Atlanta Divorce Attorney Blog

We are excited to announce that effective October 5, 2009 we have moved our Alpharetta office location to 11475 Great Oaks Way; Suite 125; Alpharetta, GA 30022. Our phone numbers will remain the same - 678-879-9000.

We are excited to announce that effective October 5, 2009 we have moved our Alpharetta office location to 11475 Great Oaks Way; Suite 125; Alpharetta, GA 30022. Our phone numbers will remain the same - 678-879-9000.

This week brings the annual Family Law Institute for Georgia family law attorneys. During this three day seminar attorneys and judges get together and get to know each other in a casual environment, rather than the traditional adversarial role. One of the speakers on the first day, Judge Steve Jones from Athens, Georgia raised a particular concern about the fiscal year 2010 budget that I thought should be shared with the community at large. He noted that the fiscal year 2010 budget (as approved by the Georgia House of Representatives and Senate) provided for several major adjustments including an overall reduction in funding for Superior Courts by nearly five percent with significant reductions in senior judge usage, law clerks, operating expenses, and on and on. While I recognize that the current economic times mean that cuts are inevitably going to be required, this is a particularly alarming concern.

While these budget cuts are obviously going to negatively affect the Superior Court system, what is perhaps as alarming is that the number of cases going though our court system continues to substantially increase. According to the Georgia Administrative Office of the Courts, Planning and Research Division, the number of domestic relations cases, and the overall court docket, continues to increase – up over six percent since last year. As you can imagine, the decline in the economy has resulted in an increase in divorces (due to financial problems), parents seeking child support and alimony modifications, increased “deadbeat” parent cases, and of course more foreclosure confirmation and general debt collection cases.

So what does this mean to you? With increasing demand and less funding, I think it is fair to say that we will face greater court backlog, more crowded court calendars, and potentially even a decrease in the effectiveness and efficiency of the courts.

Meriwether & Tharp, LLP is pleased to announce the hiring of its newest associate attorney, David J. Beaudry. David J. Beaudry practices exclusively in the area of family law and divorce. He has been a contributing researcher for several continuing legal education manuals on family law issues and is the author of “The Status of Gift Giving in a Georgia Divorce,” Georgia Family Law Review (Feb 2006). Mr. Beaudry was a presenter at “A Road Map Through Divorce Proceedings” (2007) and “Divorce Issues in Georgia” (2008) Continuing Legal Education seminars sponsored by the National Business Institute (NBI). Mr. Beaudry is a member of both the New Jersey State Bar and the Georgia State Bar and is admitted to practice before the Georgia Court of Appeals and the Georgia Supreme Court. Mr. Beaudry is also a member of the Family Law Sections of the American and Atlanta Bar Associations. He earned his B.S. degree from Florida State University and his J.D. degree from Seton Hall University.

Meriwether & Tharp, LLP is pleased to announce that Robert L Tharp selected for the "Rising Stars" list published in the 2009 Georgia Super Lawyers.

Meriwether & Tharp, LLP is proud to announce the launch of its new divorce website - Divorce Lawyer Atlanta. We are currently in the launch phase of its release and expect lots of minor changes to be made over the next few weeks. If you have a moment, we would appreciate any feedback you have for improving our new divorce website. We are especially interested in topics you would like to see covered on our main divorce site.

We also wanted to take a moment to encourage your comments about future topics we should cover in this blog. If you have a topic or question you would like to see covered in a future blog entry, please leave a comment on this topic, let us know using the contact form, or email us. Thanks in advance for your input. We want this blog to become the definitive source for individuals to turn to for information about divorce and family law matters in Atlanta, Georgia.

From everyone at Meriwether & Tharp we wish you a happy holidays! We will continue our divorce blog articles after the new year.

Meriwether & Tharp, LLP would like to take a brief break from its blog to honor the service of our military veterans, both past and present. Your sacrifices are not forgotten and we honor your service to our country.

We are proud to announce that we officially opened our satellite office in Canton, Georgia today. As Meriwether and Tharp’s client base and referrals continue to grow in Cherokee County, we thought it was appropriate to open a satellite office in Canton, the county seat, to provide an easier location for our clients to meet their attorneys. Our office is located directly across from the Courthouse in the Century Building in Downtown Canton. The address is 270 E. Main Street, Suite B, Canton, Georgia 30114. If you are in the area, please feel free to stop by and see our new office.

We are proud to announce that we officially opened our satellite office in Canton, Georgia today. As Meriwether and Tharp’s client base and referrals continue to grow in Cherokee County, we thought it was appropriate to open a satellite office in Canton, the county seat, to provide an easier location for our clients to meet their attorneys. Our office is located directly across from the Courthouse in the Century Building in Downtown Canton. The address is 270 E. Main Street, Suite B, Canton, Georgia 30114. If you are in the area, please feel free to stop by and see our new office.