In addition to his legal background, Bruce attended Emory Aviation Flight School in Colorado and earned a commercial pilot’s license.  Although he ultimately chose a career in law, relegating flying to a hobby, he nevertheless found time to earn his instrument rating in 2014.   Truly fascinated with the world above, around, and below him, Bruce was also certified PADI Rescue Diver and a licensed Dive Master. He was a humble member of the Destiny Worship Center in Florida, and The Cross in Loganville, Georgia.

A civil and criminal trial lawyer who took great pride in giving a voice to the “least of those among us,” Bruce was a fearless and dedicated litigator for whom no case was too complicated and no client too small. He earned a reputation among his peers and opposing counsel as a skilled and talented trial attorney who practiced first and foremost with integrity, with compassion, and with aggressive advocacy. 

Bruce Morriss, the original founding partner of Morriss | Shim | Davis, passed away Friday, June 29, 2018 following a heroic three year battle with Stage IV cancer. He is survived by his loving and devoted wife, Shelley, his daughter from a prior marriage Samantha, and his two step-children Hannah and  Will. 

Bruce was born in Columbus, Ohio to Robert and Eva Morriss. He graduated from Hunt High School in Wilson, North Carolina in 1982.  He attended Emory & Henry College for two years, earned his B.A. from UNC-Charlotte in 1986, and his J.D. from Mercer University School of Law in 1990.  He was admitted to practice in Georgia and the District of Columbia, and licensed to practice in the Northern and Middle District federal courts of Georgia, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, all Georgia state and appellate courts, and the United States Supreme Court.  

Bruce was active in many legal and civic organizations, including the American Association of Justice (AAJ), the Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (GADCL), and the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA).  He was a founding member of both the National DUI Defense College (NDCC) and the Georgia Defense of Drinking Drivers Institute (DODD).  Bruce also served in a volunteer capacity as Legal Advisor and Reserve for the Morehouse School of Medicine Police Department, and for the City of Clarkston Police Department.  Bruce also taught as an adjunct professor at Morris Brown College in Atlanta for several years, and even as a law student, served as a tutor for first year law students.  

Bruce will always be remembered for his always upbeat attitude towards life and to the practice of law; for his quick wit, his legal acumen, and his abiding faith in the rule of law; his tirelessness and his willingness to always help others; his fearlessness in the face of all adversity - even cancer; his integrity, his kindness, and his honesty, as a lawyer, as a human being, and in the way that he lived his life – always full tilt; in his deep  Christian faith; and most of all, for his quiet, yet unshakeable devotion to his family - from whom he derived his greatest joy - as well as to his closest friends.  

His impact to those who worked closely with him survives him to this day.  In the many instances when the lawyers of Morriss | Shim | Davis have been confronted with seemingly difficult questions or decisions, they have simply asked the question “What Would Bruce Do?”  It is a tribute to Bruce that when asked this way the solutions to such questions invariably presents itself.