Barcelona Spain Joint Family Law Conference and Networking Exchange

The Joint Family Law Conference and Networking Exchange in Barcelona Spain was a smashing success! As promised, it was …

Not just continuing legal education…
it was a continuing legal experience!

Hosted and sponsored by the Barcelona Bar Association, Il-lustre Col-legi de l’Advocacia de Barcelona (ICAB) and mdg Custody Litigation Consulting, the conference was designed to facilitate active engagement amongst the judges, panelists and seminar participants. Thirty people from the United States (mostly Georgia) including four judges, and 15 people from ICAB attended the program.

Wonderful seminar. Enjoyed learning about the Hague
Convention and about the Spanish judicial process.
Kathleen A. Coolidge, Savannah, Georgia

Discussions were, in fact, lively. The first day started with a warm welcome from Joaquim de Miguel Sagnier, ICAB Secretary and Librarian. We were then joined by Cristina Diaz-Malnero (ICAB President of the Family Law Section), Hon. Christopher Brasher (Chief Judge, Fulton Superior Court), and Kyla Lines (Bloom, Lines Alexander LLC) for a panel discussion focusing on the Hague Convention and child abduction. I served as the moderator.

The first day ended with Sr. de Miguel Sagnier giving us a tour of the magnificent ICAB facilities and the historic law library. The library, renowned as one of the world’s first private law libraries, houses over 300,000 works in both Catalan and Spanish, including a treasure trove of historic books, parchments, manuscripts and documents, some of which date back to the 12th century.

Day two focused on international divorce and child custody disputes. Panelists Hon. J. Stephen Schuster (Senior Judge, Cobb Superior Court), Hon. Stacey Hydrick (Judge, DeKalb Superior Court), Dawn de Klerk (de Klerk Law and Mediation), and Cristina Diaz-Malnero (not pictured) discussed some interesting differences in the law and its application, between Georgia and Barcelona.

Day three began with a tour of the Ciutat de la Justícia, the Barcelona courthouse. Ciutat de la Justicia translates to City of Justice, which is an apt description. The magnificent structure has eight buildings connected by a huge atrium. It houses 152 courts and 104 courtrooms. The courtrooms are small. We learned that hearings and procedures can be vastly different than what we experience in Georgia.

Following the courthouse visit, we returned to ICAB for a panel of judges from Georgia and Barcelona addressing best interests considerations in custody disputes, and particularly, the children’s input and desires. Kyla Lines moderated the interesting discussions with retired Barcelona Judge Joaquín Bayo Delgado, and Judges Brasher, Schuster, Hydrick, Cynthia Wright (Senior Judge, Fulton Superior Court) .

For this final portion of the program, we were honored to be joined by over 20 European judges from Croatia, Italy, Poland, Germany, Austria and other countries who were meeting in Barcelona. After the judge panel they also joined us for the closing reception.

It was an amazing experience. Debbie Gold was so
impressive with her efforts and her passion in
making this CLE happen.
Dawn deKlerk, Presenter, Douglasville, Georgia