Atlanta ADR firms Miles Mediation & Arbitration and Henning Mediation & Arbitration Service have landed new mediators, including two judges.

Henning has recruited longtime Fulton County Superior Court Judge John Goger, while Miles has added Judge Jason Harper from Henry County State Court and Christopher “Smitty” Smith, a partner at HunterMaclean in Savannah.

Goger joined Henning after retiring from the Fulton Superior Court bench this year. He has taken senior judge status, after spending more than 40 years as a litigator and then judge.

After serving three years on the Fulton State Court bench, Goger joined Fulton Superior Court in 1998, where he handled a variety of business, criminal and family law cases. He spent three years as a judge for Fulton's Family Law Division and then from 2011 served as the presiding judge for Fulton Superior Court's Metro Atlanta Business Court Division.

Before becoming a judge, Goger was in private practice at his own firms, handling commercial litigation and bankruptcy cases.

Another Henning neutral, Nisbet “Ken” Kendrick, has been made a fellow of the American College of Civil Trial Mediators. The invitation-only group limits membership to about 150 neutrals nationally.

Kendrick has been a full-time member of Henning's panel since leaving Womble Bond Dickinson in 2010. He also is a charter member of the Georgia Chapter of the National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals.

As a neutral at Miles, Harper is handling an array of liability claims as well as domestic cases. He became Georgia's youngest senior judge at age 45 this year after 10 years on the Henry State Court bench.

During his tenure as a judge, Harper handled wrongful death, medical malpractice, personal injury and contract disputes. He also regularly presided by designation in Henry Superior Court to hear family law cases. Before becoming a judge, Harper maintained a civil and domestic litigation practice. He was elected to the Henry County Board of Commissioners at age 27 and, after serving a term, was elected as the chair for another term.

Smith, who joined Miles' Savannah office as a neutral, continues to practice law at HunterMaclean, where he leads the firm's logistics practice. Smith has been practicing law for 20 years. Since becoming a registered neutral with the Georgia Commission on Dispute Resolution in 2012, he has participated in more than 100 mediations.

As a neutral, he handles business disputes, construction law and catastrophic personal injury cases.