LAUNCH WEEK • THE FAMILY LAW EXCHANGE
Tell Us About Your Judge or GAL
Do you feel like you weren’t treated fairly? Like something just wasn’t right? Was it just you — or do they treat everyone like this?
We’re building a database of family court judges and GALs — so the next parent can walk into that courtroom prepared, knowing how their judge rules and how their GAL operates. So everyone who was dismissed, talked over, or bullied in family court knows they are not alone — and it wasn’t just them. And so a spotlight finally lands where it’s needed, because officials who know families are watching behave differently.
We need two things from you. Your report, which goes into the record. And your permission to post it, with your name and your family’s details removed, in your state’s discussion room. The rooms are brand new and quiet, and the only thing that changes that is the first few parents willing to say, in their own state’s room, “this is what my judge did.” There’s a checkbox for it on the form. Check it.
What we’re trying to do
Every courthouse has an open secret: the attorneys who practice there know exactly which judges favor which side, which GALs never actually visit the children, and which professionals run up bills while families lose everything. That knowledge has never been available to the people who need it most — the parents and grandparents walking in without a lawyer.
The Family Law Exchange exists to change that. When you report your experience, it becomes part of a permanent record, organized by official and by county. One story is an experience. Ten stories about the same GAL are a pattern. A pattern is something a family — or a bar association, a judicial conduct commission, or a journalist — can act on.
We are at the very beginning, and we’re asking for your help to get this off the ground.
Tell us about your GAL
Never met your kids? One-sided investigation? Billing you into the ground? About three minutes, nothing required, anonymous if you want.
Tell us about your judge
Refused your evidence? Order didn’t match what happened in court? Treated you worse without a lawyer? Same deal — short, private, anonymous if you want.
Transcripts and orders are gold
A story tells us what happened. A transcript or court order proves it. Both forms let you attach up to three documents — hearing transcripts, orders, GAL reports, invoices. Don’t worry about blacking anything out: our records team redacts children’s information before any story is used. Everything goes privately to our records team — nothing you submit is posted publicly.
Join while we launch — free for life
Everyone who joins during our launch gets free lifetime membership: courses built for self-represented families, court-ready document templates, and discussion boards for 15 states — GA, FL, TX, CA, OH, SC, VA, MO, IL, KS, NC, WA, TN, CO, and MI. No card, no trial, no catch.
Join Free — Lifetime Membership
An honest ask about our discussion boards
There is a room for every state we cover, with separate boards for judges, GALs, and attorneys. Right now most of them are quiet. We’re not going to pretend otherwise. A parent who lands in the Georgia GAL room tonight and finds nothing there will leave. A parent who finds even three stories about GALs in her county will stay, read every one, and probably add her own. That is the whole difference, and it comes down to the first few people.
So here is how it works. When you send us your judge or GAL report, the form asks whether we may also post it in your state’s room. If you say yes, our records team strips your name and anything that could identify your family, then posts it under the Records Team account with the official named, so the next parent in your county can find it. You never have to write it twice, and you never have to put your own name on a board.
If you’d rather say it yourself, even better. Join, go to your state’s room, and start with the question you wish someone had answered for you. The first people to post are the ones who decide what this place becomes. Someone in your county is going to find your post when they need it most.
The Family Law Exchange is an educational community, not a law firm; nothing here is legal advice. Reports inform our educational pattern-tracking, are reviewed privately by our records team, and are not a substitute for formal complaints to your state’s judicial conduct or GAL oversight bodies.