“Mo really came through for me from start to finish.”
About Attorney Mo Wiltshire
(706) 543-0002“I cannot say enough wonderful things about Mr. Wiltshire and his professional staff. They are not only on top of your case but also care about you and your family.”
Julie, 2016 Parent of a Client
“A great choice. Don’t hesitate. He’s worth every penny. ”
2015 Criminal Client Atlanta, GA
Morris “Mo” Wiltshire
Former prosecutor, Mo Wiltshire, is widely recognized as one of the top trial attorneys in the State of Georgia. Mo Wiltshire holds a peer review rating of AV Preeminent
from Martindale-Hubbell. This is the highest peer review rating. It reflects anonymous opinions gathered from judges, prosecutors and attorneys by Martindale-Hubbell, the oldest attorney peer review rating organization in the United States.
Mo has also been selected for membership in the National Association of Distinguished Counsel, an organization limited to the top one percent
of practicing attorneys in the United States.
Mo is one of the few attorneys in Georgia to have earned the Avvo rating “Superb”
scoring a perfect “10.0”
on their 10 point scale. Avvo is the world’s largest online attorney rating and review organization. Avvo has awarded Mo Wiltshire their highest rating in Criminal Defense, DUI Defense, Domestic Violence Defense
and in Wrongful Death Litigation.
In the Southeastern United States (GA, FL, MS, LA, TN, AL, SC, NC, VA), under 5% of practicing attorneys hold the top Avvo.com rating in even a single area of practice. In the State of Georgia, less than 1% of all attorneys are top rated “Superb” earning the top score of “10.0” in three or more categories of practice simultaneously. Mo Wiltshire is one of these very few highly rated attorneys.
Mo Wiltshire has been formally recognized by numerous additional national organizations for outstanding achievement and overall excellence as a trial attorney and advocate for his clients. He has earned his reputation as one of the very best trial attorneys in the State.
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In addition to his other honors, Mo Wiltshire is one of the only lawyers in Georgia to be recognized as a Life Member
of the Trial Masters. Membership in the Trial Masters organization is only open to attorneys who have very substantial certified jury trial experience. Mo holds a ranking as a “Top 10 Defense Attorney”
in the State of Georgia from The National Academy of Criminal Defense Attorneys.
Mo was selected as one of the “Top 100 Criminal Defense Lawyers”
in the State of Georgia by The American Society of Legal Advocates and as a “Top 100 Trial Lawyer”
by The National Trial Lawyers group. Mo has also been recognized as one of the “Best DUI Attorneys in the Nation”
by the National Advocacy for DUI Defense.
Mo Wiltshire is an Affiliate Attorney
for the Armed Citizens Legal Defense Network an organization focused on shielding its membership from unwarranted prosecution by providing access to the top attorneys and experts in the field of self defense law and practice.
Mo was very pleased to be honored for his many happy clients as one of the 10 Best Criminal Defense Lawyers in Georgia for Client Satisfaction
for 2014, 2015, 2016 and again in 2017 by the American Institute of Criminal Law Attorneys. He has been selected for a Client’s Choice Award
from AVVO for outstanding client service winning this award for five years in a row.
As a former felony prosecutor and a former DUI prosecutor in his 25th year of law practice, Mo Wiltshire has seen every type of criminal case in the court system. His prosecution insider background, along with having tried well over a hundred jury trials, establishes that Mo Wiltshire possesses a breadth and depth of experience that is very difficult to find elsewhere. During his service as Solicitor-General, he was commissioned to lead the office charged with the prosecution of DUI offenses in Athens. When his term as Solicitor-General expired, he joined the law firm that became Prior, Daniel & Wiltshire and resumed the private practice of law.
Mo Wiltshire maintains a heavy focus on jury trials in his law practice, including regular and extensive criminal jury trial work in courts throughout Georgia and the Southeast. The practice is limited to criminal defense, and self defense focusing on trial work and on select serious personal injury litigation.
