Hawkins Parnell & Young is pleased to announce the election of Christine L. Mast as managing partner, effective October 12. Christine is the first woman to serve as managing partner in the firm’s nearly 60-year history. She succeeds Jack N. Sibley, who held the role since 2018.

“Christine has been a leader in Hawkins Parnell and involved in the management and day-to-day operations for many years,” said Jack. “Her election to managing partner marks an exciting moment for the firm and its future. Her thoughtful and strategic leadership will continue to benefit our clients, employees, and partners immensely.”

“I am thankful to Jack for his dedication to this firm and to my partners for their support and confidence in me,” added Christine. “It has been my good fortune to spend my entire career here and learn from many brilliant and skilled litigators. I also recognize the significance of being the first female managing partner at a time when Hawkins Parnell women are leaders in both the firm and their fields nationwide. It’s exciting to take on this role, especially with three women on the executive committee, another first for us.”

In 1991, Christine was recruited to the firm for a summer clerkship and began practice as an associate the next year. She was elected to the partnership in 1999 and has been a leader of Hawkins Parnell’s professional liability and legal malpractice teams. Christine also serves as a member of the firm’s executive committee and as its general counsel.

Outside of the firm, Christine is currently the vice-chair of the Association of Defense Trial Attorneys’ Diversity and Inclusion Committee and Chair of ALFA International’s Professional Liability Practice Group. She was a founding member of the State Bar of Georgia’s Professional Liability Section. She has also served as an adjunct professor at Emory University School of Law and regularly lectures on lawyer risk management, ethics, and abusive litigation.

Christine represents other lawyers and law firms faced with malpractice claims and lawsuits, and disciplinary, licensing, and ethics issues. She was named as one of Georgia’s top 100 lawyers in 2019 and 2020 and one of the top 50 women lawyers 11 times by Super Lawyers. She was selected by Best Lawyers as Lawyer of the Year for Atlanta in 2021 for Professional Malpractice Law Defense and in Legal Malpractice Law Defense in 2015. Christine is a fellow in the Litigation Counsel of America, a trial lawyer honorary society representing less than one-half of one percent of American lawyers.

Christine earned her law degree from the University of North Carolina School of Law and her undergraduate degree, with high honors, from the University of Illinois.