Charles Pursley has litigated condemnation, eminent domain, business valuation, and other real-estate cases for more than four decades. His practice features a national client base that includes commercial, mixed-use, and shopping center developers, other businesses, property owners, and governmental entities.
He helped build the Atlanta area's transit system by overseeing MARTA's condemnation work and by serving as its outside general counsel from 1984 through 2015. In those roles, he advised the board of directors, oversaw litigation involving MARTA, and represented MARTA in condemnation cases and in transportation-related litigation. He continued to represent MARTA in transportation-related litigation and eminent domain proceedings.
Charles is the original author of what is considered today the textbook on eminent domain in Georgia: Georgia Eminent Domain, which The Harrison Company first published in 1982. He has counseled Georgia lawmakers on amendments to eminent domain statutes relating to condemnation for economic development. The Eminent Domain Section of the State Bar of Georgia awarded him its inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award, an award that now is given in his name each year. He was a regular speaker at legal seminars and author of papers on the topic of eminent domain.
Charles is a native of Georgia and earned his law degree from the University of Georgia, where he served as executive editor of the Georgia Law Review. Before beginning private practice, Charles served four years as a captain in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General's Corps (JAG). He received his bachelor's degree from Florida State University.