FAM-LAW-LIT: A SURVEY OF CURRENT PERIODICAL LITERATURE ADDRESSING FAMILY LAW ISSUES

Welcome to FamLawLit, a survey of current periodical literature concerning family law issues, for May 1999 This page provides a synopsis of current law review articles that discuss issues in family law.

This month's Ethics Spotlight will be by Steve Fuchs, our guest author, who will address ethics and the Internet.

~ PRIMARY FAMILY LAW PERIODICALS ~

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF FAMILY LAW (published quarterly; P .A56533)

Aspen Law & Business
1185 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10036

Vol. 13, No. 1 (Spring 1999) (Rec'd 4/16/99)
(The following summaries are taken directly from the table of contents of the issue)

Marshal S. Willick, Issues in Interstate and Multistate Matrimonial Litigation (pages 10-14): Multistate matrimonial cases raise many ethical and practical considerations. The attorney who attempts such representation must be fully capable of understanding and applying the law in all pertinent jurisdictions. This article exposes the pitfalls of multistate representation to help the litigator decide whether to proceed or refer the case to local counsel in a more appropriate jurisdiction.

William L. Hunnicutt, Arbitration and Special Master Proceedings: Overlooked Family Law Alternatives (pages 15-22): While mediation has, for good reason, become commonplace as a form of alternative dispute resolution in domestic relations proceedings, it is not always successful. This author advocates for two other alternatives to traditional litigation, binding arbitration and special master proceedings.

Kenneth H. Waldron, A Default Schedule for Physical Custody of Children: Part I (pages 24-33): This article summarizes the extensive research on physical custody of children with the goal of proposing a default schedule for professionals and courts to use in uncontested paternity and divorce cases. This first part of a two-part series introduces necessary concepts and begins listing factors to be considered in developing such a default schedule.

H. Joseph Gitlin, Kessel and Kessel v. Leavitt et al.: A Case of Interest to Adoption Attorneys (pages 34-38): Presented here is a discussion of an early 1997 decision in which the Supreme Court of West Virginia upheld a judgment of more than $6 million in favor of the father of a nonmarital child who was adopted before the father had an opportunity to establish his parental interest in the child. Ultimately, the article focuses on the California attorney against whom a judgment for punitive damages of $5 million was entered.

Stephen J. Harhai, Analyzing, Organizing, and Preparing Complex Financial Cases for Trial (pages 39-47): Complex financial cases must be analyzed and organized carefully. Even the most experienced attorneys can benefit from the assistance available from their own desktop computers. This article explains who widely available software can make complex cases manageable.

David M. Bishop and Steven F. Schroeder, Business Valuation Standard for Divorce Should Be Fair Market Value (pages 48-52): In a rebuttal to an article that appeared in an earlier issue of AJFL, these authors refute the argument that fair market value should not be the valuation standard for the business/practice that is among the marital assets. They discuss the underlying objective of the splitting of marital assets, consider how other assets are valued for marital dissolutions, and look at how the use of fair market value as the business valuation standard is consistent with its wide application as the standard in other types of transactions in which not "actual" sale occurs.

Departments:
Practice Management: Ten Tips for Better Client Relations, by Mark A. Chinn
Taxation: Postdivorce Horror: Innocent Spouse Tax Issues, by Carlton R. Marcyan
Family Law Ethics: Result-Based Fees in Divorce Cases, by David L. Walther

BRANDEIS JOURNAL OF FAMILY LAW
Univerisity of Louisville (Kentucky), Brandeis School of Law
Vol. 36, No. 4 (Fall 1997-98)

Paul Knepper and Shannon M. Barton, Statewide Cross-Training as a Means of Court Reform in Child Protection Proceedings (pages 511-550): The authors advocate training of all child advocates on a state-wide basis.

Rosalie R. Young, The Search for Counsel: Perceptions of Applicants for Subsidized Legal Assistance (pages 551-583)

Michael Lawrence Goodwin, An Eyeful for an Eye: An Argument Against Allowing the Families of Murder Victims to View Executions (pages 585-608)

Michael A. Pike, Restriction of Parental Rights to Home Births Via State Regulations of Traditional Midwifery (pages 609-625)

Landra Ewing, When Going to School Becomes an Act of Courage: Students Need Protection From Violence (pages 627-648)

CHILDREN'S LEGAL RIGHTS JOURNAL (ABA Center on Children and the Law and Loyola University Chicago School of Law) (published quarterly; P .C5373)

William S. Hein & Company, Inc wsheinco@class.org (800) 828-7571
1285 Main Street
Buffalo, New York 14209-1987
Vol. 18, No. 3 (Summer 1998) (rec'd 12/31/98)

