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GCBA November News and Updates
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S. Carlton Rouse GCBA President 2017-18 |
President's Corner
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#GCBAGIVES - Gwinnett Children's Shelter; LEAD picnic success; November luncheon guest speakers announced
By S. Carlton Rouse
I am pleased to announce that the annual Law Enforcement Appreciation Day (LEAD) picnic was very successful. Thanks to the hard work and leadership of Julie Potts, Judge Keith Miles, Mihae Park, Dana Pagan, Jon Setzer, as well as so many other individuals and volunteers, I believe the Gwinnett law enforcement officers in attendance (and their families) felt the communities' appreciation for their service and sacrifice.
As we prepare for the holiday season of giving thanks for the blessings we enjoy,
please know that the Bar will work to collect needed canned goods and holiday gifts for the children residing at the Gwinnett Children's Shelter. To be successful, We Need Your Support! It is our hope that the food items and gifts donated will brighten the children's holiday and help them to feel as special as their peers outside the shelter. The individual Children's wish lists is included in the newsletter and will be circulated ahead of the Bar Holiday Party at the Sugarloaf Country Club on December 9, 2017. We would like to collect all items by December 9, 2017, in order to present them to the Children's Shelter ahead of Christmas. As such, you can bring your donations to the holiday party or contact me or any other officer and we can coordinate picking the item up from you. Please contact me if you have questions/concerns about sponsoring items on a child's wish list.
Last but certainly not least, our speakers for the November meeting are Chief Luis (Lou) Solis, of the Gwinnett County Sheriff's Office as well as Maureen Kornowa, of the Gwinnett Children's Shelter.
As always, thank you for your commitment to this organization, your input and your support.
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Annual Holiday Party: #GCBAGIVES to the Gwinnett Children's Shelter
'Tis the season to celebrate the end of the trial calendar year! GCBA invites you to join us for some holiday cheer
Saturday, December 9.
#GCBAGIVES: Take $5 off your ticket when you donate to the Gwinnett Children's Shelter this holiday season. Discount only applies at checkout. No refunds.
There are two ways to participate in this #GCBAGIVES campaign:
1. Click
here for a list of specific food items needed or donate any non-perishable food items.
2. Contact
Jon Setzer to donate to a child's wishlist. We have
20 children that need our support this holiday season.
Donations accepted at the holiday party or in advance
to Jon Setzer/the donation box located on the first floor of the courthouse. Verified donations will receive a $5 discount code to use at checkout online or payment in person. No refunds, discount must be taken at checkout.
Saturday, December 9, 2017 from 6:00 PM to 11:00 PM EST
Happy Hour + Cash Bar + Carving Stations + Holiday Music & Cheer + Giving
TPC SUGARLOAF - MAIN HOUSE
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Buy Tickets to Upcoming Events
Friday, November 17, 2017 from 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM EST
Guest Speakers: Chief Luis (Lou) Solis, Gwinnett County Sheriff's Office; Maureen Kornowa, Gwinnett Children's Shelter
Saturday, December 9, 2017 from 6:00 PM to 11:00 PM EST
Happy Hour + Cash Bar + Carving Stations + Desert + Holiday Music & Cheer + Giving
TPC SUGARLOAF - MAIN HOUSE
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Photos from the 2017 LEAD Picnic
Click the icon below to visit our Facebook Page to see more pictures!
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GCBA NEWS AND SECTION UPDATES |
ARE YOU A MEMBER?
GCBA has updated its membership lists for the 2017-18 year.
You may not be a member, even if you receive e-mails from us. Click
here to see if you are a current member.
We will be deleting all non-members for our e-mail and mailing lists January 2018. If you aren't a current member, don't worry!
Click here to update your membership. It's that easy!
Please feel free to contact
Jon Setzer for any membership queries.
