Hon. Carolyn J. Altman is a judge for the Paulding County Juvenile Court in Georgia. She joined the bench in 2018.
During her judicial tenure, Altman was appointed to serve on the Georgia Child Fatality Review Panel by Governor Brian Kemp in March 2021.
She was certified as a Child Welfare Law Specialist by the National Association of Counsel for Children in 2017.
Prior to joining the bench, Altman presided for one year as a judge pro tempore for the Paulding County Juvenile Court and was a sole practitioner in her own private practice, the Altman Law Firm, since 2012. During her tenure in that position, she represented parents, children, and custodians in matters involving abuse and neglect, adoptions, guardian ad litem, and appellate practice.
In addition, Altman acted as a parent-attorney in the Douglas County Family Treatment Court, a parent and child attorney in the Douglas County Juvenile Court (Court Improvement Initiative), and an attorney with the Foster Care Education Initiative.
Before opening her practice, she worked for three years as an attorney with the Juvenile Public Defender’s Office (2008 to 2011), where she was tasked with representing indigent clients in all aspects of Juvenile Court cases.
Altman received a B.A. in political science and government from Samford University in 1999. She went on to complete a J.D. at Georgia State University College of Law in 2007.
Her memberships have included the Parent Attorney Advocacy Committee (chair), the National Council of Juvenile & Family Court Judges, the Georgia Association of Women Lawyers, the Young Lawyers Division (Child Welfare Law Section), the Georgia Association of Counsel for Children, the American Bar Association, and the State Bar of Georgia.
Altman has also sat as a member of the Executive Council of the Child Advocacy Section of the State Bar of Georgia.
She has been a presenter at Georgia’s CASA Conference on Permanent Guardianships (2016), the Parent Attorney Advocacy Committee CLE Overview of Dependency Proceedings (2016), and on Dependent Appellate Procedure at the Parent Attorney Advocacy Committee CLE Seminar (2017).
Altman and her husband, Martin, have three children.