Special Issue: Children in Corrections

James Garbino and Clare Bedard, Is it Self-Defense? A Model for Forensic Evaluation of Juvenile Violence (pages 2-13)

Patricia Puritz, In Their Voices (pages 14-17)

Margaret Beyer, Mental Health Care for Children in Corrections (pages 18-35)

James R. Bell, Juvenile Secure Confinement Facilities (pages 36-47)

Joseph B. Tulman and Mary G. Hynes, Enforcing Special Education Law on Behalf of Incarcerated Children: A Blueprint for Deconstruction (pages 48-72)

William Ruefle and K. Michael Reynolds, Juvenile Curfews in the 1990s: Policy, Practice and Impact (Commentary) (pages 73-77)

Jay A. Morrison, Juvenile Curfews: Unproven, and Unwarranted (Commentary) (pages 78-83)

DIVORCE LITIGATION (published monthly)

National Legal Research Group
2421 Ivy Road
Charlottesville, Virginia 22909
Vol. 11, No. 4 (April 1999)

Janet Atkinson, The Federal Parent Locator Service: A Powerful, Low-Cost Discovery Tool (pages 67-70): A synopsis of the provisions of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, creating the Federal Parent Locator Service, a computerized national location network operated by the Office of Child Support Enforcement.

Teresa A. Myers, State Child Support Programs: Necessity Inspires Ingenuity (pages 71-80): A review of the programs states have enacted in order to conform to the mandate found in the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996.

Teresa A. Myers, States Get Creative with Child Support Enforcement (pages 80-84): A review of unique and creative programs the states have enacted in addition to those mandated by the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996.

EQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION JOURNAL (published monthly; P .E573)

National Legal Research Group
2421 Ivy Road
Charlottesville, Virginia 22906
Vol. 16, No. 4 (April 1999)

unavailable at this time

FAIR$HARE (published monthly)

Aspen Law & Business
1185 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10036
Vol. 19, No. 4 (April 1999)

J. Dennis Casty, Timing of Divorce and the Marriage Tax Penalty (pages 2-3): How timing the divorce can be critical because of the marriage tax penalty.

Lewis Becker, Some Ethical Aspects of Representing An Abused or Abusive Spouse (pages 4-6): How a lawyer should respond when he/she represents a spouse who is abusive or when he/she sees his/her client being abused. The article cites to both Model Rules and the AAML's Standards of Conduct.

Jay E. Fishman and William J. Morrison, Minority Shareholders' Rights Obviate Minority Discount: Sand and Gravel Company (pages 7-8): A discussion of the North Dakota case Fisher v. Fisher, 568 N.W.2d 728 (N.D. 1997), focusing on valuation of a minority shareholder's share in a business.

Case spotlight (page 9): An in depth discussion of Wilson v. Collins 499 S.E.2d 560 (Va. App. 1998), focusing on whether a foreign service annuity is forfeited upon remarriage.

Robert S. Gartrell, Due Diligence Inquiries When Valuing a Dental Practice (pages 13-15): Potential questions for interrogatories or a deposition when valuing a dental practice.

John DeWitt Gregory, National Interdisciplinary Colloquium on Child Custody, Legal and Mental Health Perspective on Child Custody Law: A Deskbook for Judges (pages 16-17): A book review of the NICCL's book, which provides judges with a glossary of the underlying mental health aspects of legal issues they will have to think about when presiding over a divorce-custody case.

FAMILY ADVOCATE

American Bar Association Section of Family Law
Vol. 21, No. 4 (Spring 1999)

Unavailable at this time

FAMILY AND CONCILIATION COURTS REVIEW (published quarterly; P .C6533)

Association of Family and Conciliation Courts
Sage Publications Inc.
2455 Teller Road
Thousand Oaks, CA 91320
ol. 37, No. 2 (April 1999)

Janet R. Johnston and Robert B. Strauss, Traumatized Children in Supervised Visitation: What Do They Need? (pages 135-158): This article reviews the range of trauma experienced by many children in supervised visitation services and describes common themes of development of their personalities from clinical and research findings. It then proposes a series of ways to structure supervised access services in order to help children feel psychologically safe in the relationship with the visited parent.

Jonathan W. Gould, Scientifically Crafted Child Custody Evaluations, Part II: A Paradigm for Forensic Evaluation of Child Custody Determination (pages 159-178): Part I of this two-part series proposed the use of an interdisciplinary model in the development of psychological questions that guide child custody evaluations. It was argued that defining the scope and focus of an evaluation nat the time that a court order is entered provides a more structured and clearly defined set of questions to be researched and examined within the context of the behavioral science literature. The present article offers a conceptual model to be used in gathering and analyzing data in child custody evaluations. It is argued that the use of forensic methodology provides a more scientific basis for the information provided by the evaluator to the trier of fact, ultimately resulting in a more useful and accurate picture of the family in question.

