Outstanding Alumnae by Monica Gayles Dorsey
Agnes Scott College is proud to celebrate the 2020 Outstanding Alumnae Award winners. Nominated by their fellow alumnae, the distinguished recipients were recognized for their remarkable accomplishments that demonstrate how Scotties are truly leading everywhere.
DISTINGUISHED CAREER Beth Davis ’85
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At a time when environmental health care has become a global concern, alumna and attorney Beth Davis ’85 has taken the lead to address this issue with extensive litigation of federal and state laws. As a partner in the environmental health care practices of the law firm Burr & Forman, she focuses on litigation that includes regulatory compliance, enforcement defense, environmental aspects of corporate and real estate transactions, occupational safety and other aspects of legal matters. When Davis learned that Agnes Scott was honoring her with the Distinguished Career award, she was grateful but stunned. “I appreciate that others consider my career distinguished,” Davis says. “For my part, I’m doing my best to represent my clients and be a good advocate. That’s just doing my job.” After graduating from Agnes Scott with a political science degree, Davis earned a law degree from the
University of Georgia in 1989. She went on to work as the assistant regional counsel with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and later served as partner at Barnes & Thornburg LLP before joining Burr & Forman. Davis’ distinguished career includes taking the lead in diversity and inclusion in the legal profession. A member of her firm’s diversity committee, she helped establish its first-ever affinity groups that provide a support system for members of Burr & Forman. She also led the firm’s participation in the LGBT Bar’s Lavender Law Conference and Career Fair and, in 2018, created “The Business Case for Diversity,” an event that brought leaders of the business community in Atlanta together for an open discussion and panel on diversity and inclusion. Davis’ distinguished career also reaches into the arts. As legal counsel and board member of the Suzi Bass Awards, Atlanta’s version of the Tony Awards, Davis drafted legal documents and provided years of financial support that helped keep the Suzi Bass Awards alive. Additionally, she is a member of several organizations, including the State Bar of Georgia’s Environmental Law Section and the National LGBT Bar Association. She is a published writer with articles in Renewable Energy World and Product Liability Update. Davis’ career captures excellence in a range of categories. She has been described by her classmates as a role model and an inspiration. For Davis, however, it was Agnes Scott that helped her “find my voice, my wife and some of the best friends anyone could want.”
