Perry J. McGuire, candidate for the Georgia Court of Appeals, was the 2006 Republican nominee for Georgia Attorney General. Perry served in the Georgia state Senate from 1993-96 as the first Republican elected to his district (Carroll, Douglas Counties). He served on the Special Judiciary (which deals with judicial issues), Appropriations, Transportation, Higher Education, Science and Technology committees. He did not run for re-election in 1996 in order to focus on his growing family.
As a rule-of-law lawmaker, Perry supported legislation to toughen the state’s child predator laws, lengthen mandatory minimum sentences for violent crimes, and to reform the state’s antiquated parole system. As a candidate for Attorney General, Perry supported rule-of-law, strict constructionist judicial views – and he continues to believe that judges should interpret the laws, not create them from the bench.
Perry’s legal experience is both practical and business-oriented. Serving as the founding and current chairman of the State Bar Franchise Section, Perry is a partner at Taylor, Busch, Slipakoff & Duma, a business and corporate law firm. Perry served as corporate counsel for Chick-fil-A from 1996-2004. He has two decades of experience in business and the law that governs it, which makes up a great number of the cases that come before the Georgia Court of Appeals. Unique among the 2008 candidates for the Court of Appeals, Perry’s extensive experience working with and for businesses includes consumer issues, business rights, contract disputes, tort issues, and the issues that arise from employer-employee relationships.
Perry has also had experience working in the juvenile justice and foster care programs in Georgia while assisting Truett Cathy’s WinShape Foundation and serving on the State Board of Juvenile Justice (Governor Perdue appointed Perry to this position in 2007). In addition, in his general practice while running for office and afterward, Perry has been involved in many diverse litigation matters.
Perry is a 1988 graduate of Georgia State University College of Law, where he served on the Moot Court Board. He graduated from Valdosta State University in 1981 with a BBA in Finance. He was a Dean’s List honoree, serving as president of the student government and was a member of the Omicron Delta Kappa Honor Society. He is a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity.
In addition to his current duties with the State Bar of Georgia and the State Board of Juvenile Justice, Perry’s other involvements have been: a former Board member of the National Council of Chain Restaurants; founding Board member of the Georgia Restaurant Association; American Bar Association Forum on Franchising; former Board member, Inner Harbour Hospital for Children; former Board member, Jesse Draper Boys and Girls Club. A fifth-generation Georgian, Perry and his wife Lauren have been married for 21 years and have four children. They attend First Baptist Church of Douglasville and teach Sunday School.