by Sean Olson
Elon University School of Law students got a taste of television justice Friday, Nov. 10.
Judge Glenda A. Hatchett, best known as a hard-hitting and intervening television judge on the program “Judge Hatchett,” visited and spoke with students at The Elon University School of Law.
Hatchett discussed her experiences as an attorney for Delta Airlines and as a television judge, but most of her comments were about her experiences as a juvenile court judge in Fulton County, Ga.
“I felt like this is the front door to the criminal justice system, and if we did a better job here, in juvenile court, we could really revolutionize the court system.”
In addition to her work on the bench, Hatchett worked with businesses in the area to underwrite programs in support of the juvenile justice system, such as Truancy Intervention Program, which Hatchett said she began as a partnership with telephone company BellSouth.
In addition to Hatchett’s remarks, students had their own questions. One student asked Hatchett about her advice for law students, and her response was to have a well-rounded life in addition to a legal career.
“I don’t care where your path takes you, you need to have a life,” she told the students. “You don’t want to look up, be 50 years old, and all of a sudden notice that you have five kids and you’ve been divorced three times. You need to have your own life.”
That’s been challenging for Hatchett, herself a mother but also a busy legal professional who had to balance those roles.
She may be known to the general public as a hard-hitting, tough-loving television judge, but she’s also a celebrated legal professional.
After her graduation from the Emory University School of law and a federal clerkship, she went on to work in legal and public affairs for Delta Airlines, and was soon named among the “100 Best and Brightest Women in Corporate America” by Ebony Magazine. She left Delta to accept an appointment as chief presiding judge of the Fulton County Juvenile Court. The appointment made her Georgia’s first African-American chief presiding judge, and led to her work on the television series.
In addition to her professional work, she has received numerous professional honors. The National Bar Association named her “Outstanding Jurist of the Year.” She won the NAACP’s 1990 Thurgood Marshall Award and Spellman College’s “Outstanding Community Service Award.”
“Judge Hatchett,” now in its seventh season, is produced in New York City and received the 2003 Prism Award for Best Unscripted Non-Fiction Series or Special for Television.
The Elon University School of Law opened in downtown Greensboro, N.C., in August 2006 with a charter class of 115 students. The school is creating a national model of engaged learning in legal education with an innovative academic program, distinguished faculty and a signature program in leadership education. The North Carolina Business Court is located at the law school, giving students the opportunity to observe a working court. Students also benefit from mentoring relationships with preceptors – practicing attorneys and judges who provide personal evaluations and performance reviews.
For more information about this event or the School of Law, contact Margaret Robison Kantlehner at (336) 279-9205 or at mkantlehner@elon.edu.