Meet Alicia A. Gooden
Alicia A. Gooden was appointed by William T. Lawrence to be the Master Commissioner of Marion Circuit Court, Paternity Division in February of 2001.
In her role as Commissioner, Alicia presided over custody, parenting time and support issues, and supervised all of the child support enforcement dockets, in paternity cases. She also heard and ruled upon all Orders for Protection in Marion County that have a companion paternity case.
Prior to her appointment to the bench, Alicia was an associate attorney at Kiefer and McGoff, in Indianapolis, Indiana, practicing in the areas of family law and criminal defense. Having graduated from Indiana University School of Law – Indianapolis in 1996, she is on the Executive Committee of the Family Law Section of the Indianapolis Bar Association, as well as a past member of the House of Delegates for the Indiana State Bar Association. She was also the co-chair of the 2008 Bench Bar Conference for the Indianapolis Bar Association.
Through her work in the Paternity Division, Alicia has partnered with Fathers and Families Center, the Circle City Fatherhood Coalition, Workforce, Inc., Electronic Monitoring Services, and PACE/OAR in bringing services and resources to families.
She is currently serving on the Board of Directors of the Junior League of Indianapolis, having previously served on the Board in 2006-07, and is slated to become President in 2011-2012. She is a past member of the Board of Directors for the Neighborhood Christian Legal Clinic and Pathways Family Center.
The Paternity Division is the only court of its kind in the State – one dedicated solely to paternity cases
- In her role as “Master Commissioner,” Alicia supervised 3 other judicial officers and a full staff comprised of Clerks, Bailiffs, and a Court Reporter
- Throughout her work on the bench, Alicia has heard cases involving custody evaluators, parenting coordinators, mental health providers, Guardians ad Litem and countless attorneys and pro se litigants
- Alicia is a registered mediator
- Trained as a Parenting Coordinator by SAIF
- Recipient of President’s Award of Service to the IBA in 2006
- Recipient of IBA Board of Directors Award in 2009
- Alicia has presented for a number of organizations on the
following topics: - Paternity law
- Child-related issues in divorce and paternity
- Third party custody issues
- Family law issues affecting Latino litigants
- Physical and sexual abuse issues
- Expert witnesses in custody cases
Personal Information
Alicia and her husband, Will, (an attorney with Clark Quinn Moses Scott and Grahn) are the parents of two children, ages 6 (daughter Alex) and 3 (son Grant).
She enjoys family lake vacations and long hikes in the woods with her family and their German Shepherd dog, Ripper (shown left).
For her "alone" time, Alicia enjoys hot yoga and teaching spinning classes
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