” But the job of a lawyer rendering advice is not to seek to satisfy the client’s wishes, but it is to inform the client, as objectively as possible, what the law requires or permits and make every effort to ensure compliance. I think that is a lawyer’s duty whoever the client is, a public [...]
Entries Tagged as ‘Uncategorized’
October 13, 2009
Nothing Personal
Lex just met a former public defender who recently became a family lawyer. She formerly handled death penalty cases. Life or death stuff. And what she told me was interesting. The practice of family law was similar to criminal law; but the major difference was that the family lawyers are much more contentious and tend [...]
October 3, 2009
A Noble Profession
“True, we build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures—unless as amateurs for our own amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men’s burdens [...]
September 27, 2009
Compassionate Advocacy
Compassion contemplates concern for another’s suffering, accompanied by a subsequent need to alleviate the suffering. Compassionate family law advocacy requires both a concern with a client’s pain, coupled with appropriate action to address and help reduce that pain. To be an effective and compassionate advocate, it is not enough to simply feel the client’s pain– no [...]
September 15, 2009
Deposing the family czars
The Idaho Supreme Court recently issued a decision that explores the role of familycourt. While generally unremarkable, the ruling is insightful in its examination of the limits of the court’s power. In Allbright v. Allbright, http://tinyurl.com/phk9tj, filed August 21, 2009, the Court reversed a trial court that held that a custodial parent could not relocate a distance that would interfere [...]
August 30, 2009
Who’s Your Daddy Redux
In 2004 Lex published an article in the Loyola University Chicago law Journal entitled, “Who’s Your Daddy? : An Analysis of Illinois’ Law of Parentage and the Meaning of Parenthood.” The premise of the article was a criticism of the Illinois statutory scheme that defined parenthood exclusively in genetic terms. In Illinois, paternity rights are [...]
August 20, 2009
D-Mail
Just as technology has changed society , it has significantly altered the divorce landscape. Divorce mail, or D-mail is a modern phenomenon in family court. More and more lawyers deal with the use and abuse of technology. E-mail and text messaging , and other issues we didn’t confront, even 5 years ago, are becoming common. And while [...]
July 23, 2009
Does a parent’s duty of support include saving a child’s life?
This is an interesting post by Eugene Volokh, from the “Volokh Conspiracy” Blog http://volokh.com, that poses the question whether a parent should have a legal duty to contribute a kidney to a child. If we compel a parent to support a child in order to economically sustain the child, isn’t it a reasonable extension to require a parent to [...]
July 10, 2009
Legislating Morality
This is an interesting discourse on the difficulty legislatures have balancing needs of the family against individual rights. To what extent can public policy influence intimate relationships? And vice versa.
From Concurring Opinions Blog http://www.concurringopinions.com.
Is Divorce Too Easy? Helping Marriages Survive Infidelity
posted by Solangel Maldonado
Last week I came across a New York Times article that has led me to [...]
July 3, 2009
Parent Support?
As our society ages, should we explore the notion of parent support? Nobody questions mandatory child support (well a few perhaps), but does it make sense to compel senior support? Do we owe anything to our parents if they are aged and economically insecure?
One could argue that families have a duty to care for their own. Therefore, [...]
