From the Board: Judge Askin Departs and Judge Gholson Appointed ADR Division Director

By Nathan Levy, Co-Editor and Michael Boeschen, Co-Editor

After nearly twenty years of service with the State Board, Judge Janice Askin has stepped down from her position as ADR Division Director. Her dedication to the Board over nearly two decades has come in almost every position possible. Having served as ALJ, mediator, lobbyist, Settlement Division Director, Appellate Division Director and ADR Division Director, her ability and enthusiasm will be missed. Of course, “service” has been a tradition with Judge Askin, who also served honorably in the United States Army for twenty years before retiring only after deployment to Kuwait in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Judge Askin leaves us having accepted an appointment from Secretary of Labor R. Alexander Acosta on May 13, 2019 as a permanent Judge/Member of the Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board for the District of Columbia.

With the vacancy of the ADR Division Director position, the Board has announced that Judge Liesa Gholson has been appointed as new Director effective May 21, 2019. Judge Gholson has been with the Board for nineteen years, having joined as a mediator and staff attorney in January, 2000. She has served as Division Director of the Settlements Division and the Division Director of Process Improvement and Oversight (which included ICMS operation and training). Gholson was sworn in as an ALJ in 2008 where she has since served in both the Trial Division and ADR. Judge Gholson attended Georgia Tech and Universidad de Salamanca in Salamanca Spain before completing her undergraduate and legal studies at the University of Georgia.

The State Board/ADR division currently has six full time mediators and 2 ALJ’s conducting mediations daily in Atlanta and on a rotating basis in fourteen additional locations throughout Georgia. The Board is also in the process of hiring a third ALJ for the Division. Best wishes and congratulations to Judge Askin and Judge Gholson.

Nathan Levy is Co-Editor of the State Bar of Georgia Workers' Compensation Law Section Newsletter.

Michael Boeschen is Co-Editor of the State Bar of Georgia Workers' Compensation Law Section Newsletter.