Successes

The Law Office of Nathaniel M. Smith opened in 2009. Hundreds of clients have been served in over fifteen counties in Georgia.

Here are a few examples of our many successes:

Divorce and Family Law

  • Coweta County divorce, 2017:  Nathaniel M. Smith’s client was awarded primary custody of the children and also alimony, in addition to an equitable share of the marital property.
  • Henry County custody modification action, 2016:  Nathaniel M. Smith successfully defended against a mother’s attempt to take custody away from a father.
  • Clayton County TPO case in 2016:  Candace Cliatt defended a client against a domestic violence TPO petition our client’s husband filed against her, successfully arguing for the TPO petition to be denied and the ex parte order to be dismissed.
  • Henry County visitation modification action, 2016:  Nathaniel M. Smith successfully argued for restrictions on a mother’s visitation rights to the children in our client’s custody.
  • Newton County, 2016:  Candace Cliatt negotiated an alimony award for our client in a divorce action.
  • Pike County, 2016:  Nathaniel M. Smith successfully argued for the severe restriction of a father’s visitation with the child in our client’s custody, where the father had demonstrated behavior consistent with drug abuse but denied the allegations.
  • Clayton County, 2016:  Candace Cliatt defended a client against a paternity suit where the father sought custody of our client’s child, and primary custody was awarded to our client.
  • Henry County Superior Court TPO cases in 2015:  Nathaniel M. Smith defended a client against a TPO (temporary protective order) filed by the mother of our client’s child, and the TPO was dismissed.  Nathaniel represented another client against her ex-husband in another TPO action and the ex-husband’s visitation was suspended.  Nathaniel represented another client against the father of her grandchildren in another TPO action and a TPO issued as the client desired.
  • Henry County Superior Court divorce case, 2015:  After a day-long trial, Nathaniel M. Smith’s client was awarded the custody she wanted, and a substantial amount of alimony and property because of her spouse’s use of marital assets to support his extra-marital affairs.
  • Clayton County Superior Court divorce case, 2013:  Nathaniel M. Smith successfully argued at trial that his client should get the marital residence and the four other real estate properties accumulated during the marriage, and all five of those properties were awarded as he requested. No real estate was awarded to the other party.
  • Henry County Superior Court cases filed in 2013 and 2014:  Nathaniel M. Smith helped ensure visitation was supervised and, in a case where a child suffered harm, succeeded in having the offending parent’s visitation stopped entirely.
  • Spalding County Superior Court case filed in 2012:  Where the mother of the parties’ minor children showed signs of drug use, Nathaniel M. Smith successfully argued for the father that the mother’s visitation be supervised until clean drug screens were provided to ensure the safety of the children.
  • Henry County Superior Court case filed in 2012:  Nathaniel M. Smith helped in a modification case that resulted in the father of the children losing his rights to visitation and changed the last names of the children to their mother’s last name.
  • Clayton County Superior Court case filed in 2011:  In a divorce action with no minor children, Nathaniel M. Smith successfully represented the Husband, who was awarded all of the property that he asked for at trial.

Probate Court

  • Clayton County probate matter, 2016:  Nathaniel M. Smith successfully argued in court for our client being named as guardian over her aged father over the objections of our client’s sister.
  • Henry County Probate Court and Superior Court cases filed in 2014:  Nathaniel M. Smith successfully defendant a client against accusations brought by siblings regarding the estate of their mother.
  • Butts County Probate Court case:  Nathaniel M. Smith helped negotiate a settlement between siblings who were fiercely opposed to each other regarding the probate of their brother’s estate.
  • Henry, Clayton, and Fulton County Probate Court cases filed in 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015:  Nathaniel M. Smith helped numerous clients regarding guardianship being established, guardianship being terminated, wills being probated, and the transfer of real estate and other property out of the name of recently deceased loved ones and into the names of the heirs.

Business Litigation

  • Henry County State Court case filed in 2012:  Where a business dispute arose between the owner of a truck and trailer and the wrecking company that towed the truck and trailer over the amount owed for the towing and towing-related charges, Nathaniel M. Smith successfully argued that the Plaintiff was not entitled to the amount they sought, and after trial the Defendant was ordered to pay less than 25% of the amount the Plaintiff had been demanding.

Real Estate Litigation

  • Henry County Superior Court case filed in 2012:  Where the Plaintiff sued his neighbors for thousands of dollars over a fence allegedly crossing the property line, Nathaniel M. Smith defended the neighbors in court and the Plaintiff was not awarded any monetary damages against our client.

Other Litigation

  • Henry County and Clayton County Magistrate Court cases in 2016 and previous years:  Nathaniel M. Smith successfully argued for evictions (dispossessory actions) to occur, and for other evictions to be denied.
  • Superior Court of Pike County case filed in 2012:  Nathaniel M. Smith successfully represented the Defendant against the Plaintiff’s claim for thousands in damages that occurred in a fire; the Plaintiff eventually dropped their case entirely without collecting any sums from the Defendant. 

Criminal Defense

  • Henry County State Court case filed in 2012:  Nathaniel M. Smith successfully presented the defendant’s case and argued for the defendant’s innocence to a jury, who found the defendant not guilty of every charge brought against the defendant in that case.
  • Henry County State Court case filed in 2010:  Nathaniel M. Smith successfully argued against the revocation of the defendant’s probation; the judge allowed the defendant to continue on probation with first offender status intact, with no jail time to be served.

Of course, each case is different and has its own facts, and the outcome is not identical in every case.  Past performance is not always a guarantee of future outcomes.  Names and case numbers have been removed to help meet potential privacy desires of former clients.