Rule 16 Leaves of Absence

Lawyers in Georgia can take planned time off from court appearances by filing for a "leave of absence." To get this time off approved, a lawyer must submit their request to the Chief Judge of their county at least 30 days before the leave starts. The request can cover no more than 30 days per calendar year.

During an approved leave, no court in the county can schedule hearings or trials for that lawyer. This protects both the lawyer and their clients from having cases move forward when the lawyer has already planned to be away. The leave does not stop deadlines from running in a case unless a judge specifically orders otherwise.

If a conflict comes up between a leave of absence and a court date, the leave generally takes priority over any hearing scheduled after the leave was approved. However, cases that were already scheduled before the leave was filed do not automatically get moved. A lawyer would need to ask the court separately to reschedule those.