John M. Sheftall

John Sheftall, a Partner in Hall Booth Smith’s Columbus offices, concentrates his practice in fiduciary law including estate planning, estate administration, and fiduciary litigation. He is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, serves as a Director of SunTrust Bank in Columbus, and is a former Trustee of the St. Francis Hospital Foundation.

John was admitted to the Georgia State Bar in 1983. He was born in Macon, Georgia, and received his Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude, from the University of Georgia in 1980. He went on to earn both his Juris Doctor and Master of Arts from the University of Virginia.

Prior to joining HBS, John practiced law in Columbus with Hatcher, Stubbs, Land, Hollis and Rothschild, LLP for over 21 years. Before that, he practiced law in Atlanta where he was active in both the Fiduciary Section of the State Bar and the Atlanta Estate Planning Council. He currently chairs both the Wills, Trusts, & Estate Administration and the Fiduciary Litigation practice groups for HBS.

John is passionate about local history, historic preservation, neighborhood revitalization, and community planning in Columbus. He has served on a number of local and regional non-profit boards, including the Georgia Historical Society in Savannah, the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation in Atlanta, and the Georgia Legal History Foundation.

He is Past President of Historic Columbus Foundation, Past Chairman of Historic Linwood Foundation, and Past President of MidTown, Inc., an organization responsible for the revitalization of older neighborhoods in Columbus. He currently serves as a Director of the Historic Chattahoochee Commission.

John is active in the Rotary Club of Columbus and a member of Trinity Episcopal Church, where he has served at the parish level as a Vestry member and Senior Warden, as well as at the diocesan level as a delegate and task force member. He has lectured widely at various fiduciary law seminars throughout Georgia, and speaks regularly before historical groups and organizations.