Amacker announces candidacy for new family court judgeship

Attorney Dawn Amacker, a Board Certified Family Law specialist, has announced her candidacy for the new Family Court in the 22nd Judicial District Court.

The special Family Court was created during the 2008 Regular Legislative Session that ended in June to speed the domestic docket in the 22nd JDC.

Amacker, 50, is a lifelong resident of Washington and St. Tammany parishes. She is a graduate of Bogalusa High School and Southeastern Louisiana University, where she was “Freshman of the Year” and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree.

At LSU Law School, she was a member of the LSU National Moot Court Team and the LSU Moot Court Board.

Following graduation and admission to the Louisiana State Bar in 1982, Amacker served as special prosecutor and assistant district attorney in St. Tammany Parish, working in juvenile court. She left the District Attorney’s office to work as the senior law clerk for Judge Hillary Crain with the First Circuit Court of Appeal in Baton Rouge, then became a staff attorney for the court.

Since 1985, she has been a partner with the law firm of Collett & Amacker. She became a Board Certified Family Law specialist in 1995, the first year the specialty was offered in Louisiana.

Amacker is chairman of the Louisiana State Family Law Advisory Council. She is the past president of the Family Court Committee of the Washington Parish Bar Association and is an active member of the 22nd Judicial District Court Family Law Advisory Committee. She has served as judge ad hoc in Bogalusa City Court and as a hearing officer ad hoc in the 22nd JDC.

The Louisiana State Bar appointed her to its Lawyer Dispute Resolution Program and made her a probation monitor to enforce disciplinary action against other attorneys. She is a past president of the Washington Parish Bar Association and is currently the secretary-treasurer of the Greater Covington Bar Association.

Amacker was named a “Louisiana Super Lawyer” in both 2007 and 2008, an honor accorded to the top 5 percent of all attorneys in Louisiana. Additionally, she is a past president of the Bogalusa Business & Professional Women’s Club and a past president of the Bogalusa Chamber of Commerce.

Amacker has been married for 23 years to E.B. “Ted” Dittmer, a business law attorney. They have a daughter, Alexandra.