Judge Coursey Speaks at May Family Law Section Breakfast

The Family Law Section of the DeKalb Bar Association welcomed the Honorable Daniel M. Coursey, Jr., as its speaker for the May breakfast meeting. Judge Coursey began by observing that he has weathered a lot of family law changes in his more than 28 years on the DeKalb Superior Court bench. By way of illustration, he pointed to the recent parenting plan and child support statutory revisions with their concomitant increase in paperwork. But Judge Coursey emphasized that attorneys need not submit all documentation relating to these matters separately: Where an attorney might submit five separate orders, for example, the judge instructed that condensing them into fewer documents is permissible and judicious.Judge Coursey also opined that the single most important change in family law in DeKalb County is the availability of the DeKalb Alternative Dispute Resolution Center, which he referred to as “the best thing since sliced bread.” He noted that the use of mediators in domestic cases allows litigants to resolve – or at least to narrow – the issues that come before the court. Judge Coursey also suggested that providing mediators in the courtroom has significantly increased the number of cases that are resolved by settlement, freeing up the court’s crowded schedule.

Georgia, along with a few other states, permits jury trials in divorce cases. Judge Coursey acknowledged that he formerly believed that jury trials in divorce cases were generally a bad idea, but that his opinion has changed over time. Jury trials, he noted, provide him with an opportunity to see how the community at large is thinking, enabling him to temper his views and rulings and to better represent the community he serves. As an example, he pointed to the changing view of alimony since he took the bench 28 years ago. Currently, he observed, alimony awards are more the exception than the rule, and he has found that juries generally frown on alimony.

Judge Coursey’s closing comments were directed to the issue of professionalism; specifically, attorneys’ disclosure to the bench. He cited actual recent occurrences where lawyers took positions before him that were contrary to positions they had taken in their pleadings. His advice to the attendees was, “Know what you have done, and do not contradict yourself!”

The Family Law Section breakfast meetings are held the first Thursday of every month in the Harrison Room at the historic Old Courthouse in downtown Decatur. All are welcome.