IN THE PROFESSION
high attendance this year reflects a growing
realization by our legal community that this
is a critical topic that all practitioners must
think about on a regular basis. Implicit bias is
defined as an implicit association or attitude
(about race, gender, religion, culture, for
example) that: operates beyond our control
or awareness, informs our perception
of a person or group, and can influence our
decision-making toward the target of the
bias. Implicit bias can exist in many different
forms, and it is important for attorneys
and firms to acknowledge that these biases
exist and put in practices and policies to
discourage these biases from influencing
decisions made by firms. Bias can influence
decisions related to hiring, mentoring,
performance evaluations, compensation,
work assignments, networking, and career
progression. The panel recommended
reviewing guidance from the website
www.biasinterrupters.org to learn about
different recommended procedures for
addressing and interrupting implicit bias.
Brittany Browning (Hall Booth Smith,
PC) then moderated an excellent
panel on “Collecting and Enforcing
Judgments.”
The panelists were
Hon. Jessy Lall (State Court of Fulton
County),
Rohan
Rupani
(Lazega
&
Johnson),
and
Beth
Rogers
(Rogers Law Offices).
The panelists
explained that obtaining a judgment
for your client is not the end of the case:
you now must collect and enforce that
judgment! They explained the importance
of obtaining a Fieri Facias ("FiFA") from
the Court after getting a judgment along
with the different types of garnishments
that can be obtained from third parties that
may have funds that you can obtain. Rogers
entertained us with some of her exploits
in levying a debtor’s property (a risky but
potentially beneficial tactic to collecting on
a judgement). The panelists also explained
the post-judgement discovery available to
a party trying to collect on a judgement as
well as how to revive dormant judgements.
Finally, Ronne Kaplan (Ronne G. Kaplan,
LLC) moderated a panel on the use of
special masters. On the panel were Hon.
Keegan Federal (The Federal Firm), Hon.
Walt Davis (State Business Court), and
Shanon J. McGinnis (Wargo French).
Hon. Federal and McGinnis explained the
authority usually given to a special master as
well as the benefits to using special masters
to quickly resolve disputes. They explained
that the special master’s ability to have ex
parte discussions with the parties made it
easier to resolve disputes quickly thereby
saving the parties money in the long run.
Hon. Davis then gave us all some insight
into how the new State Business Court will
operate. There will be a $3,000 filing for
parties to file in the Business Court and the
Court will provide quicker rulings, better
access to the Judge, and generally be more
litigator-friendly than other Courts.
This year’s CLE By the Hour was another
success in both timely and relevant content
and its à la carte program structure. Here’s
looking forward to continuing the event
and growing participation in the years to
come. For more information about how you
can participate in future CLE events, or to
become a CLE speaker, visit atlantabar.org.
Atlanta Bar members during CLE By the Hour
www.atlantabar.org THE ATLANTA LAWYER
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