Awards and Accomplishments
The Family Law Section has been honored as the “Section of the Year” by the State Bar on an incredible six different occasions. It first received this honor under Nancy F. Lawler (1995-96). During Nancy’s tenure the section grew to be the second largest section among the Bar, and following the path established in that first winning year, the Section has also received the “Section of the Year” honor in the following years under the guidance of the following Chairpersons:
Elizabeth Green Lindsey (2001 – 2002)
Stephen C. Steele (2005 – 2006)
Shiel Edlin (2006 – 2007)
Edward Coleman (2008 – 2009)
Gary Graham (2017 – 2018)
Scot Kraeuter (2018 – 2019)
ivory t brown (2019 – 2020)
And also significantly, the Section has been awarded the Section Achievement Award twice in the past decade, first under the leadership of Tina Shadix Roddenbery in 2009-10, and then again when Jonathan J. Tuggle chaired the Section in 2013-14.
Several former chairs have also become members of the judiciary. Hon. G. Conley Ingram (1979-80) was a Supreme Court of Georgia Justice prior to serving as a Superior Court judge in Cobb County, and Regina M. Quick (2015-16) was a Superior Court judge in Athens-Clarke County. Several other chairs have become judges, including Hon. John E. Girardeau (1984-85) of Gainesville, who also is considered the father of the Child Support Guidelines in Georgia. The section’s first female chair, Hon. Elizabeth Glazebrook (1989-90), was a former Superior Court and Juvenile Court judge in the Appalachian Judicial Circuit of North Georgia, and Hon. Martha C. Christian (1993-94) of Macon also became a superior court judge after serving as chair of the Section.
The Section bestows two primary awards upon its most deserving members to recognize outstanding achievement to the Section and to the Bar in general.
Annually, the Section awards the Joseph T. Tuggle Jr. Professionalism Award to the Section member who, for the given year, has most exemplified the aspirational qualities of professionalism in their practice as a lawyer and/or a judge. In 1999, in recognition of his decades of service to the Section and his unwavering and exceptional professionalism, known to all those who knew and practiced family law during his lifetime, the Section’s professionalism award was renamed to honor Joseph T. Tuggle, who strove to exemplify the ideals of professionalism every day in his thirty-five-year career. It is only appropriate that Joe Tuggle’s unwavering commitment to professionalism is remembered when the Section gathers for its annual Institute by bestowing the award that now bears his name each and every year.
The other primary award handed out by the Section is the Jack P. Turner Award, which is only bestowed in years when it is determined that a Section member, over the course of his or her career as a lawyer or a judge, has risen to even higher standards in his or her practice. The Turner Award represents the pinnacle of what all family lawyers should always strive to achieve: Service to the Section and to the Bar in general, an acceptance of that person to hold herself or himself to the highest standards of ethics and professionalism, and for his or her overall outstanding achievement to the broader area of family law in the State of Georgia and even beyond.