Mo enjoys getting to meet so many good people in his practice and as the government aggressively enforces often over-broad laws he seems to meet more and more every year. Mo has learned to a certainty that the right attorney can make all the difference. He takes to heart the guiding principle of his practice “helping good people in big trouble all over Georgia.”
If he agrees to represent you, Mo will be personally responsible for your case. Your case is no place for on the job training for newly minted attorneys. Unlike at some law firms, when it comes time for your day in court you will not be handed off to a junior associate. While our staff is very talented and capable we know you are hiring Mo Wiltshire for his help. You should expect and will receive the benefit of his many years of winning experience, unique insight and powerful skill set.
With his services in high demand, Mo stays very busy, but because Mo does not take on every case he is offered, he has the time and resources necessary to provide the level of help you need and deserve for your case. Every case does not require a jury trial, but if you need a trial you must have a great lawyer...if you want to win. It is the skill, experience, ability, force of will and talent to win for his clients that separates the good lawyer from the great lawyer.
(706) 543 0002
Early Roots
Mo was blessed to be born into a hardworking, joyous and loving family of cotton and soybean farmers in the Mississippi Delta in the 1960's.
Immediate and extended family lived close. Early in life, he learned firsthand the pride of accomplishment from hard work and careful planning that successful agriculture naturally engenders. He also learned the hard lessons of the results of challenging circumstances as his family faced the fiscal realities of farming in those times.
His family gave up farming and moved two counties north to Desoto County, Mississippi, where Mo spent his teenage years. His Mother, a dedicated career public school teacher, impressed upon him the vital importance of learning. His father taught Mo respect for others, self-reliance and many other useful skills. The immediate family along with uncles, aunts and grandparents actively provided love, guidance and encouragement for which he will forever be grateful. Both his grandfathers served in World War II and were strong positive influences.
Growing up, Mo learned the value of cultivating friendship and celebrating family. He developed a love of reading and learning, an earnest desire to succeed in all endeavors and a strong will to compete effectively both in sports and academics. There were no attorneys in the family - farmers and truck drivers and school teachers - but no attorneys. As a kid and a teenager, Mo did all kinds of work in all kinds of jobs from farm chores, cutting firewood, roofing houses and unloading container trucks to washing dishes, waiting tables, and tending bar while in college. This background served as the seed that grew to become a career as a dedicated jury trial litigator.
Education
Mo graduated cum laude from Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi in 1991 becoming the first Wiltshire male to earn a college degree in living memory. College days at this academically focused liberal arts institution included much learning, growth and maturing. Mo was active on campus in academic, athletic and social life. As a member of the Alpha Mu Chapter of the Kappa Alpha Order he was surrounded by students who had strong records of achievement and whose parents and grandparents were doctors, attorneys and leaders in their communities. It was during college at Millsaps that he realized that the profession that suited his aptitude, temperament, and competitive spirit could be found in the courtroom.
As he began to seriously consider law school, Mo was honored to receive a partial academic scholarship to enroll at the University of Georgia School of Law. He visited Athens and fell in love with our town and our school. Mo received his J.D. Degree from the University of Georgia School of Law in 1994. His law school honors include being named to The Order of Barristers.
"Quite simply, Mo is one of the best trial attorneys in the State."
- Judge Ralph W. Powell
Practice, Politics and Prosecution
Mo was admitted to the Georgia Bar in 1994 and began his legal career serving as an Assistant District Attorney in Cherokee and Forsyth counties in the North Metro Atlanta area. His duties involved a heavy caseload of felony jury trial work. After several years as a prosecutor, he had learned all he could in that post and felt the need to expand his horizons beyond government service. Mo was offered a timely chance to return to Athens, which he gladly accepted. He began the private practice of law focusing on civil and criminal cases requiring litigation.
After roughly a decade of successful private law practice, Mo Wiltshire was appointed by then Chief Judge Joseph E. Gaines to a high profile murder case. Even though that case resulted in a famous win for Mo and an acquittal for the accused, Mo was not at all pleased with several aspects of the government’s approach to the prosecution of that case.