Hon. William J. O'Neil and Hon. Barry C. Schneider, Recommendations of the Committee to Study Family Issues in the Arizona Superior Court (pages 179-194): This article summarizes the final report presented to the Arizona Judicial Council in December 1998.

Nancy Thoennes and Jessica Pearson, Parent Education in the Domestic Relations Court: A Multisite Assessment (pages 195-218): A multistate assessment of five court affiliated parent education programs incorporating information from 3,000 exit surveys by attendees, 602 telephone interviews, and comparisons six months later with those who did not attend the program.

Debra A. Clement, 1998 Nationwide Survey of the Legal Status of Parent Education (pages 219-239): This article reports the findings of a legislative survey conducted to determine the legal status of parent education in the United States.

Robert L. Fischer, Children in Changing Families: Results of a Pilot Study of a Program for Children of Separation and Divorce (pages 240-256): This article describes the results of a pilot study of a group curriculum aimed at ameliorating the negative effects of divorce and family instability for children ages 9 to 12.

FAMILY LAW QUARTERLY (published quarterly)

American Bar Association Section of Family Law
Chicago, IL
Vol. 32, No. 4 (Winter 1998)

The annual year in family law.

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF LAW, POLICY & FAMILY (published quarterly; P .I6786)

Oxford University Press
Cary, North Carolina 27513
Vol. 13, Issue 1 (April 1999)

CGS Tan, We Are Registered: Actual Processes and the Law of Marriage in Singapore (pages 1-32): A common phenomenon in Singapore is the early registration of marriage followed, somewhat later, by a customary or religious wedding ceremony and the setting up of a new family unit. This article examines the law's response to this phenomenon and the attitudes of those to whom the law is appied. It seeks to understand both the gap and the interaction between the two.

R Mickman, Dicrimination Against Same-Sex Couples (pages 33-51): The article summarizes the facts in the case of Rosenberg et al. v. Canada, which gave rise to the Ontario Court of Appeals decision extending the definition of "spouse" under the Federal Income Tax act to include partners of lesbians and gay men for the purposes of survivor pension benefits. It also discusses the implications of that decision against the backdrop of discrimination against lesbians and gays in Canadian tax law.

M Murayama, Does a Lawyer Make a Difference? Effects of a Lawyer on Mediation Outcome in Japan (pages 52-77): The paper investigates how the legal representation of parties in mediation affects the process and outcome. The findings indicate that representation empowers a weaker party, typically the wife.

R Edwards, V Gillies and JR McCarthy, Biological Parents and Social Families: Legal Discourses and Everyday Understandings of the Position of Step-Parents (pages 78-105): The paper examines children's need for both a biological family and a social family, and how in stepparent/stepchild families, these needs may come into conflict.

JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF MATRIMONIAL LAWYERS (published two times per year; P .A551j)

American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers
150 North Michigan Avenue
Chicago, IL 60601
Vol. 14, No. 2 (1997) (rec'd 11/9/98)

Special Issue: Alternative Dispute Resolution Processes for Family Law Matters

Robert D. Benjamin, The Use of Mediative Strategies in Traditional Legal Practice (pages 203-231): A catalog of skills, strategies and techniques that have been observed to aid the facilitatin of settlements in the formla mediation process, and suggestions of ways to systematically intergrate them into the formal practice of law.

Beth M. Erickson, Therapeutic Mediation: A Saner Way of Disputing (pages 233-266): The author states that the personal and relational issues that blocked communication in the marriage must be attended to in mediation, or these same dysfunctional communication skills will block successful mediation.

Fiona Furlan, Edward Blumstein & David N. Hofstein, Ethical Guidelines for Attorney-Mediators: Are Attorneys Bound by Ethical Code for Lawyers When Acting As Mediators? (pages 267-331): The authors highlight how consideration of the general question of whether mediation constitutes the practice of law impacts on questions of confidentiality, drafting, conflict of interest, and mediation in general.

Joan F. Kesler, Allan R. Koritzinsky & Stephen W. Schlissel, Why Arbitrate Family Law Matters? (pages 333-351): The authors discuss the benefits and detriments of matrimonial arbitration, and whether there can be final and binding arbitration of all the issues arising in domestic disputes, especially issues concerning minor children.

Mary Kay Kisthardt, The Use of Mediation and Arbitration for Resolving Family Conflicts: What Lawyers Think About Them (pages 353-392): Report of a study conducted in 1996 on what attorneys think of the mediation process.

Frank L. McGuane, Jr., Model Marital Arbitration Act: A Proposal (pages 393-417): A proposed model act to address the concerns of attorneys who practice arbitration in family law.

