Firm Wins Case Against Chatham County Probate Judge

John Monroe Law, P.C. won a case in the Superior Court of Chatham County against Thomas C. Bordeaux, Jr., the judge of the Probate Court of Chatham County. Bordeaux had denied the firm’s client a weapons carry license based solely on a misdemeanor assault conviction in another state in the 1970s. There is nothing in the record indicating that the assault qualified as a “misdemeanor crime of domestic violence,” which under federal law would prohibit the client from possessing firearms. The Superior Court ruled that, because the criteria for obtaining a license are “listed in the negative,” meaning an applicant is deemed eligible for a license unless he meets one of the “prohibitors” on the list, the client was eligible and it was error for Bordeaux to deny the application. The Superior Court gave the client an opportunity to file a motion for attorney’s fees, as provided for by statute.