It is with great sadness that we announce the death, on February 4, 2023, of Senior Principal Martin H. (“Marty”) Steckel following a brief illness. Please join us in expressing our condolences to his loving family and many, many friends.
Though born in Chicago and raised in New York, Marty was southern on his mother’s side, with roots in Eatonton, Georgia. After graduating from high school in Bloomfield, New York, he attended Duke University where he tried out for the basketball team (unsuccessfully) and met his future wife Karen (with much greater success). He served in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve and later received his bachelor’s and law degrees from the University of Georgia, where he also served as a resident monitor in the football players’ dormitory. At UGA, he roomed with future Georgia Supreme Court Justice Robert Benham, where they bonded over their time serving in the inaugural year of the Governor’s Intern Program.
Marty and Karen spent several years in Washington, D.C. where, among other things, he was a White House Intern and attended George Washington University Law School. After a stint as a prosecutor in DeKalb County, his career in labor law commenced at Smith, Currie & Hancock LLP and then at Swift, Currie, McGhee & Hiers LLP (now Swift Currie) in Atlanta, where he rose to partnership.
An ardent believer in work-life balance long before it became a catch phrase, he was an enthusiastic sportsman, engaging in golf and tennis whenever a good opportunity presented itself, and regularly played at Druid Hills Golf Club. Even more than sports, Marty loved a good conversation. His interlocutors were always rewarded with a memorable tale, which might concern his teenaged employment experience with his brother at a mink farm in upstate New York or a small sportscar’s cruise through the Arch and up the library stairs at UGA.
Together with Jim Wimberly, Marty expanded Wimberly & Lawson’s labor law defense practice, building its reputation as a boutique firm representing many large employers in the transportation, food processing, and retail industries and remaining active in the firm’s management until his recent illness.
Marty is survived by his wife Karen; sons Richard Taliaferro (R.T.) and Peter Hall; daughter Susan Katherine (Sukey); grandchildren Zoe and Simon; brother Richard; sisters Christina and Laura; his law partners and colleagues at Wimberly, Lawson, Steckel, Schneider & Stine P.C., and a very large circle of friends.A memorial service will be held Tuesday, February 21st at 2:30 p.m. at Glenn Memorial United Methodist Church, 1660 N. Decatur Road, Decatur, Georgia 30307. Immediately following the service, a reception will be held for family, friends, and colleagues at Druid Hills Golf Club, 740 Clifton Road, NE, Atlanta, GA 30307.
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