Michael Eric Manely - Atlanta, GA

Overview

Michael has practiced divorce and family law for more than 30 years and has prevailed in thousands of family law cases. He is admitted to practice law in the Supreme Court of The United States of America, the Supreme Court of Georgia, the Georgia Court of Appeals, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, the United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia, the United States District Court District of South Carolina, the United States District Court Eastern District of Tennessee, the United States District Court Northern District of Alabama, the United States District Court Northern District of Iowa, the United States District Court Northern District of Florida, the United States District Court for the District of Montana, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit and the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.

On December 5, 2012 he delivered oral argument before the Supreme Court of the United States in Chafin v. Chafin, 133 S. Ct. 1017, 568 US 165, 185 L. Ed. 2d 1 - Supreme Court, 2013, securing a unanimous victory and establishing that parents who have a child removed from the United States have standing regarding their custodial interests. The decision has been cited over 950 times. Michael is the only all family law attorney to win unanimous decisions from both the U.S. Supreme Court and the Supreme Court of Georgia! Michael has built a reputation for winning difficult, controversial and high-profile cases. He has successfully represented thousands of mothers and fathers in state, federal and international divorce, custody and child support cases.

To date, Michael has added David Purvis as Partner, Dina Khismatulina as Partner Managing Attorney, Atlanta and Lawrenceville, William King as Partner Managing Attorney, Marietta and Columbus, Jess Lill as Managing Attorney, Savannah and Kourtney Bernard-Rance as Managing Attorney, Cumming, in addition to many family law associates and paralegals to his practice across six office locations throughout Georgia. He has expanded his personal caseload to handle predominantly international family law, particularly Hague Child Abduction and Retention cases, high asset divorce, complex custodial disputes and family law appeals. He serves as lead counsel on complex cases or at his clients' request, while lending his strategic guidance and legal insight to the casework of his team.

Michael has become one of the most sought-after international family law attorneys in Georgia, representing clients in federal court throughout the United States and in select foreign jurisdictions. Michael has successfully resolved cases from every continent in the world, except Antarctica and served as an expert witness on international child abduction in court proceedings in the United States and Scotland. Michael coordinates with the U.S. Department of State, U.S. Consuls General, foreign counsel and court systems in jurisdictions throughout the world in the resolution of his client’s cases. A list of published and notable cases are referenced herein.

Michael is also sought after to present on family law, international family law and family law appeals having delivered remarks to The State Bar of Georgia, The State Bar of Georgia’s Family Law Section, The State Bar of Georgia’s Access to Justice Committee, The State Bar of Georgia’s Appellate Section, The Cobb Bar’s Young Professionals Section, The Association of Family and Conciliation Courts, and Global Atlanta’s Consular Conversations. He was recognized by American University with the Mary Beth Tinker Award in 2005 and the University of Denver’s Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System as a thought leader in the delivery of family law services in 2016, participating in the publication of The Family Law Bar Stewards of the System, Leaders of Change.

Michael's professional affiliations include the International Society of Family Law, the American Bar Association Family Law Section and International Section, the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts, the State of Georgia Bar Association Family Law Section and the Cobb County Bar Association. He is an active member of Cobb Chamber of Commerce, Cobb Select’s International Business Council, sponsoring the Council’s 2021-24 events and activities. He is an active partner with Global Atlanta in service and support of Georgia’s consulate community. Michael has been selected as one of the 2022-2025 Super Lawyers and was recognized by the National Academy of Family Law Attorneys with the 2022 Nationally Ranked Top 10 Attorney Award for excellence in the field of Family Law. Michael also often speaks to various legal communities on topics of interest, recently serving as a featured speaker in Family Law to the Latinx and Caribbean Law Student Association. He has also had the pleasure of being a guest on Forsyth County RadioX podcast and a featured Keynote speaker for the AIB Network original series individually titled Soulful Divorce.

Michael was recognized by Cobb Life Magazine as one of 2021-23’s Best of Cobb’s “Best Family Law Divorce Attorney” and “Best Overall Attorney.”

Michael is an active Alumni of Georgia State university. He is a past president of the GSU College of Law Alumni Association, a past president of the GSU College of Law Student Bar Association and sitting member of the Alumni Counsel.