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Recipients of the Jack P. Turner Award, est. 1992 |
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| Edward E. Bates | Atlanta, 2018 | ||
| John C. Mayoue (posthumously) | Atlanta, 2017 | ||
| Hon. Bensonetta Tipton Lane | Atlanta, 2013 | ||
| George S. Stern | Atlanta, 2012 | ||
| H. Martin Huddleston | Atlanta, 2008 | ||
| Carl S. Pedigo | Savannah, 2007 | ||
| Hon. Cynthia D. Wright | Atlanta, 2006 | ||
| Christopher D. Olmstead | Atlanta, 2005 | ||
| H. William Sams | Augusta, 2003 | ||
| Hon. G. Conley Ingram | Marietta, 2002 | ||
| Baxter L. Davis | Atlanta, 2001 | ||
| C. Wilbur Warner Jr. | Atlanta, 2000 | ||
| Carl E. Westmoreland | Macon, 1997 | ||
| M.T. Simmons Jr. | Decatur, 1994 | ||
| Jack P. Turner | Atlanta, 1987 | ||
Recipients of the Joseph T. Tuggle Jr. Professionalism Award, est. 1995
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| Stephen C. Steele | 2018 |
| Hon. Jane C. Barwick | 2017 |
| Wendy Glasbrenner | 2016 |
| Tina Shadix Roddenbery | 2015 |
| Kice Stone | 2014 |
| Barry B. McGough | 2013 |
| Nancy F. Lawler | 2012 |
| John Lyndon | 2011 |
| Steven J. Harper | 2010 |
| Edward E. Bates Jr. | 2009 |
| Carol Ann Walker | 2008 |
| Jill O. Radwin | 2007 |
| Deborah A. Johnson | 2006 |
| Hon. Carol W. Hunstein | 2005 |
| John C. Mayoue | 2004 |
| H. Martin Huddleston | 2003 |
| Hon. Louisa Abbot | 2002 |
| Hon. Mary E. Staley | 2001 |
| Hon. Cynthia D. Wright | 2000 |
| Joseph T. Tuggle Jr. | 1999 |
| M.T. Simmons Jr. | 1998 |
| Debra A. Segal | 1997 |
| Hon. Elizabeth R. Glazebrook | 1996 |
| Hon. Hilton M. Fuller Jr. | 1995 |
Past Chairs of the Family Law Section |
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| Gary P. Graham | Atlanta, 2017-18 |
| Marvin L. Solomiany | Atlanta, 2016-17 |
| Regina M. Quick | Athens, 2015-16 |
| Rebecca Crumrine Rieder | Atlanta, 2014-15 |
| Jonathan J. Tuggle | Atlanta, 2013-14 |
| Kelly Anne Miles | Gainesville, 2012-13 |
| Randall M. Kessler | Atlanta, 2011-12 |
| K. Paul Johnson | Savannah, 2010-11 |
| Tina Shadix Roddenbery | Atlanta, 2009-10 |
| Edward Coleman | Augusta, 2008-09 |
| Kurt Kegel | Atlanta, 2007-08 |
| Shiel Edlin | Atlanta, 2006-07 |
| Stephen C. Steele | Marietta, 2005-06 |
| Richard M. Nolen | Atlanta, 2004-05 |
| Thomas F. Allgood Jr. | Augusta, 2003-04 |
| Emily S. Bair | Atlanta, 2002-03 |
| Elizabeth Green Lindsey | Atlanta, 2001-02 |
| Robert D. Boyd | Atlanta, 2000-01 |
| H. William Sams | Augusta, 1999-2000 |
| AnneH. Jarrett | Atlanta, 1998-99 |
| Carl S. Pedigo Jr. | Savannah, 1997-98 |
| Joseph T. Tuggle | Dalton, 1996-97 |
| Nancy F. Lawler | Atlanta, 1995-96 |
| Richard W. Schiffman Jr. | Atlanta, 1994-95 |
| Hon. Martha C. Christian | Macon, 1993-94 |
| John C. Mayoue | Atlanta, 1992-93 |
| H. Martin Huddleston | Decatur, 1991-92 |
| Christopher D. Olmstead | Atlanta, 1990-91 |
| Hon. Elizabeth Glazebrook | Jasper, 1989-90 |
| Barry B. McGough | Atlanta, 1988-89 |
| Edward E. Bates Jr. | Atlanta, 1987-88 |
| Carl Westmoreland | Macon, 1986-87 |
| Lawrence B. Custer | Marietta, 1985-86 |
| Hon. John E. Girardeau | Gainesville, 1984-85 |
| C. Wilbur Warner Jr. | Atlanta, 1983-84 |
| M.T. Simmons Jr. | Decatur, 1982-83 |
| Kice H. Stone | Macon, 1981-82 |
| Paul V. Kilpatrick Jr. | Columbus, 1980-81 |
| Hon. G. Conley Ingram | Atlanta, 1979-80 |
| Bob Reinhardt | Tifton, 1978-79 |
| Jack P. Turner | Atlanta, 1977-78 |