Family Law Section Moves Forward in 2014

M. Debra Gold, FLS chair (right) and FLS members welcome Marilyn Stinson, program coordinator for Nia’s Place (second from right), to the December FLS breakfast.

By M. Debra Gold, chair, DeKalb Bar Association Family Law Section

Happy New Year! This is the DeKalb Bar Association Family Law Section’s fifth New Year’s celebration as an organized group. And what a great five years it has been; we have definitely made a difference and I am proud to be a part of it all.

This coming year, the Family Law Section will continue working on projects and events to increase membership while reaching out to the bench, the bar and the community we serve. Membership for the section continues to grow with members from large and small firms throughout the metropolitan Atlanta area. Several judges from the DeKalb Superior Court bench have lauded the FLS and its members for creating an open forum between the bench and the bar and they have encouraged membership and participation in the Section.

The Family Law Section is in the process of developing an advanced guardian ad litem seminar to cover more involved issues and details not covered in the basic guardian ad litem seminar produced two years ago. The members-only Family Law Section webpage is filled with valuable information to support our practices, including bench information regarding the preferences and regular practices of the DeKalb Superior Court judges in family law cases.

The monthly breakfast meetings for the Family Law Section provide a great forum for networking, socializing and learning about the various aspects of our family law practices. Please mark your calendars to join us at breakfast meetings on the first Thursday of every month (from September through June) at 7:30 a.m. in The Harrison Room at the historic Old DeKalb County Courthouse in downtown Decatur. We had a record attendance at the October 2013 breakfast meeting with Judge Clarence Seeliger and Judge Tangela Barrie answering questions about application of the Child Support Guidelines.

The Section has also hosted guest speakers such as Michele Gable from Choice Labs, who spoke on drug and alcohol testing, and former Fulton Superior Court Judge M. Gino Brogdon who gave a talk called “The Most Common Mistakes in Mediation.” In February of this year, Paula Frederick, general counsel with the State Bar of Georgia, will discuss ethical considerations in our family law practices. This coming spring we will also host an annual legislative update.

The Family Law Section raised money to purchase a TV for Nia’s Place.

Marilyn Stinson, program coordinator for Nia’s Place Supervised Visitation and Exchange Center, speaks to the Family Law Section.

This year the Family Law Section is giving back to the community by supporting and sponsoring Nia’s Place Supervised Visitation and Exchange Center. Nia’s Place has provided an invaluable service in our family law cases affected by domestic violence. At each monthly breakfast meeting, members donate money, art supplies, toys, baby items, electronics, gift cards and other items on their “wish list.”

In December 2013, the Family Law Section presented Nia’s Place with a television set that is now used in one of the visitation areas. Through the generosity of section members the Family Law Section helps to keep Nia’s Place properly supplied, which helps facilitate safe custody exchanges of children and to accommodate comfortable and meaningful supervised visitation opportunities for children who otherwise may be unable to have a relationship with both parents.

The Family Law Section has also compiled an impressive list of sponsors from the various sectors of support services that touch on our practices of family law. Many thanks to:
Kim Oppenheimer, Ph.D., and Child Custody Solutions
Joshua Weber, Morgan Stanley Wealth Management
Beth Garrett, Frazier & Deeter
Bobby Burnett, Charlie Bailey and Amy Waggoner, Just Family Solutions
Laurie Dyke, Investigative Accounting Group
Ansley L. Callaway, CPA, Callaway & Company, LLC
Lee Taylor, Keller-Williams Realty

We hope to see more DBA members this coming year at the breakfast meetings and other events. In the meantime, on behalf of the Family Law Section, best wishes for a happy, healthy and prosperous 2014!