October 2, 2026. Groth, Makarenko, Kaiser & Eidex is proud to recognize associate attorney John Batchelor on his appointment as a federal immigration judge.
“This is a significant professional achievement and an important milestone in John’s legal career,” said Joseph Kaiser, GMKE Managing Partner. “His extensive civil litigation and courtroom experience will serve him well in his new judicial role. While we will miss him at GMKE, we are proud to support his move to public service and look forward to the contributions he will make as an immigration judge.”
“I am honored to begin this new chapter in public service as an Immigration Judge with the U.S. Department of Justice,” said Batchelor. “My father Ronnie Batchelor’s service as a Superior Court judge in Gwinnett County gave me a deep appreciation for the responsibilities of the judicial role. Although my work will involve a different court and area of law, I hope to carry forward his commitment to fairness, careful consideration, and respect for everyone who appears before the court. I am grateful to my colleagues at GMKE for their support and for the experiences that have prepared me for this responsibility.”
Prior to joining GMKE, Batchelor was a prosecutor for 10 years. He gained experience in misdemeanor prosecution as the Assistant Solicitor for Hall County and in felony prosecution serving as the Assistant District Attorney for Hall, Gwinnett, Oconee, and Walton Counties. He also spent two years as a Judicial Staff Attorney in the Hall County State Court under the Honorable Kelley M. Robertson. Outside the practice of law, John has previously worked as a teacher and football and baseball coach at Brookwood High School in Gwinnett County.
He earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of Georgia in 2003 and a Juris Doctorate from the Regent University School of Law in 2012.
About Groth, Makarenko, Kaiser & Eidex
Groth, Makarenko, Kaiser & Eidex LLC is a Georgia-based insurance defense law firm with an extensive record of trying cases and obtaining results. The firm’s litigators have handled more than 565 trials across the states of Georgia, Tennessee, and Alabama.
GMKE concentrates its practice in the areas of motor vehicle liability, premises liability, trucking claims, commercial defense litigation, as well as insurance coverage and declaratory judgments. In 2023, GMKE launched Sugarloaf ADR, a full-service alternative dispute resolution provider operating in Georgia and Tennessee.
Partners and senior partners have extensive experience working as in-house counsel at one of the largest personal line insurance companies in the country. As a result, firm members bring a deep understanding of claims management priorities to every case. Details are available online at https://gmke.law/ and https://sugarloafadr.com/.