Based upon what he saw in that case, Mo felt compelled to challenge the status quo and run against the sitting District Attorney. Mo Wiltshire ran for election to the post of District Attorney and was selected as the Republican Party Nominee for District Attorney for Athens-Clarke and Oconee County in 2004.
Mo was endorsed by the Police Benevolent Association of Georgia, Inc., the Athens-Banner Herald, and the Athens Daily News during the election. Although Mo carried one of the two counties in our judicial circuit, he was unsuccessful in the effort to unseat the incumbent Democrat. After the election, Mo resumed his service as a prosecutor when he was appointed by Governor Sonny Perdue as Solicitor-General for Athens-Clarke County and served in that post until 2007. As Solicitor-General, Mo Wiltshire was the head DUI and Domestic Violence Prosecutor in Athens and oversaw the office charged with prosecuting all misdemeanor offenses in the State Court. In 2007, when his term as Solicitor-General expired, Mo resumed the private practice of law. During his years in service as a prosecutor, Mo Wiltshire sought not merely to convict the guilty, but to do justice in each case. This philosophy ought to guide all attorneys and especially our prosecutors.
Service in the Community
Mo currently serves in many leadership roles in the community, including as the Special Prosecutor to both the Athens-Clarke County Coroner’s Office and the Oconee County Coroner’s Office in Inquests and Death Investigations. He serves as an Instructor for the Athens-Clarke County Police Department in the department’s New Officer Investigation Courses.
He also serves as a Faculty Member
for the Georgia Institute of Continuing Legal Education in the Gary Christy Memorial Georgia Trial Skills Clinic training and mentoring other attorneys to improve their courtroom ability. Mo is a member of the Georgia Bar Association, The Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the Western Circuit Bar Association and other such law related organizations.
Mo Wiltshire is an Affiliate Attorney
for the Armed Citizens Legal Defense Network an organization focused on providing its membership with access to the top attorneys and experts in the field of self defense.
Mo is often called upon to provide expert commentary and analysis for local and regional news media and has been featured in the Athens Banner-Herald, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Flagpole Magazine, Scout.com, WGAU, WSB and others. Mo frequently meets with civic groups and social organizations helping them avoid legal trouble regarding Underage Alcohol Consumption, DUI and Liability Issues.
Mo has served as the Co-Chair
of the Athens-Oconee Domestic Violence Task Force, with the American Cancer Society Relay for Life, as a Judge for many Mock Trial and Moot Court competitions sponsored by the Georgia Bar Association, and as the Attorney’s chair of the United Way of Northeast Georgia, Doctors v. Lawyers Basketball Challenge. Mo has served as a panelist for Safe Campuses Now and as a board member for UGA Designated Dawgs (a DUI prevention charity).
A Look to the Future
As we move into 2019 and beyond Mo Wiltshire has been practicing law for 25 years. In this next 25 years the plan will remain to thrive in this law practice so that Mo can continue to help good people all over Georgia. Everyday to serve and champion his clients as if each of them were lifelong friends while making sure that people have a clear, persuasive and effective voice speaking for them in our court system.
In his law practice Mo Wiltshire will foster our relationships, enhance our reputation and deliver outstanding results. We will maintain and enhance our role as a voice for the injured and the unjustly harmed as we continue to be the most effective check on government power available to the citizens of our State.
Personal Notes
Mo Wiltshire loves Blues music and good fiction. He is a huge Georgia and SEC sports fan as well as an avid hunter and fisherman. He enjoys a good story told around a campfire of an evening. Mo is a life member of the NRA and a committed advocate for second amendment rights and for the rights of citizens to be free from unwarranted governmental intrusion.
Mo Wiltshire has represented people from all walks and stations of life. For each of his clients from business owners and executives, college athletes, law enforcement officers, doctors, nurses, preachers, school teachers, professors, attorneys, farmers, bankers, judges, truck drivers and elected officials to ESPN analysts, NFL players, authors, musicians, students and paupers, Mo believes our court system can and must work for everyone. He knows the system works especially well if you have the right lawyer.
Mo resides in Athens and is married to the lovely former Hope Vance of Athens and has three daughters Mia, Lila and Charlotte.