Family Law Section • Bench Information

Division 1: Judge Courtney L. Johnson

Staff

Secretary:
Trudy Darby

Calendar Clerk: Annette Wells
404-371-2880
Fax: 404-687-3511
awells@dekalbcountyga.gov

Law Clerk: Melody Bray
404-371-2572
mpbray@dekalbcountyga.gov

• We accept motions for continuance and conflict notices.   
• All email communications must have opposing counsel cc’d.
• Phone conferences may be accepted depending on the facts of the case.

Contempt Hearings
Rule Nisi issued – Provide a Request for Hearing to Annette, the calendar clerk. You are responsible for service of both the petition and the Rule Nisi.

Temporary Hearings/Emergency Hearings
We hold temporary hearings in divorces cases on our civil non-jury calendar days each month. Emergency petitions must be delivered to Melody, the law clerk, and will be dependent upon the specific circumstances. The specific reasons for the request must be properly pled in the petition.

Domestic Violence Issues
Magistrate is utilized to hear.
   

MFJOP
Accept with No children? Yes
Accept with Children? Yes, if all issues are truly resolved by the parties.

Mediation
All divorces are automatically referred to mediation if there is no settlement agreement filed.

Discovery Disputes

• Filed motions accepted only.
• No phone conferences allowed for dispute resolution.
• Submit a Request for Hearing in order to be placed on the calendar.

Pre-Trial

• Pre-Trial Orders are required for bench trials and jury trials
• All pretrial orders must comply with USCR 7.2
• We generally will not have a pretrial conference. All pretrial motions must be submitted at least one week before trial.

Final Hearings
Submit a Request for Hearing in order to be placed on the calendar.

GAL

Appointed by:

• DVLF
• By agreement of counsel  
• Judge List

The fee policy is dependent upon the GAL assigned to the case.

Court Reporters
The court reporter assigned to our division is Mailie Gershwin. All court reporter requests must be submitted directly to Mailie prior to the hearing date. She can be reached at 404-371-2660.