Requiem for the Divorced Homemaker - Atlanta - Divorce Lawyer ...

Martha certainly took up a ton of time with me indomestic cases. She had an outstanding reputation as adomestic lawyer, so I knew she was going to be the residentexpert on family law. I went to her often to askher about the law. She never told me how to rule orwhat to do, she just sort of helped talk me through as amentor should, and as a more-experienced judgeshould. Lamar Sizemore and Bryant Culpepper alsohelped me a tremendous amount. By far, the bestadvice I got was from Lamar Sizemore. He said “Justrule.” I try my best to make decisions quick because Irealize that most litigants just want an answer. Inregards to the lawyers, I think my role is to give themsomething to appeal, to move the case through the systemto a final decision-maker, whatever that may be,and I try to remember that. I try to make it a point andI’ve tried to train my team here, especially in uncontesteddivorces, don’t sit on those things. If an order comesin this office, I cannot fathom a reason that we can’tturn it out in 24 hours if it’s already been decided. I tellmy assistant to bring those to me, put them on top ofthe stack, and let me sign it. I do that for two main reasons.First, the litigants want it over, they want adivorce, but secondly, I realize that most domesticlawyers cannot get paid until they get a divorce decreein their hand. I really try my best to keep that in theforefront of my mind that I’ve got to take care of thelawyers and I’ve got to help them keep their practicegoing. I’ve got to turn things out, if I’m not turningthings out, things are going to grind to a halt and that’show they make money. I want to be cognizant of thelawyers’ needs and, we’re here to work with them.Q: Will you take an uncontested final on the pleadings?A: I will. I’ve always taken the position that divorcepetitions are different. If the law requires that adivorce petition be verified, which is something morethan a normal complaint, we ought to give it more deferenceafter that. So if you filed a complaint, and theother side hasn’t filed an answer, I don’t see why I’vegot to drag you down here. And I’m going to trust thelawyer. If the lawyer tells me this case is ready, I mayget burned by relying on his or her word, but I won’tget burned by the same lawyer twice. I can promiseyou that. And I’ll look through it and make sure that Ihave the addendum, the worksheets, that they match,and if there’s a deviation, I want to know “why?” Ifthat’s there, I’ll sign the thing and turn it around. AndI do a lot of that for out of town lawyers. Why should Imake them charge their client? If you’re an Atlantalawyer and you’ve got an uncontested divorce, it’s notunfathomable that that could cost a client an extra1,000 bucks if I make you drive down here. It justdoesn’t make sense to me.Q:We were talking earlier and you were describingthe local procedures by which the judges areassigned domestic calendars. How does that work?A: Bottom line, the chief judge assigns, but generally,each judge gets two assignments, except for thejudge who has major felonies, which usually counts astwo assignments. So, for example, Judge Christian isthe chief judge and has drug court in Crawford; JudgeBrown has half of the domestic cases in Bibb and halfof the civil cases in Bibb; Judge Sizemore has all themajor felonies in Bibb; and I have all Peach Countycases and the other half of the Bibb civil calendar.Judge Ennis has the other half of the Bibb domesticcases and the Bibb property crimes. And those are our10 assignments. There are other things that go on.Judge Christian will handle every habeas case and I’llhandle every criminal condemnation case that comesin. That’s just sort of the way we internally work thingsout. Our circuit has always broken the courts into divisionsinstead of a judge getting a piece of every calendar.The assignments rotate through the five judges ona two-year cycle. My counties are Bibb, Peach andCrawford. Those three make up the Macon JudicialCircuit. We’ve had two judges leave in two years, soprobably that’s caused some folks to have to reassignand to move around some. So, I don’t know, we’reeither going to change at the end of next year and thenget back into a two-year cycle, or this year will begin atwo-year cycle. But that’s for the chief judge to decide.Q: Any particular observations as to the family lawissues you see in your courtroom?A: What I have been most surprised by is the mannerin which the guidelines are regressive. I firmlybelieve that under the current set of guidelines, thewealthier you are, the better you come out. The pooreryou are, the worse you come out. And I don’t think, Icertainly don’t think that was a consequence the legislatureintended, but I think that is what has happenedand I do think, I do find that more and more often,that the lower income pay a much greater percentageof their income than the higher income folks.Q: I’m not sure where on the income axis it falls.A: Right about between $3,500 and $5,000, dependingupon how many children. That’s the best I cantell. If it’s one child, it may break at $5,000 but if it’sthree children, it may break at $3,500 a month. That’sabout the figures that I came up with. That’s about thepoint that you take it, where it’d be even and howmuch it would work. Clearly though, the Legislatureintended this to be a guideline, so I have become a bigfan or user of general, non-specific downward devia-The Family Law Review 21 April 2008