Christine Albano, Comment, Binding Arbitration: A Proper Forum for Child Custody? (pages 419-446): The appropriateness of arbitration is custody matters is analyzed, followed by standards for legislation to allow arbitration in child custody matters while ensuring protection of the best interests of the child.

Holly Joyce, Comment, Mediation and Domestic Violence: Legislative Responses (pages 447-467): An outline of the arguments regarding the role of mediation should play in the context of domestic violence and an examination of the states' legislative responses to these positions.

JUVENILE AND FAMILY COURT JOURNAL

National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges
University of Nevada, Reno Campus
Reno, Nevada
Vol. 49, No. 4 (Fall 1998)

Centennial Celebration of the Juvenile Court
Sanford J. Fox, A Contribution to the History of the American Juvenile Court (pages 7-16)

Marvin Ventrell, Evaluation of the Dependency Component of the Juvenile Court (pages 17-38)

E. Hunter Hurst, III, Juvenile Court at 100 Years of Age: The Death of Optimism (pages 39-54)

Gordon Bazemore, Ph.D., The Juvenile Court and the Future Response to Youth Crime: A Vision for Community Juvenile Justice (pages 55-88)

David A. Price and Craig Boersma, The Juvenile Court at 100: Challenges and Opportunities (Findings From a National Survey) (pages 89-104)

Recommendations from a National Symposium, The Janiculum Project: Reviewing the Past and Looking Toward the Future of the Juvenile Court (pages 105-132)


Other Articles of Interest
Symposia

Governance and the Modern Family: Articles by Ann Laquer Estin, Marshal Garrison, Carol Weisbrod, Cathleen D. Zick, and W. Keith Bryant, 1998 Utah Law Review No. 4

Articles

Carlos A. Ball and Janice Farrell Pea, Warring with Wardle: Morality, Social Scient, and Gay and Lesbian Parents (A Reply to Professor Lynn Wardle), 1998 University of Illinois Law Review 253-339 (Spring 1998)

Cheryl Ryon Eisen, Using a "Brief Case Plan" Method to Reconcile Kinship Rights and The Best Interests of the Child When an Unwed Father Contests a Mother's Decision to Plance an Infant for Adoption, 23 Nova Law Review 339-404 (1998)

Robert M. Gordon, Drifting Through Byzantium: The Promise and Failure of the Adoption and Safe Families Acts of 1997, 83 Minnesota Law Review 637-701 (1999)

Jason Andrew Macke, Of Covenants and Conflicts: When "I do" Means More Than It Used to, But Less than You Thought, 59 Ohio State Law Journal 1377-1422 (1998)

Melanie McCulley, The Male Abortion: The Putative Father's Right to Terminate His Interests in and Obligations to the Unborn Child, 7 Journal of Law and Policy 1-55 (1998)

Kathryn Mercer, A Content Analysis of Judicial Decision Making: How Judges Use the Primary Caretaker Standard To Make A Custody Determination, 5 William and Mary Journal of Women and the Law 1-149 (1998)

Virginia H. Murray, A Comparative Survey of the Historic Civil, Common, and American Indian Tribal Law Response to Domestic Violence, 23 Oklahoma City University Law Review 433-457 (Summer 1998)

Allen M. Parkman, Bringing Consistency to the Financial Arrangements at Divorce, 87 Kentucky Law Journal 51-93 (1998-99)

Katherine Shaw Spaht, Louisiana's Covenant Marriage: Social Analysis and Legal Implications, 59 Louisiana Law Review 63-130 (1998)

Lynn D. Wardle, Fighting With Phantoms (Response to Ball and Pea), 1998 University of Illinois Law Review 629-642 (Spring 1998)

Elise Zealand, Protecting the Ties that Bind from Behind Bars: A Call for Equal Opportunities for Incarcerated Fathers and Their Children to Maintain the Parent-Child Relationship, 31 Columbia Journal of Law and Social Problems 247-281 (1998)

Laura W. Morgan is a Senior Attorney in Family Law at the National Legal Research Group, in Charlottesville, Virginia, a firm that writes memoranda and briefs for attorneys nationwide. Ms. Morgan is the author of "Child Support Guidelines: Interpretation and Application," and is currently Chair of the Child Support Committee of the American Bar Association Family Law Section. She can be reached at: goddess@supportguidelines.com, or phone 1-800-727-6574 or 1-804-977-5690

No information or materials posted here are intended to constitute legal advice, nor can we guarantee the accuracy of posted information, especially as to each individual situation. LawTek does not independently check the information contained herein and does not refer or endorse any product, service, or firm. This site does not constitute an attorney-client relationship; local counsel should always be consulted.

Index of Fam-Law-Lit Issues