Atlanta, April 12, 2017 – Presiding Judge Christopher J. McFadden of the Georgia Court of Appeals has been designated to serve in place of Justice Michael P. Boggs in the appeal of Patton v. Vanterpool (S17A0767). The Supreme Court of Georgia will hear arguments in the case on April 18, 2017 during its 2:00 P.M. session. In this Chatham County case, a man is appealing a ruling declaring him the legal father of his ex-wife’s child, who was born from in vitro fertilization. In addition to hearing arguments, Judge McFadden will participate in the Court’s decision.

Judge McFadden, 59, was elected in November 2010 for a term beginning Jan. 1, 2011; he was reelected in 2016.

Judge McFadden graduated from Oglethorpe University in 1980 and from the University of Georgia School of Law in 1985. He opened his own law office in 1988 and remained a sole practitioner until he joined the Court of Appeals. He practiced in Decatur and focused on appellate litigation. Before joining the Court of Appeals as its 74th judge, he appeared as appellate counsel before 26 of the judges who preceded him.

For 12 years, Judge McFadden served as an officer or director of the Atlanta Bar Association. He is a past chair of its Sole Practitioner/Small Firm Section, immediate past chair of its Judicial Section, and a recipient of its Distinguished Service Award and Charles E. Watkins, Jr. Award.

Judge McFadden is a member of the appellate practice committees of the Litigation and Tort and Insurance Practice Sections of the American Bar Association. He presently serves on the Executive Committee of the Appellate Judges Conference of the American Bar Association and represents the Court of Appeals as Vice Chair of the Georgia Commission on Interpreters and as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Institute of Continuing Judicial Education of Georgia.

He is a parishioner at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Griffin, GA and has served as a lector since 1988. Judge McFadden is married to Dr. Linda Hyde, Professor of Biology at Gordon State College in Barnesville, GA. They have one son.

(Designated judges are appointed when a justice must recuse himself or herself from a particular case. The Supreme Court of Georgia maintains a list of select judges from around the state and when the need arises, the Court appoints the next judge on the list.)