Jenn Coalson
Jennifer Coalson is a trial lawyer and partner at Parks, Chesin & Walbert, P.C., where she specializes in women’s rights, civil rights, whistleblower protections, and other complex civil cases in a wide array of different practice areas. Jenn’s litigation experience includes all stages of trial preparation, trial, and appeal in both state and federal courts. She has also counseled clients through pre-trial negotiations and settlement discussions, mediation and arbitration proceedings, administrative hearings, and investigations. Jenn knows that the hallmark of a great trial lawyer is the ability to achieve success—as defined by the client—regardless of the nature of the lawsuit. She regularly takes on cases that other attorneys are unwilling or unable to pursue.
Jenn began her legal career defending insurance companies and medical providers, but it was switching to a plaintiffs’ practice that helped her discover her passion for representing individuals who have been discriminated or retaliated against, seriously injured or killed as a result of someone else’s negligence, or victims of abuse, sexual assault, or civil-rights violations. In addition, Jenn continues to use her experience as a business litigator representing corporations and business owners in cases involving business torts, government contract procurement, and false claims and government fraud. Jenn is also a lawyer’s lawyer: she has represented attorneys in disciplinary proceedings, consulted with other lawyers about civil rights issues that arise in their cases, and assisted attorneys navigate Georgia’s state and federal courts by serving as local counsel to lawyers from across the country.
Presently, Jenn leads Parks, Chesin & Walbert’s women’s rights practice, focusing a substantial portion of her practice on the representation of women who have experienced discrimination or retaliation in employment or education, sexual harassment, sexual assault, or abuse. Since 2017, a series of high-profile sexual harassment and assault allegations against celebrities like Harvey Weinstein, Bill O’Reilly, Kevin Spacey, Bill Cosby, Matt Lauer, Brett Kavanaugh, R. Kelly, and others has drawn much-needed attention to the prevalence of the mistreatment of women, particularly (though not exclusively) in the workplace. The growth of the #MeToo movement has encouraged more women to come forward and report past and ongoing incidents of harassment and sexual assault. An outspoken advocate for these women, Jenn is one of the leading women’s rights attorneys in Georgia.
Jenn has graduated from leadership academies put on by the State Bar of Georgia’s Younger Lawyers Division and the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association (GTLA), and she co-chaired the GTLA leadership academy for the two years following her graduation from that program. She has been selected four times as a “rising star,” an honor reserved for no more than 2.5% of Georgia attorneys, and twice as a member of Georgia’s “legal elite.” She serves as a member of GTLA’s executive committee, and she is also involved with the American Association for Justice, the Southern Trial Lawyers Association, the Atlanta Bar Association, the National Employment Lawyers Association, and the Lawyers Club of Atlanta, among other professional organizations. Jenn is a frequent speaker at continuing legal education seminars and has published numerous articles about trial practice, advocacy, and various legal theories. Jenn is licensed to practice in Georgia’s trial and appellate courts as well as the United States District Courts for the Northern, Middle, and Southern Districts of Georgia. In addition to her experience in private practice, Jenn previously served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Timothy C. Batten, Sr., a United States District Judge for the Atlanta and Newnan Divisions of the Northern District of Georgia.
Born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, Jenn is a proud graduate of Fulton County Schools. She obtained her undergraduate degree in economics and history from Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina before returning to Georgia to attend the University of Georgia School of Law, where she served on the editorial board of the Georgia Journal of International and Comparative Law before graduating with honors. Outside of the office, Jenn lives in Atlanta’s Buckhead community with her blind dog, travels as much as work permits, and enjoys volunteering with charitable and political organizations such as the Arthritis Foundation, the Atlanta Community Food Bank, and the Georgia Democratic Party.
