A View from Behind the Bench: Staff Attorneys from the DeKalb Superior Court Speak to FLS

October’s meeting of the Family Law Section of the DeKalb Bar Association featured presentations by several of the staff attorneys of the Superior Court of DeKalb County, as well as Judge Mark Anthony Scott. The staff attorneys included Shannon Hicks (Judge Seeliger), Amy Daldry (Judge Coursey), Denise Warner (Judge Scott), and Bethany Embry (Judge Barrie). They discussed the policies of each division with respect to various family law issues.

We were reminded that there is a tremendous amount of differences among the bench with respect to the various policies:

1. Some courts assign Guardian ad Litems to every contested custody case, others only upon a motion.
2. Some courts require mediation, others mediate only upon request.
3. There seems to be a tremendous variation in the availability of temporary hearings.

There was also some information that has universal application. The staff attorneys agreed that motions described as emergency motions would rarely be considered emergencies unless there were some danger to children or abuse. They also agreed that motions for attorney’s fees should cite the statute under which the moving attorney was proceeding. It was also mentioned that DeKalb County maintains a place for child exchanges in high conflict divorces, called Nia’s Place.

Finally, there was a spirited discussion of the availability or lack thereof of temporary hearings. Judge Scott described the pressure that judges are under to resolve an extraordinary number of cases, and said that, in fact, many temporary hearings are very time-consuming affairs. For this reason he prefers few or no temporary hearings. Several of the attendees stressed the importance of the hearings for resolving their cases.

The next Family Law Section Breakfast is on Thursday, Nov. 4 at 7:30 in the Old Courthouse on the Square. To find out more, click here.