1. Hakim Hilliard represents business owners and individuals who are seeking entitlements to the use of land or navigating complex regulatory requirements. His clients include landowners, developers, builders, and other stakeholders whose work brings them before planning commissions, zoning boards, city councils, and government agencies. His practice focuses on land use and zoning, alcohol licensing and permitting, business licensing and regulatory compliance, and strategic government affairs, with a particular emphasis on helping clients secure the approvals and relationships they need to accomplish their objectives. 

What sets Hakim apart is the combination of his experience at the intersection of law, policy, and regulation, the strategic business and personal relationships he has developed over the course of his career, and a genuinely international worldview. Born in Monrovia, Liberia while his family was living abroad, Hakim has worked on projects not only in Georgia and across the United States but also internationally. He co‑led a reform initiative with former Mayor of Indianapolis, Indiana Stephen Goldsmith on behalf of the Government of Bermuda as the country evaluated potential efficiency reforms, and has advised on sports and entertainment investments in the United Arab Emirates. These experiences inform the practical, solutions‑oriented perspective he brings to clients whose projects must align with both local realities and broader economic and policy trends. 

Hakim has more than three decades of experience working both inside and outside government. He began his career as a judicial law clerk in the Superior Court of Fulton County and then practiced with leading firms, including as a partner at McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP, before dedicating his work more fully to matters involving local government, land use, and regulation. As an Assistant City Attorney for the City of Atlanta, he advised the Mayor, City Council, and key departments, including the Bureau of Planning, Development and Neighborhood Conservation; staffed the Zoning Review Board, Board of Zoning Adjustment, and Urban Design Commission on land use, zoning, and historic preservation issues; and represented the Licenses and Permits Unit of the City of Atlanta Police Department in alcohol licensing and other regulated‑use matters. In that role, he also defended the City of Atlanta in legal actions related to his practice areas in trial and appellate courts, including the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, the Supreme Court of Georgia, the Court of Appeals of Georgia, and state courts in Fulton County. 

Between his service with the City of Atlanta and his later return to private practice, Hakim served as Chief of Staff to the Chief Executive Officer of DeKalb County, an experience that further deepened his understanding of how government leadership, legal counsel, and policy work together to solve complex problems. 

Today, Hakim represents clients in rezonings, special and conditional land use permits, variances, and related development approvals before planning staff, boards, commissions, and elected officials. His alcohol licensing and permitting work focuses primarily on the entertainment and hospitality industries, including restaurants, bars, clubs, and venues, and he also works closely with gas stations, convenience stores, and other businesses and events for which alcohol licenses are a core component of the business model. He advises companies on procurement, public‑private partnerships, privatization initiatives, and certifications such as minority and female business enterprise, local small business, and disadvantaged business designations. Where solutions are not available or successful through existing administrative and regulatory processes, Hakim also seeks relief by identifying legislative solutions, including drafting laws and ordinances, presenting them to policymakers for consideration, and advocating for their passage on behalf of his clients. He frequently leverages the strategic relationships he has built over his career to help clients frame issues effectively, build consensus, and accomplish objectives that might otherwise be out of reach. 

Hakim serves as General Counsel to the DeKalb County Ethics Board and separately to the Henry County Ethics Board, advising on ethics compliance, board governance, and related public law issues. He attended The Lovett School in Atlanta, is a graduate of the Regional Leadership Institute Georgia, and earned his B.A. from Morehouse College and his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center. 

Born in Monrovia, Liberia, Hakim relocated with his family to East Point, Georgia after time in San Francisco and has made the Atlanta area his home for decades. His commitment to public service is deeply influenced by his parents’ example. His father, Dr. Asa G. Hilliard III, was an educational scholar whose work in early childhood education and equal educational opportunity spanned international service and leadership roles in higher education. His mother, Patsy Jo Hilliard, was an elected official who became the first African American member of the South San Francisco Unified School District board and later the first African American and first female mayor of East Point, Georgia. Their perspectives, styles, and relationships in many ways inform Hakim’s own work on behalf of clients and the way he engages with government and community. 

Hakim has long been active in organizations that reflect those same values. He is a member of the Judson Lyons Society, a Morehouse‑rooted organization that supports and mentors students pursuing legal careers, and serves on The Lovett School Black Alumni Council. He is also a co‑founder of the C.T. Vivian Male Scholars Program, an initiative created to support the growth and development of African American boys through mentoring and enrichment. In his free time, he is a writer with a focus on short fiction and historical narrative, and he approaches his practice and community work with a simple goal: to give more than he receives and to help clients achieve meaningful, real‑world results.