Firm Profile
Attorney Scot Sikes is a seasoned Georgia and Military Trial Lawyer and Army Veteran who focuses on aggressive yet compassionate representation of individuals facing difficult legal circumstances. Mr. Sikes focuses on several legal practice areas — including worldwide court-martial defense; civilian criminal law cases (including Federal and State DUI defense); military and civilian divorce, custody and other family law matters; and plaintiff’s personal injury and auto accident cases.
Born in Savannah, Georgia, Mr. Sikes is a Georgia native and lifetime resident, and his familial roots span over 300 years with his ancestors and himself serving the State of Georgia and the Nation in both the military and public service sectors. Mr. Sikes grew up on the coast in historic Liberty County, home of Fort Stewart, Georgia and the highly decorated 3rd Infantry Division, Rock of the Marne. Being raised in a military community, Mr. Sikes was instilled at a young age with a deep and sincere sense of patriotism and appreciation for those who serve our country in uniform. Upon graduating from Bradwell Institute with honors in 1987, Mr. Sikes began his own journey of military service by accepting his State Senator’s nomination for one of only twenty Georgia Military Scholarships to attend the University of North Georgia (formerly North Georgia College). He simultaneously joined the Georgia Army National Guard as an enlisted engineer and later became a SMP Cadet.
Mr. Sikes excelled at North Georgia, the Military College of Georgia, where he received numerous awards and accolades for his academic scholarship and demonstrated leadership abilities. He was among a finite number who attended and completed the U.S. Army Airborne School in 1989; he received the coveted General Douglas MacArthur Award in 1990, and thereafter he was selected to lead one half of the 500+ member Corps of Cadets as the Boar’s Head Brigade’s First Battalion Commander. His academic achievements included selection to Omicron Delta Kappa Honor Society, Pi Sigma Alpha National Political Science Honor Society, Who’s Who Among Students in American Colleges and Universities, NGC Student Government Association, and selection as a Legislative Intern for the House Ways and Means Committee, Georgia General Assembly, 1991 Session.
Following graduation as a Distinguished Military Student/Graduate and commissioning as a Second Lieutenant in 1991, Mr. Sikes entered active duty as a Military Police Officer. He was the Distinguished Honor Graduate of his MP Officer Basic Course, and thereafter he served on active duty for almost four years as a Platoon Leader, S-1/Adjutant, and Company Commander. His service as a MP included a contingency deployment to Guantanamo Bay Naval Base from 1994-95 for Operation Sea Signal, a humanitarian relief operation launched in the wake of a massive Cuban and Haitian migration.
In the fall of 1996, Mr. Sikes voluntarily left active duty to study law at Mercer University’s Walter F. George School of Law, Macon, Georgia. Mr. Sikes was awarded his law degree (J.D.) in May 1999 and was licensed by the State Bar of Georgia in November 1999.
Mr. Sikes’ prior service background and academic achievement led to his appointment as an active duty Judge Advocate (JAG) in December 1999. He attended the 154th Judge Advocate General’s Officer Basic Course (JAOBC), where he served as Assistant Class Leader and Class Leader, and where he received the class Leadership Award. Following graduation from JAOBC in April 2000, then Captain Sikes was assigned to Fort Benning, Georgia where he began as a Tort Claims and Administrative Law Attorney. Captain Sikes next served as a Trial Counsel (Military Prosecutor), and in 2002 he volunteered for a transfer to Hunter Army Airfield (Savannah), Georgia to assume duties as the post’s only U.S. Army Trial Defense Service (TDS) attorney. In 2003, Mr. Sikes was promoted to Major. Based on his demonstrated leadership and courtroom abilities, his superiors selected him to serve as the Senior Defense Counsel for the 3d Infantry Division Trial Defense Service office, where (from 2003-2005) he supervised five attorneys and three paralegals in support of a very busy court-martial caseload. It was during this period that Major Sikes was trusted to handle several high-profile military cases, including U.S. v. Benderman and U.S. v. Yee. In 2005, Major Sikes returned to Fort Benning for a short period and served as the Southeast Region’s Assistant Region Defense Counsel, providing mentorship and guidance to the region’s TDS attorneys on a multitude of pending cases. In December 2005, Major Sikes volunteered for overseas deployment to Iraq. He was hand selected to be the Senior Defense Counsel for southern Iraq, Kuwait, and Afghanistan, and he served in that capacity and continued to defend Soldiers as a uniformed defense counsel until June 2006 when he returned to Fort Moore (Fort Benning) and Columbus.
In the summer of 2006, Mr. Sikes knew that representing individuals in the face of Government and institutional overreaching would be his life’s work. With his impressive resume’ of exceptional case results, and motivated by his strong desire to establish his own law firm, Mr. Sikes founded the Law Offices of Scot Sikes in September 2006. He strategically located his office in Columbus, Georgia near Fort Moore (Fort Benning) and the U.S. Army Maneuver Center of Excellence.
Since 2006, Mr. Sikes’ practice has continued to grow and thrive, and his practice has expanded to meet a clear need for the zealous representation of military service members, their family members, and individual civilian citizens who are facing difficult legal circumstances. Mr. Sikes and his legal staff possess the highest ethics and have the strongest commitment to their clients and to the pursuit of legal excellence.
Mr. Sikes has also proudly continued his military service as a JAG Officer and Army Reserve Lieutenant Colonel with over 26 years of service across all three Army components. Mr. Sikes maintains active affiliations with numerous professional organizations, including the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association (GTLA), the Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (GACDL), the Columbus and Chattahoochee Bar Associations, the Military/Veterans and Family Law Sections of the State Bar of Georgia, the Association of the United States Army (AUSA), the Reserve Officers Association (ROA), and his universities’ alumni associations.
Beyond his commitment to his clients, Mr. Sikes is also committed to giving back to the community. He routinely provides pro bono legal advice and counsel to others in need, and Scot and his wife, Jenny, also donate time and resources to local church and other non-profit organizations of local and national regard. Mr. Sikes and his wife have two children, and they reside in Midland, Georgia.