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By Lawrence J. Zimmerman | September 8, 2026

Attorney Lawrence Zimmerman, known for his defense of Leanna Taylor and the I-85 bridge fire case, has joined the board of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

Lawrence J. Zimmerman has been elected to the board of directors of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, adding a national platform to a career built on some of Atlanta’s most closely watched cases. Zimmerman represented Leanna Taylor, formerly Leanna Harris, the mother of Cooper Harris, the toddler who died in a hot car in 2014, shielding her from prosecution while the case drew national scrutiny.

Zimmerman also represented rapper Gucci Mane in a 2014 gun and drug case, negotiating a one-year sentence in place of the three years prosecutors sought, and later joined the pro bono team defending Basil Eleby after the 2017 I-85 bridge collapse, helping steer Eleby into a mental health diversion program instead of a trial that carried up to 25 years in prison.

He has practiced criminal defense in Atlanta for more than 25 years and is a past president of the Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

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