From the Bench
Breaking Up with Dignity
Private Courtrooms for Family Matters
By Hon. Cynthia D. Wright
Boyd, Collar, Nolen & Tuggle
D
ivorce is never easy. Often, a couple’s emotional
stress is compounded by having the details of their
private lives put on display in the public court system
where all the give and take of a marriage suddenly can seem
like a script for a soap opera.
Imagine having your finances put into the public record. Or
having a psychologist chosen by your estranged spouse
testify in open court about your frailties. Or hearing a private
investigator testify about your indiscretions. My experience
as a family court judge is that misconduct seldom resides
only on one side of a divorce; usually there are things said
or done on both sides that don’t look ennobling in the cold,
bright light of the public courtroom.
In matters of child custody and support, even the most
aggrieved spouse should recognize that adjudicating matters
in the public arena is potentially damaging to children. We’ve
even seen cases where kids were bullied in school when
other children learned details about their family situation
from court records.
There’s a better way. The alternative is the private courtroom,
which has all the benefits of a fair and formal judicial process
without the loose ends of airing dirty laundry and personal
details of a couple’s finances and private lives in public.
Here’s how it works. Litigants retain a former trial court judge
who oversees a “trial.” The case is then tried following the
same rules of evidence, courtroom procedure and decorum
that would be required at any courthouse in the state.
Witnesses are called, sworn in and questioned under direct
and cross examination. Objections can be made to lines of
questioning. Evidence is submitted and admissibility can
be challenged. There are opening statements and closing
arguments. And when the lawyers sit down, the case goes
to the judge for a decision, just as it would in a bench trial.
There’s just one, huge difference. It’s all behind closed doors.
The process begins with an agreement between the
parties to abide by the decision of the judge. Most often,
12 THE ATLANTA LAWYER
June/July 2015
they agree to file a consent judgment that adheres to the
decision. Usually, they agree upfront that the decision is not
appealable. The parties also can have a court reporter if a
record of the proceedings will be useful.
The ability to fast-track a case is one big advantage of the
private courtroom for family matters. Judges have a whole
army of cases marching toward them, and couples who want
to get on with their lives and provide stability for their children
find themselves at the mercy of shifting court calendars and
a judge’s best efforts to serve hundreds of litigants.
In the private courtroom, the parties and counsel drive the
schedule. If you’re ready, the judge is ready. The private
courtroom also works for business disputes and other civil
matters, but despite the benefits, I don’t suggest that private
courtrooms are appropriate for every dispute. There are
some cases, particularly those that involve public policy,
government officials or allegations of egregious conduct,
that should be decided in the full light of a public courtroom.
But for family matters where the parties’ personal finances
and other embarrassing information may be revealed for no
real public purpose, the private courtroom can be the best of
both worlds – a trial setting that allows both sides to put forth
their best case with the privacy of a closed-door arbitration.
Cynthia D. Wright is a partner at Boyd, Collar, Nolen & Tuggle
where she uses alternative dispute resolution to resolve
family disputes as well as civil conflicts for businesses. She
served as a Fulton County Superior Court judge from 1996 to
2014, including two terms as chief judge. She was a Fulton
County State Court judge from 1995 to 1996 and was chief
legal counsel to Gov. Zell Miller from 1991 to 1995. Judge
Wright was the first Fulton County Superior Court judge in
the family court division. In her role as one of three family
law judges, she presided over thousands of domestic cases
throughout her 12 years of service in the family division. She
may be reached at (770) 953-4300 or by email at cwright@
bcntlaw.com.
The Official News Publication of the Atlanta Bar Association