Earnelle P. Winfrey is an attorney with more than 19 years of litigation experience and has established a record of excellence through her work ethic, legal scholarship, and trial advocacy skills. Ms. Winfrey obtained her Juris Doctorate from Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School and obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Clark Atlanta University. Ms. Winfrey has significant experience handling complex criminal felony cases and high-profile matters both as a prosecutor and a criminal defense attorney. Before joining District Attorney Fani Willis’ administration, Ms. Winfrey was a staff attorney to the Honorable Arch W. McGarity, former Chief Judge of the Flint Judicial Circuit. After leaving that post, Ms. Winfrey joined the law firm of Smith, Welch, and Brittain, LLP, where she excelled at handling both civil and criminal cases, including but not limited to, representing municipal corporations and governmental entities. Then, Ms. Winfrey opened her own law practice wherein she handled complex, high-profile cases on behalf of her clients. In her capacity as General Counsel, she became a trusted advisor to business executives and boards of directors by providing litigation management and corporate compliance advice.
Ms. Winfrey also has extensive experience representing the State of Georgia in criminal prosecutions, having served the last three years as a prosecutor in the Atlanta Judicial Circuit. While initially serving as an Assistant District Attorney for the Non-complex Trial Division, Ms. Winfrey handled hundreds of felony cases from start to finish. Then Ms. Winfrey was promoted to Senior Assistant District Attorney and was assigned to the Crimes Against Women and Children and the Human Trafficking Units wherein she handled human trafficking and rape prosecutions. As Ms. Winfrey continued to soar in her experience and expertise in the area of Human Trafficking, Ms. Winfrey was promoted to Chief Senior Assistant District Attorney of the Human Trafficking Unit of the Office of the Fulton County District Attorney. During her rise through the District Attorney’s Office, Ms. Winfrey was recognized and named as one of the 100 Most Powerful and Influential Women in Georgia by Women Looking Ahead Magazine. In addition, Ms. Winfrey serves on the Georgia Statewide Human Trafficking Task Force and was recently named to the newly formed Coalition to Combat Human Trafficking Task Force through the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council of Georgia. Ms. Winfrey is also a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated.
From judicial understudy to handling complex civil litigation and criminal defense and prosecution, Ms. Winfrey is a proven trial attorney in the Superior Courts of this state and now employs her litigation experience, tenacious work ethic, and legal scholarship to serve the citizens of our community through District Attorney Willis’ Administration.