Asha F. Jackson

Division 2
DeKalb County Courthouse
Room 6230

Phone: 404.371.2344

Court Calendars

Motions In Civil Actions

Steps for Pro Se Divorce Cases

B.A. University of Rochester, Rochester, NY
(1997)
J.D. Tulane University School of Law, New Orleans, LA (2000)

The Honorable Asha F. Jackson was appointed to the bench in 2012 and twice elected in uncontested races in DeKalb County. Judge Jackson has the distinct honor of having clerked for her predecessor on the bench, Judge Michael Hancock just after graduating from law school. Prior to becoming a Judge, Judge Jackson was a partner practicing commercial litigation out of the Atlanta office of Barnes and Thornburg, LLP and prior to this, she was a partner practicing tort litigation and professional negligence out of the Atlanta office of Carlock, Copeland, and Stair, LLP. While practicing, Judge Jackson tried numerous cases to verdict including mass tort, personal injury, product liability, and professional negligence cases on behalf of corporate and individual defendants. Her more notable cases include the representation of NFL football great Ray Lewis in a civil suit arising out of two murders after the Atlanta Super bowl and the representation of a funeral home sued after the owner of a North Georgia crematory failed to cremate hundreds of bodies.

 

In her current position, Judge Jackson presides over more than 1000 complex civil, felony criminal, and domestic cases assigned to her division.   She is very active in judicial leadership serving on numerous committees of The Statewide Judicial Council, The Council of Superior Court Judges and The Statewide Judicial Taskforce.  Judge Jackson was appointed by the President of the State bar to serve on the newly formed committee of the Georgia Business Court.  Because of her passionate commitment to the community and her belief in young people, Judge Jackson created Project Pinnacle, a one-year mandatory in-court experience for non-violent offenders under the age of 25. The goal of Project Pinnacle is to discourage young people from committing further offenses by providing them with life skills training, legal rights, and responsibilities education, and career development opportunities. Project Pinnacle is a co-ed program and Judge Jackson is dedicated to restoring young people to a respectful position in the community.

 

Judge Jackson is the founding and presiding Judge of the felony mental health court in DeKalb County. In this role, she is responsible for working with severe and persistently mentally ill defendants with a focus on health management, accountability in behavior, and therapy. Participants are referred from all divisions in the DeKalb Superior Court.  She also serves on the Executive Committee of the Statewide Council of Accountability Court Judges as the Mental Health Court representative.

 

Judge Jackson is very active in the legal community. She has held various leadership positions in the Atlanta Bar Association, the Gate City Bar Association, and the Georgia Association of Black Women Attorneys. Judge Jackson was inducted into the Litigation Counsel of America, an invitation-only Trial Order for the top 1% of litigators in the country and she has been consistently recognized by her peers for excellence in litigation, professionalism, and service including being named to the Georgia Trend Magazine Top Attorney’s List, the Georgia Rising Stars List, The Atlanta Daily Report Lawyer on the Rise and the NBA Trailblazer Under 40 just to name a few. In the community, Judge Jackson volunteers with a number of groups and organizations including her service as a Board Member of the State Commission on Family Violence, The Atlanta Area Council of Girl Scouts where she serves annually as the Judge for Law Merit Badge Day, The Atlanta Area Council of Boy Scouts where she teaches the Law Merit Badge and served as a fundraising captain, and The National Advisory Board of Forever Family; a youth mentoring organization committed to servicing children of incarcerated parents.

Information for Division 2:

  • All email communications must cc the opposing party or parties.
  • For all scheduling and hearing requests, contact:
    Civil/Domestic matters – Rakilah Green 404.371.4704
    Criminal matters –  404.371.2026 / Keia Martin 404.371.2344
  • Mediation – parties are required to attend mediation prior to the scheduling of all hearings.
  • Consolidated Pretrial Orders are required prior to bench trials and jury trials and must comply with USCR 7.2.
  • Uncontested divorces will not be finalized until 31 days have passed from the filing of proof of service.  You must contact chambers to notify the Court that your divorce is ready.
  • Divorces with children will NOT be granted unless both parties have attended the Divorcing Parents Seminar.
  • We DO accept Motions for Judgment on the Pleadings for Divorces with and without children.
  • For divorces with children, you must include a Settlement Agreement, Child Support Addendum, Child Support Worksheet & Schedules and Parenting Plan for consideration. You may access these forms by clicking The Family Law Information Center Forms.
  • Adoptions – contact the Staff Attorney for scheduling https://dekalbsuperiorcourt.com/family-law/forms/court-forms (Home investigations are required)

Staff

Keia Martin
kjmartin@dekalbcountyga.gov
Judicial Assistant 404.371.2344
Terri R. Simmons
trsimmons@dekalbcountyga.gov
Law Clerk  404.371.2681
Rakilah Green
rrgreen2@dekalbcountyga.gov
Civil Calendar Clerk 404.371.4704
DaVincia Thurmon
dthurmon@dekalbcountyga.gov
Criminal Calendar Clerk 404.371.2026