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Elaine Levine |
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EPPS UPDATE: November Meeting Ft. Elaine Levine; Volunteer at Walk to End Alzheimers; Monthly Clinics
The Gwinnett Estate Planning and Probate Section (EPPS) is pleased to host attorney
Elaine Levine for our November meeting. From her 35 years of practice in Atlanta, Elaine will talk about
how planning for death and probating an estate in Georgia has changed over the years. She will give some examples of the challenging cases her team has handled for blended families, warring families, needy families and just plain complicated people.
Click here to learn more about Elained Levine.
The November meeting will be held
Thursday, November 16 (to avoid overlapping with the 14th Annual Atlanta Estate Planning Forum on Tuesday, November 14,
info on Forum here), at
12:00 noon at The 1818 Club at 6500 Sugarloaf Parkway, Duluth, GA 30097. The cost of lunch (for attorneys only) will be covered by
First Citizens Bank.
Please email
Melody Glouton
if you plan to attend.
Note that you do not have to be a member of the section to attend the meetings (please feel free to forward the message or bring a friend!). If you are interested in joining the section, or simply being added to the section email list, please email
Melody Glouton or
Lauren Bryant.
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P
robate Court Pro Bono Clinic (Monthly)
Who should volunteer
: Attorneys with probate and/or guardianship experience (need not be an expert, but some experience is required to assist attendees)
What: Provide guidance to pro se petitioners with their filings in probate court
Where: Gwinnett Justice and Administration Center
When: Third Thursday of each month from 1:30pm - 4:30pm
Why: To help our citizens and the Probate Court in processing petitions more efficiently and effectively
How: Please contact
Elizabeth Strupe with questions or to sign up for the Probate Court Pro Bono Clinic
October 2017 Pro Bono Recognition
Pro Bono Representation
Ethel D. Andersen
Patrick Hall
Torin D. Togut
Probate Clinic
Morgan Bembry
Walter J. Clarke
Hazel Langrin-Robertson
John M. Miles
Deana Spencer
Consumer Law Clinic
Christina Wagner
A special thank you to volunteers who have exceeded 50 HOURS of pro bono service to Gwinnett Pro Bono clients in 2017:
Charlotte Kenner
Cathy Lee
John M. Miles
Esther Panitch
Dorothy "Dodie" Sachs
John L. Welsh II
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Celebrating the life of the
Honorable Michael C. Clark
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GCBA Bookcase Relocates:
3rd Floor- GJAC
The GCBA book case will be relocated from the GCBA trophy case to a similar position on the 3rd floor to make room for large bookcases that will contain historical books.
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Family Law Update: What happens to the In-Vitro baby?
By: Margaret Gettle Washburn
The Court reversed the grant of summary judgment, Superior Court of Chatham County, to the Mother on the issue of paternity in a divorce action, finding that O.C.G.A. § 19-7-21, which creates an irrebuttable presumption of legitimacy with respect to children conceived by means of artificial insemination does not extend to children conceived by in-vitro fertilization treatment. This opinion and the dissent are a fun read, however, leaves open the question as to the status of a child of in-vitro, which is the emphasis of the dissent.
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A Brief History of the QDRO
By: Matthew L. Lundy
Prior to the passing of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 ("ERISA"), companies who setup retirement plans were largely free to contribute money to retirement plans (or not to), and then take money out of those plans as needed to conduct their business. So, if a plan needed $10,000,000.00 to fund its pension, and only had $5,000,000.00 in their pension fund, but needed money to pay its monthly expenses, it might very well draw on that $5,000,000.00 to pay those expenses. Such was the way of many large businesses prior to ERISA. This resulted in many instances of plan bankruptcy, and unsuspecting, disappointed and downtrodden plan participants, who simply did not have their retirement money waiting for them at retirement.
The most famous instance of plan bankruptcy rooted in underfunding was the 1963 Studebaker case. As a result of its underfunding, virtually all of its 10,000 employees received reduced pensions, and nearly 3,000 of them received no pensions. In response, ERISA was created, which i) created minimum funding standards, and ii) created an anti-alienation provision making it impossible for employers, employees, and creditors to take money out of these pensions, except upon the Participant's retirement. This proved problematic in the family law context, because former spouses and children of plan participants effectively became locked out of their ability to collect against these pensions, even with a final judgment.
