Mr. Hixson was born in Pottstown, Pennsylvania and raised in the farmlands between Philadelphia and the Amish country in that state. He was one of only two members of his fourth grade class who expressed enthusiasm for criminal law and was the only “graduate” of that class who did eventually pursue the law profession.
In high school, Mr. Hixson considered changing his career goal to music, as he was considered a gifted rudimental snare drummer and percussionist. After graduating from Spring-Ford Senior High School in Royersford, PA, he attended Keystone Junior College, where he sought to obtain two years of the kind of liberal arts education which would enable him to choose between law and music. During that time he developed an enthusiasm for the study of philosophy, which became his major when he transferred to the University of Scranton in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
After graduating from Scranton, Mr. Hixson attended the evening program of study at the Temple University School of Law, while maintaining full-time work in the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas in Norristown, Pennsylvania. There he served as a jury clerk, as an assistant to the court administrator, and as that county’s first victim witness advocate for the district attorney’s office.
Upon graduating law school, Mr. Hixson served as a judicial law clerk and then for two years as an assistant district attorney, prosecuting misdemeanor and felony cases. He entered private practice with the firm of Keenan, Ciccitto and Brant in Collegeville, Pennsylvania, which later became Keenan, Ciccitto, Brant and Hixson.
In 1994 Mr. Hixson and his family moved to Roswell, Georgia, where after a brief period of private practice, he again became a prosecutor with the Cherokee County Solicitor General’s Office in Canton, Georgia. He served in that capacity for almost eighteen years, almost ten of them as chief assistant solicitor general. During that period of his legal career, Mr. Hixson dealt with literally thousands of young adult defendants charged with traffic and other misdemeanors, including DUI cases and cases involving family violence.
The late Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes once defined law as a “prophesy (or prediction) of what the courts will do.” After extended and intimate professional involvement with the criminal law and its processes, Mr. Hixson understands the practical application of this definition to teens and young adults, particularly in these times. Predicting and managing the outcome of cases is increasingly difficult and challenging in our time. This may be traced to many factors, including rapid technological, cultural, legal, and political changes. Mr. Hixson believes that one of the unchanging keys to navigating these often turbulent waters is a focus on fairness and honesty. Continuous change makes it tempting for younger people and their parents to abandon hope in the face of seemingly innumerable barriers. However, every client and every litigant has a reasonable expectation of, and should demand, a measure of fairness and honesty from the court in the resolution of a case. While no one can ever guarantee the outcome of a legal proceeding, Mr. Hixson is dedicated to seeing that each of our clients are treated fairly and honestly by the prosecution and the court.
Mr. Hixson has two adult children, Lindsay and Ryan. He enjoys reading, music, light exercise, and some cooking. His favorite novel is All the King’s Men, by Robert Penn Warren. His favorite author is Fyodor Dostoyevsky. His favorite composers are Mozart and Wagner, and his favorite popular musical artist is the late and great jazz drummer Buddy Rich. He is a member of the King of Kings Lutheran Church in Jasper, Georgia.
