Patrick J. McDonough

Patrick J. McDonough is among the most sought after and accomplished criminal defense attorneys in the State of Georgia. He has received national attention from the media being featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Sports Illustrated, and Forbes as well as statewide recognition from the Atlanta Journal Constitution, the Atlanta Business Chronicle, Gwinnett Daily Post, WSB-TV, WXIA-TV, WAMZ(Macon)-TV, and 680 the Fan Radio. The Atlanta Business Chronicle recently dubbed Mr. McDonough a “legal legend in suburbia” after successfully exonerating Atlanta Falcon player, Jonathan Babineaux, from felony animal cruelty charges during the heated climate of Michael Vick’s guilty plea to similar charges. Mr. McDonough was recently named Georgia Super Lawyer by his peers in Atlanta Magazine.

Mr. McDonough heads up the criminal defense division for Andersen, Tate & Carr. His criminal practice includes both state and federal white-collar and general criminal defense. Mr. McDonough has extensive criminal trial experience. He has conducted over one hundred criminal jury and bench trials on allegations including complex fraud, money laundering, identity theft, drug trafficking, armed robbery, drug conspiracy, kidnapping, stalking, aggravated assault, arson, burglary, DUI, as well as death penalty murder. Prior to joining Andersen, Tate & Carr, Mr. McDonough was the District Attorney in the multi-county Cordele Judicial Circuit. While running the District Attorney’s Office, he had a 99.1% conviction rate. He was the youngest serving District Attorney in the State of Georgia. Prior to being appointed District Attorney, he served as an Assistant District Attorney for the Cordele Judicial Circuit.

Mr. McDonough has had the unique experience of serving along side each of the 48 Georgia District Attorneys’ Offices and three U.S. Attorneys’ Offices in the State of Georgia. These exclusive relationships and his unique experience allow Mr. McDonough to better understand a prosecutor’s mentality, to objectively evaluate each case, and create a customized strategic defense. In each case, his first objective is to prepare as if the case is going to trial but attempt to reach dismissal or positive solution behind the scenes holding a trial as a last resort.

Mr. McDonough is a faculty member for the Institute of Continuing Legal Education for their Georgia Trial Skills Clinic, which is taught at the University of Georgia School of Law. Mr. McDonough has served as a Special Assistant Attorney General for the State of Georgia.

Mr. McDonough is a member of the National Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys, the Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys, the State Bar of Georgia, the Gwinnett County Bar Association, and is a former Vice President of the Gwinnett County Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys. Mr. McDonough was a board member of the Georgia Innocence Project, which works to free falsely convicted people from prison through advances in DNA technology. He was also recently appointed to the Regional Commission on Homelessness, where he serves along side former Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin, Gwinnett County Commissioner Shirley Lasseter, and other prominent regional officials. Mr. McDonough is a board member of the Gwinnett County Chamber of Commerce, graduate of Leadership Gwinnett and is a board member for the Partnership Gwinnett Implementation Committee.