Georgia attorney and CNN contributor Page Pate dies in swimming accident

A high-profile Atlanta-area attorney who often provided legal analysis for media and news outlets drowned off the coast of Georgia over the weekend.

Page Pate, a founding member of Atlanta firm Pate, Johnson & Church, was out for a swim with his son on Sunday when he was swept out into a rip current off the coast of St. Simons Island. The incident just unfolded after 2 p.m. at Gould’s Inlet beach.

“That’s a major hazard in that area and appears to be what happened,” Glynn County Fire-Rescue division Chief Scott Cook told USA Today Wednesday.

Pate’s teen son managed to return to shore but Pate had to be pulled from the waters by a rescue crew and rushed to a hospital. Despite attempts to revive him, Glynn County Coroner Marc Neu said he was pronounced dead at a local hospital.

Page Pate

The 55-year-old attorney also gave insight on legal issues and high-profile cases to outlets like the New York Times, CNN, NPR and the Associated Press.

Pate, a native of Dublin, Ga., graduated from the University of Georgia’s law school in 1994. He went on to have a booming legal career with a focus in criminal defense, handling cases in both state and federal courts. He was also a founding member of the Georgia Innocence Project, the Federal and Atlanta Bar Associations, the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association, and numerous other organizations dedicated to advancing justice and the legal profession.

“Though he was a formidable, sometimes intimidating, attorney in the courtroom, Page had an easy smile, an earnest laugh, and a great sense of humor,” Pate’s law firm said in a statement.

With News Wire Services