George H. Carley

George Holmes Carley (September 24, 1938 – November 26, 2020) was an American lawyer and judge. From Decatur, Georgia, he served on the Supreme Court of Georgia from March 1993 until July 2012, acting as Chief Justice for the last two months of his term.

Early life and career Carley was born in Jackson, Mississippi, in 1938, the only child of George L. Carley Jr. and Dorothy Holmes Carley. His family moved to Decatur, Georgia, in 1948. His father was a member of the United States Public Health Service and while posted in Burma, Carley attended the eighth and ninth grades at the Woodstock School in Mussoorie, India, from 1951 to 1953.

Carley was admitted to the bar in 1961 and for three months served in the title department at the Atlanta law firm of Hansell, Post, Brandon & Dorsey before quitting and returning to Decatur, where he practiced from 1963 until becoming a judge in 1979. In his retention elections, he never faced opposition. At the end of 2011, Chief Justice Carol Hunstein asked the Associate Justices to allow her to step down so that Carley could serve out the rest of his term as chief justice. The Associate Justices voted unanimously in favor of Huntstein's gesture. Carley officially delivered his resignation to Deal on February 3, 2012, announcing his retirement effective July 17.

On May 29, 2012, Carley was sworn in as the 29th Chief Justice of the Georgia Supreme Court. At his investiture, all six living former chief justices were in attendance: Hunstein, Robert Benham, Harold Clarke, Norman Fletcher, Willis Hunt and Leah Ward Sears. Prior to retiring, Carley stated that he hoped to become a private mediator or arbitrator or a senior trial judge after leaving the Court.