Vanessa E. Sykes

Vanessa Sykes joined the firm in September of 2011 and has practiced law for over 18 years. She began her law career in 2001 as the staff attorney for the Honorable C. Andrew Fuller, the Chief Judge of the Superior Courts of Hall and Dawson Counties. As a staff attorney, Vanessa worked on all areas of civil litigation, domestic matters and criminal cases.

In 2006, Vanessa joined the Hall County District Attorney’s Office as an Assistant District Attorney, where she oversaw a wide variety of felony matters, ranging from drug distribution charges to murder cases. During her five years as an ADA, Vanessa tried more than 30 cases before juries, and handled a number of appeals before the Supreme Court of Georgia and Georgia Court of Appeals.

In 2011, Vanessa transitioned to the firm to pursue her goal of developing a domestic relations practice, and to use her extensive litigation experience in the civil arena.  Vanessa focuses primarily on divorce, child custody and child support actions, and she also serves as a Guardian ad Litem for children in custody actions, upon appointment of the Superior and/or Juvenile Courts.  Vanessa lends a sympathetic ear to her clients and vigorously advocates on their behalf in court.

Vanessa also remains committed to her work on behalf of crime victims, and to that end, she has served on the board of Gateway Domestic Violence Shelter since 2014, including service as Board President in 2018 and serves on the board of the Lanier Canoe and Kayak Center.  Previously, she served on the Board of Directors for the Children’s Center for Hope and Healing from 2009 – 2013  She is a member of the Gainesville-Northeast Georgia Bar Association, the Orr Inn of Court, and the Greater Hall County Chamber of Commerce.