Ashley Futrell Hinkson

Ashley Futrell Hinkson is the founder of Hinkson Law, LLC, an Atlanta-based firm representing executives, employees, and founders facing serious legal and reputational risk, and advising select employers. Her practice centers on executive employment agreements, severance and separation negotiations, sexual harassment and retaliation matters, workplace investigations, and crisis response.

Ashley began her legal career as a prosecutor. As an Assistant United States Attorney in the Northern District of Ohio and an Assistant District Attorney in Manhattan, she tried cases in state and federal court and argued before federal appellate courts. She also represented the government on the Federal Reentry Court in the Northern District of Ohio. She saw early how quickly legal exposure becomes reputational damage. She later advised global clients at an Am Law 100 firm, and businesses at small and mid-sized firms, on government investigations, white collar matters, and complex litigation. She went on to serve as a senior vetting attorney on a presidential transition team, where thorough preparation was the job. Before founding Hinkson Law, she was a partner at an employment law boutique.

Before law school, Ashley was a senior legislative staffer in the U.S. House of Representatives, a staffer on the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, and a government affairs executive for two national membership organizations. Those years in Washington shaped how she thinks about public pressure, stakeholder dynamics, and how fast perception becomes reality.

Today, Ashley negotiates employment, severance, and separation agreements for executives and employees, and represents clients in sexual harassment and retaliation matters and in workplace investigations where a career and a reputation are both at stake. She also handles crisis response through Crisis Law PR and advises select employers on employment agreements and workplace investigations. Her practice is built on one observation: the most damaging problems rarely start as legal problems. They start as blind spots that escalate because they are handled in isolation.

Speaking and Media:

• Georgia Society of CPAs, Southeastern Accounting Show: “When Numbers Flag a Problem: How CPAs and Crisis Attorneys Work Together to Protect Clients” (2026)

• Georgia Society of CPAs, Business and Industry Conference: crisis management (November 2026)

• NABSE Superintendents Commission, Summer Superintendent Summit: “Crisis, Contracts, and Protecting Superintendents” (2026)

• Ms. JD, Determined to Rise, Georgia State University College of Law (2026)

• Slice Communications: “Blind Spots: What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You” (2026)

• Southside People and Culture Initiative: AI in the workplace, and the court of public opinion (2026)

• Podcasts: RepTalk (ReputationUs), The Corporate Briefing Room, Care Sandwich, and Crestmark Wealth Group

• Legal commentary, Atlanta News First (2026)

Memberships:

• Atlanta Bar Association

• Fayette County Bar Association

• Georgia Association of Black Women Attorneys (GABWA)

• The Links, Incorporated

• Rotary Club of Peachtree City

• Fayette Chamber of Commerce

Ashley is a proud attorney coach for the Flat Rock Middle School and Sandy Creek High School mock trial teams. Outside the office, she cheers on her favorite college and professional basketball teams and spends time with her husband and their two teenage sons.