Julia Shankus

Julia Shankus is an Associate Attorney for The Manely Firm’s Columbus Office.

From her experiences in mock trial competitions, she knew she wanted to be an attorney from a very young age.

Julia attended the University of West Georgia where she graduated summa cum laude and earned a Bachelor of Arts in English. While studying at West Georgia, she earned many honors including the Ingram Scholar Award, Most Outstanding Contribution to a Senior Seminar Award and being named to the University’s Dean’s List. She was a Research Conference Presenter for the 2019 National Conference of Undergraduate Research and served as a Scholars’ Day Research Conference Oral Research presenter. Julia also proudly published the paper, “A Cultural Study of AIDS in the 1980s” in the Journal of Literary Undergraduate Research in English.

Julia continued her education at Mercer University School of Law in Macon, Georgia earning her Juris Doctor. While in law school, she was a member of Phi Delta Phi Legal Honor Fraternity, serving as Academic Outreach Chair and Rehberg Co-Chair for the organization. Through the fraternity, she also helped lead Freedom Fidos, an organization that trains rescue dogs to be service animals for veterans and first responders. Julia participated as a Mercer Advocacy Council Member and participated in Mock Trial for two years.

Julia began her professional career as an intern at the Coweta County Solicitor General’s Office shadowing court appearances and summarizing evidence for hearings and upcoming trials. Next, she worked with the Fayette County Solicitor General’s Office by primarily assisting with opening and closing case files and completing and preparing discovery documents for trial. Julia next had the opportunity to work with the Macon-Bibb County Juvenile Court through observing the judge at trial and conducting legal research on delinquency and dependency issues.

She has experience as a Law Clerk with Bullard, Wangerin, & Corbett. Here Julia assisted by summarizing discovery materials and preparing expert witnesses for trial. Finally, she worked as an Associate Attorney with Bradley & Shankus, P.C. where she represented clients in domestic and criminal matters in multiple counties in the state of Georgia. Julia was diligent in supporting the cases for trial by preparing direct and cross examinations, opening statements, closing arguments, voir dire questions, and evidentiary motions.

Born in Washington State and raised in Georgia with three siblings, family is very important to Julia and she enjoys visiting relatives in Washington often. In her free time, she enjoys reading, playing pickleball and tennis (badly), and spending time with her beloved dog Charley. Self-described as “having never met a stranger,” Julia enjoys networking and connecting with others, including mentoring law students, as she feels it is her duty as an attorney to help train the next generation to lead with empathy, objectivity, and respect. Julia is pleased to be an active member of the Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce and is thrilled to be engaged in the Columbus business community.