him valuable hands on trial experience.

1991-present - In 1991, Mike began working with Mr. Closson in the practice he had already established in Valdosta. He began his career in private practice finding his way to the type of law he desired to practice. As a young lawyer new to private practice, he had no clients and accepted nearly any type of case that walked in the door. This gave him great experience in a vast number of areas. As time went by, he settled on three basic areas of law. He now only handles criminal defense, workers' compensation cases for claimants and domestic cases. The Firms basic philosophy throughout the practice is that it is difficult for a lawyer to master many areas of law. They try to limit their practices to a few basic areas so that they do have a mastery of the types of cases they handle. In the criminal arena, he has handled every type of criminal case from a minor traffic ticket to a death penalty murder trial. He has tried numerous cases to a verdict before a jury. In the field of workers' compensation, he has provided comprehensive representation to those injured on the job for fourteen years. He also handle all types of domestic work including cases involving divorce, child custody, child support, and other issues pertaining to divorce or family law. He does not handle adoption cases.
 
 
PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
A member of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (past area vice president) and the founder of the Valdosta Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (Inaugural president). He is a member of the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association and the Workers' Compensation Section of the State Bar of Georgia. He is also a member of the legal committee for the National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML).
 
PERSONAL INTERESTS
I have a deep love of music though I am not musically talented. This love of music has been with me since I was a small child playing my brother's Beatles records. Although I love all types of music, I am an avid blues fan and I travel around the south to hear good music when I have time. I make a yearly trip to the Mississippi delta to soak up the heart and soul of the blues from the cotton fields that abound there. I am also a lifelong Atlanta Falcons fan. Other interests include reading, politics, art, golf, sports, and travel.