Brian and Kim Cain: Success driven by service

If you know Brian P. (J.D.’87) and Kim McLemore Cain, it is no surprise to learn they have a heart for giving back to their community. The couple mentors two children at KIPP Woodsen Park Academy in metro Atlanta, makes time to fill backpacks with food to distribute to food-insecure children and have been on several mission trips through their church and with Servants in Faith and Technology, a Christian nonprofit committed to helping impoverished third-world communities in practical ways.

Brian is a partner at Holt, Ney, Zatcoff & Wasserman, where he works in the area of commercial real estate law, primarily representing real estate developers and investors. He said the reason he loves his work and has stuck with it for many years is the same reason he volunteers — he finds fulfillment in helping others.

“That’s probably the thing that I enjoy the most, feeling like you are helping other people achieve their goals,” Brian said. “I think, for me, if I wasn’t doing this I would have to find another service industry just because that’s what I find most rewarding.”

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Brian (J.D.’87) and Kim McLemore Cain

Brian also serves on the UGA Law School Association Council, and both he and Kim value their involvement with the university. They joked that Kim attended UGA as a toddler because her father was enrolled in the School of Law and her mother was a UGA student when Kim was very young. “I’m definitely a Bulldog through and through,” Kim said.

The Cains also started a fund in 2019 that awards a full scholarship to two School of Law students who have overcome significant hardship while on their journey to entering the legal profession. They are following in the footsteps of Brian’s father, who set up a scholarship at Mississippi State University 20 years ago in honor of Brian’s mother when she passed away.

“When my father turned 80, I set up a scholarship in his name at Mississippi State’s business school. Although he was a civil service worker and on government wages, he always gave back,” Brian said. “Education was important to him. … When you get letters from students saying ‘hey, your mom’s scholarship or your dad’s scholarship really helped me go to school and get an education that I might not have been able to afford,’ it’s rewarding to see that you can have an impact.”

Brian said his father was an immense influence on his life. He was drafted during World War II at age 18, two weeks after starting college at Mississippi State. He then worked in civil service with the U.S. Air Force, a job that kept the family moving around during Brian’s childhood. They jumped from Mississippi to Illinois to Germany, before the family finally settled in Warner Robins, Georgia. Brian jokes that if someone overpaid his father by a dime, he would drive five miles back to their house to give it back.

“He was the most ethical person I’ve ever come across,” Brian said. “Very community-minded and very philanthropic.”

When asked who is the biggest role model in her life, Kim answered immediately: “Brian is mine. … He carries on his father’s legacy of always doing the right thing. He’s the most honest person I know.”

When Kim met Brian in his final year of law school and her third year of undergraduate studies at UGA, she said it was love at first sight. She has been by his side ever since — through his last stretch of law school exams, while working on lengthy projects at work and together raising two children, Caitlin and Ben. Having witnessed Brian’s law career firsthand, Kim said the best thing she can do as a partner is to help ease some of the day to day stress and be a steadfast support system.

Brian has spent all 33 years as a lawyer with Holt, Ney, Zatcoff & Wasserman in Atlanta, which he said has been very rewarding. Kim said the firm is a tight-knit group and that they have been able to watch his coworkers’ families grow up throughout his time at the firm.

“In this day and age where people move around so much, I’m proud that I’ve been able to come into the firm, help it thrive and, as you progress over your career, become more of a leader in the firm and provide direction for its future,” Brian said.

And as for the Cains’ future, Brian said they plan to continue their involvement with UGA and with organizations that help people who are less fortunate than they are.

“Kim and I both were blessed with loving parents and we did not face the incredible challenges that some folks must surmount. Nothing inspires us more than watching someone achieve success in the face of significant hardship,” Brian said.

– Bailey Walker

“Nothing inspires us more than watching someone achieve success in the face of significant hardship.” – Brian Cain (J.D.’87)