Consequently, in 1984, Congress amended ERISA with the passing of the Retirement Equity Act ("REAct"). REAct created an exception to the anti-alienation provision of ERISA, and created the qualified domestic relations order ("QDRO"). QDROs permit spouses, former spouses and children to receive all or a portion of a retirement plan participant's benefits for purposes of support and/or property division. Many other non-ERISA plans, such as state and federal government pensions, also have similar QDRO-like orders.
When you encounter retirement plans in your cases, we are here to assist you. Our team of experienced, knowledgeable legal professionals have divided thousands of retirement plans, and we are ready to put that experience to work for you and your clients. Call us anytime.
Matthew L. Lundy, Esq.
Matthew Lundy Law
Phone: 1-855-737-6529
Fax: 1-855-502-2459
Email:Matt@MLundyLaw.com
Website:www.mlundylaw.com
Florida * Georgia * New Jersey * Wisconsin
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2017 Child Support Guidelines Training and CLE
The Georgia Commission on Child Support is offering training sessions to judges, judicial staff, attorneys and legal staff, and Division of Child Support Services (DCSS) agents and attorneys at various locations throughout the state. The training events are offered between November 2017 and May 2018. Generally, three topics are covered at these events: the Online Child Support Calculator, the Child Support Guidelines, and the Income Deduction process. The training has been approved for three CLE hours for attorneys.
The guidelines training will focus on legislative changes to the statute (O.C.G.A. § 19-6-15) that took effect on July 1, 2017. The calculator training is offered on the Online Child Support Calculator only. The Income Deduction Order (IDO) training will focus on the process in private cases. There is no cost to attend the training. Attorneys will be responsible for payment of their own CLE credits directly to the Georgia Bar Association. You must register to attend and ensure available seating.
Click here to register and select the date and location that works for your schedule.
Elaine Johnson, Executive Program Manager, Child Support Commission
Communications, Children, Families and the Courts Division
Judicial Council/Administrative Office of the Courts
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DUI LAW UPDATE:
The New O'Levik/Plevik DUI Case- Q&A
By: Mickey G. Roberts
You may have seen or heard about the new Georgia Supreme Court decision last week Olevik v. State. The case involved a Defendant actually named "Plevik." The Court documents incorrectly spelled Plevik with an "O", hence the case name "Olevik."
1.
Is the Georgia Implied Consent law unconstitutional, both on its face and as applied? No
2.
Does a person arrested for DUI in Georgia have a constitutional right to refuse a request for a state chemical breath test? How about blood? Yes and Yes
3.
Is the act of blowing into the Intoxilyzer machine protected under the Georgia Constitution prohibition against compelling someone perform an act which might incriminate themselves? Yes
4.
Is a warrantless breath test incident to a lawful arrest a violation of the right to unreasonable searches under 4th amendment and equivalent provision in the Georgia Constitution? No
5.
If a person does take a breath test after arrest, what must the State show to have the breath test admitted into evidence and show that the Georgia Constitution's prohibition against compelling a Defendant to say or do something which might incriminate him has not been violated? That the person voluntarily "consented" to take the test and was not coerced or forced into doing so, just like the criteria used in Williams for blood tests.
Note that this case was talking about our rights under the Georgia Constitution, not the 5th Amendment to the US Constitution. The Plevik case basically said that under the Georgia Constitution, Art. I, Sec. I, Par. XVI, a person under arrest for DUI cannot be forced to blow into the state breath test machine, although he CAN voluntarily waive his right and consent to blow into the machine. He also has a right to refuse to take the test under the same provision in the Georgia Constitution.
In the next few weeks I will be sending a revised "4 Simple Rules" to my client list. One of the rules will be: You have a Constitutional right in Georgia to refuse the State administered test; although you could still face a civil penalty of one year license suspension, you could also opt for a one year limited permit with Interlock Device, and could then fight your DUI charge with the State having no blood alcohol test and with no field sobriety evaluations.
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