News Article

ATLANTA—Today, Bernard Coleman enjoys a successful corporate and securities practice, helping companies negotiate and close multi-million dollar transactions in the Atlanta market. As leader of the firm’s Sports and Entertainment Practice, his clients include boxing legend Evander Holyfield and NBA Hall of Famer Dominique Wilkins.
 

But Coleman’s path to success was far from easy. The current issue of Women of Wealth magazine chronicles his life story.

Coleman grew up poor in West Palm Beach, Florida, to the point there were times when his mother wouldn’t eat so that Coleman and his brother could. But inspired by his parents and grandmother, who worked as a maid and taught Coleman the value of hard work, Coleman persevered. He attended Harvard University, after earning a scholarship and working three work-study jobs to pay for his education.

Even then, however, Coleman still had to overcome adversity. A catastrophic knee injury suffered in his freshman year ended his promising college football career, and resulted in two operations and a lengthy recovery. He had to miss more than a month of classes as a result of the injury. But Coleman never gave up, just as his grandmother had taught him. He graduated from Harvard and, in 1996, earned his JD from the University of Virginia School of Law.

Women of Wealth writes, “Bernard is a shining example of what the American Dream can be, and as far as he is concerned, he is just getting started.”