Lin Wood hit with $11 million verdict in battle with former law firm partners

Rosie Manins, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on May 15, 2025

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ATLANTA — A Fulton County jury returned an $11.4 million verdict Thursday against prominent former Atlanta attorney Lin Wood, finding him liable for contract breach and fraud in his yearslong battle with former colleagues over the division of client fees.

Wood is a one-time political candidate and an outspoken ally of President Donald Trump who made a career representing high-profile clients in defamation cases, including the parents of slain child beauty pageant queen JonBenét Ramsey and Centennial Olympic Park hero Richard Jewell.

The jurors found Wood breached a March 2020 agreement with former colleagues Nicole Wade, Taylor Wilson and Jonathan Grunberg by failing to pay them just over $1 million in client fees and by publicly disparaging them. The jurors, who deliberated for two hours, also held Wood liable for fraud in relation to his contractual promises.

“I’m disappointed with the verdict,” Wood said. “But I respect it.”

Just over $5.1 million in damages was awarded to compensate Wade, Wilson and Grunberg. The jurors also determined Wood must pay $5 million in additional damages designed to punish and deter his behavior, as well as almost $1.3 million for the plaintiffs’ attorney fees and litigation costs.

“We’re very pleased with the verdict,” Drew Beal, an attorney for the plaintiffs, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “It was a lengthy trial with a lot of documents and the jury paid close attention.”

Wood already owes more than $4.6 million to Wade, Wilson and Grunberg from previous judgments in their five-year legal battle stemming from the trio’s departure from Wood’s law firm in early 2020.

Wade, Wilson and Grunberg argued Wood had acted in bad faith. The jury agreed, finding Wood intended to cause harm.

The verdict ends a nine-day trial in which Wood accused Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee of being a “biased freemason” and McAfee said Wood was “essentially unmanageable.” Those comments came outside the presence of the jury Wednesday morning as Wood sought a mistrial, which McAfee denied.

Wood said McAfee had gutted his defense days before trial and unfairly admonished him in front of the jurors. He said he was being subjected to a “freemason tribunal” as well as attempts to make him seem racist in front of the predominantly Black jurors.

Wood’s ownership of the multimillion-dollar former Tomotley Plantation, which spans more than 1,000 acres in South Carolina, was mentioned multiple times during the trial by the plaintiffs’ attorneys as well as Wood.

McAfee said his treatment of Wood, who had repeatedly denied his orders during trial, was “fully justified.”

Grunberg and Wilson cried in court as the verdict was read aloud by the jury foreperson. They said in their complaint they left Wood’s firm because of his erratic and threatening behavior toward them.

Wood published statements referring to the plaintiffs as “thieves,” “liars,” “backstabbers” and “children of the devil,” case records show. He encouraged his hundreds of thousands of followers on social media to lodge complaints against Wade, Wilson and Grunberg, calling them criminal extortionists.

Shortly before suing Wood and his firm in August 2020, Wade, Wilson and Grunberg offered to settle their client fee grievance against him for $1.25 million, case records show.

Wood, who gave up his law license to end a misconduct investigation, represented himself at trial with assistance from Atlanta attorney John Exum, a lawyer of two years.

Wood testified Tuesday he always intended to honor the 2020 agreement with Wade, Wilson and Grunberg, who he loved. He said he wanted them to succeed, though they demanded more than they had earned and insulted and mistreated him.

“They turned on me like a snake,” he said. “I feel sorry for them. And every night, by name, I pray for them.”

Wood said the lawsuit filed against him by Wade, Wilson and Grunberg in August 2020 was “outrageous” and included “salacious” allegations. He said he is not proud of the “rough profanity” he used against them.

“I’m hot-blooded,” Wood told the jurors.

Beal said Wood’s own words showed his hatred for the trio. Beal played recordings of Wood’s expletive-laden language toward the plaintiffs during his closing argument.

“It’s more than just he cursed at them, he lost his temper at some point,” Beal told the jurors Wednesday. “This is a systemic pattern of hatred. He hated them enough to extort them. And he hated them enough to commit fraud.”

Beal said Wood tried to destroy the plaintiffs, likely because they had the courage to stand up to him and leave his firm, where they had been partners since 2018.

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