Belinda Pollett: A Portrait of Perseverance

Story by Claire Sandow   |  Photography by Leidy Lester

Belinda Pollett, owner and partner of Reddick & Pollett in Springfield, is proof that you can make a change at any point in your life. After starting a family and devoting her time to raising her sons, Belinda began to look for a new way to use her talents. She took a job as a loan officer at the Bank of America branch in Springfield and discovered that she enjoyed the problem solving aspect of helping people with mortgages and lending. It was there that she met Ed Reddick.

Her knack for problem solving proved to be helpful for her next career move: working as a legal secretary for Reddick & Exley.

“Mr. Reddick called me out of the blue and asked if wanted to come work with him,” says Belinda. “I knew nothing about law at the time, but I enjoyed real estate and estate planning with people.”

With her newfound experience in law, Belinda saw new possibilities for herself when she discovered the legal studies program at South University.

“I would work full time and then take online classes at night, then I had to take another year in person in Savannah.” Once she finished the program, she was a fully qualified paralegal.

By the time she completed her legal studies degree, Savannah Law School was opening for its first cohort of students. “I always wanted to be a lawyer; it was something I felt a passion about,” says Belinda.

She applied and was accepted to the school, continuing to balance working full time with commuting to Savannah to pursue her studies.

“When you get older, you start realizing the importance of time,” says Belinda. “You’ve only got so much time to get stuff done.”

In 2017 at age 49, Belinda graduated with her law degree, proving that it’s never too late to go after your dreams. In 2019, she passed the bar exam and became a practicing lawyer, taking on her own clients and working with clients that had been at Reddick & Exley for decades.

Law in the Family

While Belinda was in law school, her son Branden was also attending law school at the University of South Carolina.

“A lot of what happens in the first year of law school is universal across the board,” says Branden. “Mom was a year behind me, so it was good to be able to check on each other. Having a parent as well as a colleague is definitely a fun experience.”

The two had a memorable experience being able to face each other on opposite sides of a court case. Belinda was representing Reddick & Exley and Branden was working as an assistant solicitor in Effingham County.

“The judge immediately recognized us both. I joked, ‘Do I need to do a sidebar with my son?’” says Belinda. “It was a great experience to be there in the courtroom and watch him.”

“Any time you get in the courtroom is a good day,” agrees Branden. “It was good to see her accomplish her goal of being an attorney.”

Today Branden works in Oconee County as an assistant district attorney and he lives in Athens with his wife and two sons.

Belinda’s son Dillen is also proud of her and supports her in his role as the marketing manager for Reddick & Pollett. He, his wife and their son live outside of Augusta, where Dillen also works in marketing for Recteq grills.

Both of them credit Belinda for their personal and professional successes.

“I’ve learned perseverance from her,” says Dillen. “Even when she went back to school she was always there for us. She’s where she’s at today because she is continuing to better herself no matter what’s in front of her.”

“Another thing I learned from Mom is love,” says Branden. “She loved us and adored us and that really meant a lot.”

A Change of Course

In 2023, her trajectory changed when both Ed Reddick and Denmond Exley retired, leaving Reddick & Exley with either of its namesake attorneys.

“They were both in their 80s. For years they had been saying, ‘Are you ready to take over the firm?’ but I never believed that they would actually ever retire,” says Belinda. “But one day Mr. Exley came in and said, ‘I'm tired of driving from Savannah, I’m going to retire.’”

Not to be outdone, Ed came in the next day and announced his retirement as well.

“I said, ‘Yeah right,’” says Belinda. “And he said, ‘No, I'm really retiring, and I want you to take over the company.’”

So Belinda made some phone calls, signed some papers and started making the transition to being the owner of her own law firm. She chose to practice under the name Reddick & Pollett to maintain the decades of brand recognition built within the community.

“It was a challenge, but one I was able to do,” says Belinda. “We changed the name but we still run with the same integrity and the caring for the community that Mr. Reddick always had.”

With a change of ownership came a change of decor as well. Belinda put her own touch on the office where she had worked for years, adorning the walls with art and decorating with flowers. “Well, it is a woman’s office,” Belinda says.

She also employs several retired educators as legal secretaries, giving the same opportunity to learn on the job that she was given years ago.

Under Belinda’s leadership, Reddick & Pollett specializes in wills and estate planning, business formations, real estate closings, power of attorney, probates and administrations and corporate and business law. She breaks down complex legal concepts into layman’s terms and provides a supportive environment for planning wills, estates and making other end-of-life arrangements.

The areas of law that Belinda practices require a strong attention to detail, a penchant for dealing with sensitive topics and a listening ear. “I'm not just here to make a dollar,” says Belinda. “I'm here to make somebody not feel worried when their parents pass away. I'm here to help somebody do the loan on their house. I'm here to help make things not to be so scary all the time.”

Lifelong Learning

Although Belinda is done with formal schooling, that doesn’t mean she has lost her love for learning.

“I miss going to school because I was learning new things all the time,” says Belinda. “You’re learning every day whether it’s something positive or something negative.”

Although she is qualified to practice any area of law in Georgia after passing the bar exam, she still pursues continuing education to hone her skills in additional areas like creating special needs trusts.

Outside of work, Belinda enjoys hiking with her standard poodle Duke and spending time with her sons, daughters-in-law and three grandsons. She attends Compassion Christian Church in Rincon and enjoys the community there.