404-809-2394Samia Giddings
Attorney Giddings is a native Atlantan and is one of seven siblings. She is a proud HBCU graduate of the Atlanta University Center having received her B.A. Degree in Criminal Justice with a minor in English from Morris Brown College. Samia started her legal career with the Dade County Public Defender’s Office under the third-year law student practice act in Miami Florida. After graduating from St. Thomas University School of Law, she returned home and in 1996, after passing the bar exam the first time, she was sworn in as a member of the State Bar of Georgia and currently holds admissions to practice in the Georgia Court of Appeals, Supreme Court of Georgia, U.S. District Court, Northern–Middle-Southern Districts of Georgia, and U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. She holds a Master of Divinity Degree from Henry McNeil Turner Theological Seminary @ The Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta, Georgia and a Doctorate of Ministry Degree, concentrating in Pastoral Care and Counseling from Payne Theological Seminary in Wilberforce, Ohio.
After opening and running her own private law practice, where she began practicing family law cases involving divorce, legitimation, paternity, custody, child support, last will and testaments, powers of attorney, and criminal defense, Attorney Giddings accepted a position with the City Court of Atlanta, Public Defender’s Office serving for three and a half years. From there Attorney Giddings worked in the Fulton County State and Magistrate Court System as a Public Defender for more than twenty years.
As a senior attorney of the Georgia Public Defenders Standards Council, Metro Division of Fulton County she celebrated her 20th anniversary with the office on October 2, 2022, while serving as a staff member for State & Magistrate Court Division of the Fulton County Public Defender’s Office, accepting this position after the close of the Georgia Public Defenders Council Metro Division of Fulton County.
From November of 2022 to December of 2023, she served as a Sr. Attorney and lead trial attorney with the Office of the Solicitor General, Fulton County where she celebrated 30 years as a civil servant in public service to the legal profession in 2023. In December of 2023, Attorney Giddings was afforded the opportunity to accept a position with the District Attorney’s Office of Fulton County where she served as an Assistant District Attorney. Her first two years with the office she served as lead counsel and community liaison between the D.A.’s Office and citizens of the community implementing use of a $1 million grant to foster positive relationships between law enforcement, youth, and adults. She was also assigned to work in the Juvenile Court Division, overseeing CHINS cases (Children In Need of Services) for truant students; prosecuting parents who violated protective orders relating to the Truancy of their children.
Samia is the mother of Ashaunti’ Emily Patrice Giddings Samms and in her spare time, if she is not preaching, teaching Bible Study or Sunday School serving as Executive Pastor of First A.M.E. (African Methodist Episcopal) Church in Atlanta, she is an avid reader of all genres, a culinary artist who loves to bake, and enjoys watching old black and white films, spending time with family, her fur babies Max, Creed, and Silky, listening to all genres of music; classical and gospel being her favorite and heavy metal not so much, and ministering through and teaching liturgical dance and lyrical ballet.
Serving people, helping families, children and the elderly is her life’s passion, purpose and ministry to which she has devoted her life in the legal and ministerial professions. Samia’s personal motto in life is this; “Living isn’t about learning to survive the storms of life, for storms will come and storms will go, living is about learning to joyously dance in the rain!” “For God’s plan for your life will never take you to a place where His grace won’t cover and protect you!”