980. A Day in the Life: What's It Really Like to Be an Arbitrator, Mediator and Special Master?

“I was raised in a loving Catholic family, the oldest of eight other siblings, in Columbus, Georgia. By the time I was in the 9th grade I decided that I wanted to be a priest. With the guidance of our bishop, I spent over two years studying in a cloistered monastery in Little Rock, Arkansas–St. John’s Seminary. While the experience was meaningful to me on many levels, I decided that the priesthood was not the best use of my talents. I later came to understand that there are many common themes between my studies in religion and later in history and the classics, that influenced my final decision to enter the profession of law. So, the foundation was quite helpful. From the beginning of my interest in law, all I ever wanted to do was litigation. I was drawn to the courtroom–enthralled by the intellectual and interpersonal interactions, and of course by the profound impact every final verdict had on the lives of each participant in the case at hand.”

Keegan Federal became a lawyer at 22, a judge at 33, and, after 55 years, he is still practicing law, specializing in high-dollar catastrophic injury cases throughout the Southeast. He also mediates and arbitrates cases for other lawyers and assists other judges by serving as a Special Master presiding over their more complicated and time-consuming cases. Judge Federal is an honors graduate of Emory University, a Vietnam veteran with a Bronze Star, and a member of the Board of Councilors at The Carter Presidential Center in Atlanta. He and his wife Rebecca also own and operate an historic inn in St. Mary’s, Georgia, known as “The Federal Quarters.”