Overview
Dennis Keene is an AV® Preeminent™ rated partner who represents corporations and individuals in tort-based litigation with an emphasis in product liability and trucking law. His diverse client base ranges from international manufacturers and national motor carriers to regional carriers and local businesses. Keene gained extensive trial experience as a judge advocate in the U.S. Army and continues to use these trial skills as a civil practitioner, having litigated and tried a number of lawsuits in Georgia. He is also a registered neutral with the Georgia Office of Dispute Resolution and has mediated a number of personal injury, business, and interpersonal disputes.
Keene is a member of the State Bars of Florida and Georgia and is admitted to practice in all Florida and Georgia state courts, the U.S. District Courts for the Southern and Northern Districts of Georgia, and the Middle District of Florida, as well as the U.S.Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. He has also been admitted on a pro hac basis in a number of jurisdictions.
Keene serves on the board of directors for the Georgia Motor Trucking Association; is a member of the Transportation Lawyers Association; and the Savannah Bar Association, where he chairs the Bar Grievance Committee and serves on the Bench & Bar Committee. He was also an attorney coach for the Georgia High School Mock Trial Program for 16 years, and was recognized as the 2011 Outstanding Attorney Coach for his region. He currently volunteers as a mock trial competition evaluator. Keene also previously chaired the Savannah Country Day School Annual Fund Campaign and served on the school’s board of trustees.
Keene received his B.A. in economics, magna cum laude, from Syracuse University in 1990 and his J.D., cum laude, from the University of Miami School of Law in 1993. While at Syracuse, Keene was a member of the Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC). He was named the recipient of the General Meyer Leadership Award (given to the number one ranked corps cadet) and, upon graduation, was deemed a Distinguished Military Graduate. He was also Phi Beta Kappa. At the University of Miami, Keene served as an articles and comments editor for the school’s Business Law Journal and co-chaired the Student Bar Association’s Law-Related Education Program.
After law school, Keene completed the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps Officer Basic Course, where he made the Commandant’s List by graduating in the top 12 in his class. He served on active duty in the U.S. Army from 1993 to 1999, holding various legal positions, including government contract attorney, procurement fraud advisor, prosecutor, and criminal defense attorney. As a prosecutor and defense attorney, he served as lead counsel in more than 75 courts-martial.
Keene is married to his wife, Leslie, who is the current president of the Savannah Bar Association and an associate judge in Chatham County. They have two adult children, one of whom is completing dental school and the other practices at a large law firm in New York City.
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