Section History

HISTORY OF THE FAMILY LAW SECTION

Compiled by Elizabeth Green Lindsey
2002

The Family Law Section was established in approximately 1975 when a petition was made to the State Bar of Georgia. At that time, eight (8) lawyers came together to form the Family Law Section of the State Bar of Georgia. Among the first were Jack P. Turner, Chair; Harry Hall, Vice Chair; Bob Reinhart of Tifton, (2nd Chair and later became President of the State Bar); Paul V. Kilpatrick, Columbus; former Georgia Supreme Court Justice, G. Conley Ingram (3rd Chair).

One of the first tasks of the Section was to publish a newsletter. In 1976, Jack Turner started the newsletter by photostating them and sending them out himself. It was Jack's hope there would be less overly aggressive litigation if practicing attorneys had a better understanding of family law. Shortly thereafter, the Section took over the publication of the newsletter and Jack remained the editor until 2000. The newsletter has been a great educational tool and has helped to promote the level of professionalism throughout the practice. The newsletter was originally published 10 to 12 times per year until 1996. Now it is 4-6 issues per year. In 2002, the first newsletter was posted to the Section web site.

In the early years, issues such as no default divorce were a hot topic and there was talk of abolishing jury trials. A few years prior to the establishment of the Family Law Section, the General Assembly added the thirteenth ground for divorce, i.e. irretrievably broken. Today, the issue of regaining the right to direct appeal remains a significant issue.

When Richard Schiffman, Jr. was Chair, he urged members to support legislation to extend child support to age 20, if a child was still in high school. This legislation is now the law.

Several other significant accomplishments have been the creation of the Domestic Relations Financial Affidavit by Martin Huddleston (Chair 1991-1992). The Affidavit continues to be in use with nominal changes.

In the 1990's there was an attempt to re-codify Georgia's Family Law statutes which was halted in the General Assembly. Bernadette Hartsville at Georgia State University began that task. This movement has begun again directly from the State Bar with the Committee on the Study of Family Law. Members of that Committee were appointed by the State Bar in an attempt to re-codify the family law statutes.

M.T. Simmons (Chair 1982-1983) initiated the first Family Law Institute to elevate the seminars for more experienced lawyers. The Institute was designed for lawyers who practiced primarily in domestic law. Its primary goals were to have an advanced seminar for the experienced lawyer and, at the same time, to give family lawyers an opportunity to interact and socialize together. This began during his tenure of 1982 to 1983. The seminar has gone from a handful of attorneys to over 300 participants, including Superior Court Judges and Supreme Court Justices.

John Mayoue (Chair 1992-1993) started the Family Law Convocation on Professionalism and initiated the Jack P. Turner Award and the State Bar Directory.

During Nancy Lawler's (Chair 1995-1996) tenure in 1995/96, the Section number grew to the second largest Section of the State Bar and received the Section of the Year Award.

Among the Chairs, several have continued to serve the Bar and the Bench. Former Chairs Paul V. Kilpatrick, Jr. (1980-1981) and Bob Reinhart (1978-1979) were Presidents of the State Bar of Georgia. The Honorable G. Conley Ingram (1979-1980) was a Georgia Supreme Court Justice. Several Chairs have become Judges, including the Honorable John E. Girardeau (1984-1985) of Gainesville, who also is considered the father of the Child Support Guidelines in Georgia. The Honorable Elizabeth Glazebrook (1989-1990), former Superior Court Judge was Chairman from 1989 to 1990; and the Honorable Martha C. Christian (1993-1994), also became a Superior Court Judge after serving as Chair of the Section.

Today the Section memberships stands at over 1600. The seminars we conduct are some of the most advanced and sophisticated in the country in the area of family law. The Section continues to be committed to excellent educational programs for its members and active in mobilizing the Section to heighten awareness of the legislative and appellant issues in the area of Family Law.