code: public static LocalDate localDateFromString(String dateString) {
          try {
              return LocalDate.parse(dateString, DATE_FORMATTER);
          } catch (Exception e) {
              return null;
          }
      }
docs: Parse a @see org.joda.time.LocalDate from a String.
  
  @param dateString the date String
  @return parsed @see org.joda.time.LocalDate if parseable, null otherwise;