Patrick T. O’Connor was born in the Army hospital at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, on November 9, 1955. Carol Darby was born in Montgomery, Alabama, on January 26, 1956. Pat and Carol were married in their hometown of Statesboro, Georgia, on August 30, 1980.
Pat graduated from Auburn University in 1978 and the Lumpkin School of Law at the University of Georgia in 1981. He came to Savannah that same year to practice law with the Friedman, Haslam, and Weiner law firm. In 1990, Pat joined the Oliver Maner law firm in Savannah, where he has served as Managing Partner since 2008. Pat’s law practice has primarily focused on representing cities and counties in litigation throughout the state of Georgia for many years. He has appeared in state and federal courtrooms across Georgia for more than 40 years.
Carol graduated from Georgia Southern University in 1978. After graduation, she worked in Atlanta with Cushman and Wakefield until she and Pat married in 1980. Carol supported the family by working in procurement for the University of Georgia during Pat’s final year of law school in Athens. After moving to Savannah in 1981, she worked in real estate and property management for several years.
Pat served as the President of the State Bar of Georgia in 2016-2017, President of the Savannah Bar Association in 1995-1996, and as Board Chair of the Savannah Country Day School from 2014-2016. Pat has also served as State Chair of the American College of Trial Lawyers and was appointed to serve on Georgia’s Judicial Nominating Commission by Governor Nathan Deal from 2010-2018.
From 2006 to 2016 Pat served on the Georgia Southern University Foundation Board of Trustees. He has been honored with the Savannah Bar Association’s Frank Cheatham Professionalism Award and the State Bar of Georgia’s Justice Robert Benham Community Service Award.
Carol has served in multiple leadership roles at the Ardsley Park Baptist Church, as President of the Savannah Country Day Parents’ Association, and on the Savannah board of the Make A Wish Foundation. Her primary mission during her married life has been raising three sons, Tyler, Thomas, and Tate, all of whom are happily married, employed, and have a total of eight children of their own. Tyler is an insurance broker in Birmingham, Alabama, Thomas is a certified financial planner in Huntsville, Alabama, and Tate is the Executive Vice President for Production of Qualico Steel Company in Dothan, Alabama.
Pat and Carol established the Patrick T. and Carol D. O’Connor Fund at the Georgia Historical Society in 2026 to help support in perpetuity the preservation of Georgia’s history.