Veteran Representative Mary Margaret Oliver spoke at the April 6 breakfast meeting of the DeKalb Bar Association’s Family Law Section. She represents the citizens of District 82, serving in the House of Representatives from 1987 to 1992, and 2002 through the present day, and the Senate from 1993 to 1998. She currently serves on the Judiciary, Appropriations, Juvenile Justice, Governmental Affairs, and Science and Technology Committees. Fresh from the 2017 regular session of the 154th Georgia General Assembly, she summarized the bills that passed and the reasons why some worthy bills failed.

Scene at the March FLS Breakfast The Family Law Section Breakfast is held on the first Thursday of each month, 7:30-9 am at the historic Old Courthouse on the Square in downtown Decatur, 101 E. Court Square. Join us for for…

Attorney Tina Shadix Roddenbery of the firm Holland Roddenbery LLC, spoke at the breakfast meeting of the DeKalb Bar Association Family Law Section on March 2. She talked about how attorney fees are awarded only by statute and described how each statute requires different elements to secure an award. For instance, OCGA § 19-6-2 gives courts the discretion to award attorney fees in cases of divorce, alimony, and contempt arising out of divorce or alimony, but only after consideration of the parties’ financial circumstances. Compare OCGA § 19-9-3(g), which gives courts the authority to award attorney fees in custody modification actions without any consideration of the parties’ financial circumstances.

Scene at the January FLS Breakfast The Family Law Section Breakfast is held on the first Thursday of each month, 7:30-9 am at the historic Old Courthouse on the Square in downtown Decatur, 101 E. Court Square. Join us for…

The December 2016 breakfast meeting of the DeKalb Bar Association’s Family Law Section featured a wealth of practical advice regarding testing for alcohol and drug use. Guest speaker Michele Gable, C.P.C.T., Director of Operations at Choice Lab Services, provided extensive information regarding how best to structure testing to obtain accurate results and ways to prevent individuals who are being tested from tricking the test. She explained the types of information that can be obtained from several different types of testing programs, as well as potential gaps in data.

by Georgia Lord
Georgia Lord Law

The November 3 breakfast Meeting of the DeKalb Bar Association’s Family Law Section featured both a salute to veterans and valuable advice from tax experts. Section Chair Alice Limehouse recognized the veterans in attendance. She gave a special thank you to section member and U.S. Army Reservist Steve Shewmaker, who is scheduled for deployment next year.