Embattled pro-Trump attorney Lin Wood’s ties to Mercer law school spark controversy
Mercer University is getting pressure to cut ties with one of its law school donors who filed a series of lawsuits challenging the 2020 presidential election and promoted conspiracy theories on social media.
Tweets by attorney and Mercer law grad Lin Wood, including one that claimed former Vice President Mike would “face execution by firing squad,” have been widely criticized.
Wood also tweeted that Gov. Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger would be jailed and suggested Republicans not vote in the Jan. 5 Senate runoff election. His Twitter account has since been suspended.
The legal website Above The Law was among the first to report an outcry over the fact that a mock courtroom at Mercer is named for Wood, an Atlanta attorney raised in Macon. Five years ago, Wood committed $1 million in his name to enhance the Mercer Law School.
“At this point,” an Above The Law reporter wrote, “the school has to wonder if a $1 million commitment is worth having your classroom named after a lawyer who just advocated for the assassination of the vice president on social media.”
Some of the comments the article noted included a call for Mercer to “rename the courtroom. Give the money back and do the right thing. It’s not worth it to be on the wrong side of history.”
Mercer ‘aware of the matter’
A law school spokeswoman on Tuesday told The Telegraph by email that the school was “not accepting media interviews,” but added the school was aware of the matter: “We have heard from people expressing a range of opinions on Lin Wood’s donor recognition at the law school, but no action has been taken relative to that recognition. We have nothing further to say about the matter at this time.”
The Mercer student newspaper, The Cluster, published an article about a Friday video-conference call that Cathy Cox, the law school’s dean, hosted “to address Wood’s controversies” and how “unbeknownst to the participants of the call ... Wood was listening in.”
The article noted that Cox “spent several minutes discussing her history with Wood and thoughts regarding his behavior. She mentioned that they have had a friendly relationship for many years despite their differing political beliefs.”
The write-up went on to quote Cox saying, “I have observed noticeable changes in (Wood’s) conduct and behavior over the last year that concern me for his wellness. ... Since the summer, his Twitter account just went from the super-charged Trump supporter to the angry Trump supporter to the insane to the violent.”
Cox was said to have mentioned that Wood had what was described in the article as “a strained relationship with his family,” something that was noted in a mid-December article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
At some point, the Cluster article said, Wood chimed in on Cox’s call, firing back at her, saying, “I challenge you because you are not telling the truth. You have slandered me in this meeting. I’m ashamed that you would do that behind my back. ... I think you and Mercer University ... are jeopardizing the integrity of your school and the integrity of our profession.”
Wood previously represented Richard Jewell
Prior to his recent splashes in the media, Wood was perhaps best known for his representation of Richard Jewell. He has also had the parents of JonBenét Ramsey and former Congressman Gary Condit as clients.
Wood’s ties to Macon date to his childhood, which was mentioned in a 1997 Vanity Fair article that profiled Wood’s handling of Jewell’s case in the wake of the Atlanta Olympic park bombing:
“Wood possessed the smooth style of a member of the Atlanta establishment, but he had a hardscrabble past. He was a boy from ‘the wrong side of the tracks’ in Macon who at age 17 discovered his mother’s body after his father had murdered her. His father went to jail, and Wood wound up as a lawyer. He went through college and law school on scholarships and with part-time jobs.”
In a 2007 interview with The Telegraph, Wood spoke some of his legal philosophy — and his ego.
“My candid approach to litigation: It’s a war. ... You’re not involved to make friends,” he said.
“At the end of the day, it’s not about me. It’s about my clients. But yet in order to, I think, effectively advocate for my clients in the court of public opinion or in a court of law, I think it’s got to come from someone who has a lot of ego.”
He was not particularly outspoken, at least publicly, on matters of politics at the time.
That changed, particularly leading up to the 2020 presidential election.
This story was originally published January 29, 2021 at 5:00 AM.