Below is a listing of available book titles - check back frequently as the Section is consistently publishing new titles.
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This new book, edited by Forrest S Mosten, an experienced mediator and Collaborative practitioner, and Adam B Cordover, an attorney with insights as an emerging leader in the Collaborative movement, puts the spotlight on the wisdom and practice-derived insights of 25 authors who command vast experience in the trenches of their Collaborative practices.
A roadmap for efficiently and effectively helping even the most difficult clients to achieve their best possible outcomes, this book provides litigators, mediators, Collaborative professionals, mental health professionals, financial experts and allied professionals with new, inspiring, and practical tools. Pauline Tesler explains how this approach engages the unique problem-solving skills of lawyers to achieve settlements that customize outcomes in the way that few courts are able to achieve.
Mediation and alternative dispute resolution are a top priority for policy and programs in courts and family law professional organizations. Clients are asking about mediation and expect their family lawyers to be mediation-friendly, knowledgeable and competent. This updated edition is your complete resource for gaining knowledge and skills to attract clients interested in mediation and effective negotiation.
This book provides lawyers with advice about selecting a mediator, preparing clients for mediation, and coaching the clients through the negotiation process to a settlement. It offers wise perspectives, examples from cases, and bullet-point practice tips.
Designed to help all professionals – lawyers, mental health professionals, financial neutrals, and others – who practice in Collaborative Divorce, this book explains how conscious and unconscious marital dynamics, combined with the traumas of the divorce and previous situations, will be re-enacted in the Collaborative process. It provides both a theoretical and practical roadmap for navigating the Collaborative process from an emotional point of view.
Improve the negotiation skills you use in family law cases. Veteran family lawyer Gregg Herman discusses the key concepts of divorce settlement negotiation, explaining the fundamental concepts and theories, the specialized aspects of divorce negotiation, and current and evolving topics in negotiation.
Now fully updated, this is a much-needed resource to the significant changes to the law and practice of assisted reproduction (ART) since the prior edition. Drawing from multiple legal sources, including the ever-evolving number of court decisions dealing with various aspects of ART, this book presents complex information in a direct, balanced and fair manner. The authors explain the reproductive technology options available with relevant state statute summaries, discuss standards of care, evolving technologies, and more. The book also considers contracts and documents for ART as well as the ABA’s Model Acts Governing Assisted Reproductive Technology.
A nuts-and-bolts handbook to understanding and mastering the elements of an Assisted Reproduction Technology legal practice, this guide is written by practitioners who each have a legal practice focused on ART law. From the unique marketing and networking considerations to sample forms and agreements, this guide is a complete "how-to" for building an ART practice.
When handling an adoption case, the family lawyer guides the client through the types of adoptions, determining the applicable laws for a particular adoption, to ensure that it can be legally finalized in that jurisdiction. Now updated, this is an accessible resource for handling all aspects of an adoption case. Making it an useful desk reference, it explains the fundamentals of adoption law and provides detailed information, advice on client consultations, guidance for each step in the legal process, and an array of sample forms.
This clearly written guide provides family law practitioners with the practical knowledge and tools they need to analyze the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (UCCJEA) and the Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act (PKPA).
An adoption can be fraught with high emotions and unexpected roadblocks. Explaining the basics of an uncontested adoption and steps that can help keep it that way, this book then discusses the many forms a contested adoption can take. The authors consider the issues involved from the perspective of all parties involved in the adoption "triad"-- the child, the adoptive parents, and the natural parents, underscoring prevailing practices while explaining how to address the challenges and potential vulnerabilities a contested case presents.
Giving attorneys insights and practical guidance on how to improve the collaboration between attorneys and parenting evaluators, this book examines all aspects of this collaboration. Looking at when this interaction occurs to the processes that can and should be implemented to prepare effective parenting plans for clients, the book also provides definitions of the roles of mental health professionals in parenting evaluations and the applicable laws and standards for each professional.
This book will help to understand and interpret the psychological dynamics often found in family law cases. This updated edition uses real-world examples where critical issues such as the developmental need of children, relocation, domestic violence, and the alienated child are involved. The book details a logical process for attorneys to critique evaluation reports and analyze the strengths and weaknesses of a case.
In a practice that increasingly involves cross-border issues, a growing number of clients fear their children may be abducted, are concerned about overseas travel, or are considering international marriage or divorce. Written to help family lawyers best represent clients and their children, this updated edition explains all aspect of how the Hague Convention works in the United States.
A respected legal resource, The Indian Child Welfare Act Handbook provides a comprehensive source to assist lawyers, social workers, counselors, and others whose professions and interests involve them with Native American children. This updated edition incorporates the hundreds of new legal decisions since the last edition, including the impact of the recent Department of Interior’s ICWA regulations and two critical Supreme Court decisions. The authors examine case law from courts around the country – this is an issue not confined to reservations and their border towns.
There is no doubt that parental alienation exists and that U.S. courts have acknowledged the concept, although the theory can sometimes be misused. This practitioner's manual provides an overview of the concept of parental alienation and explains how to correctly handle it in court. "Hands-on" practice pointers and sample materials on litigating parental alienation make this an essential resource for the family lawyer.
The need to repair damaged relationships that have occurred between a parent and a child is one of the biggest and most salient issues before the family courts today. This thoughtful and detailed guide helps family lawyers and related professionals understand and aid in the process of reconnecting parents and children who have had their relationship damaged by family matters.
To facilitate the creation of high-quality parenting plans, this book combines practical considerations along with extensive research, theory, and scholarly debate to present a thorough, focused, and useful guide for attorneys and related professionals. Beginning with the basic considerations for an effective plan, further chapters offer tools for attorneys and others to craft appropriate and workable plans for their clients.
Children are the central focus in any custody case. Frequently, however, parents, lawyers, and even judges, lose sight of this. Opinions are evolving about how to keep the child as the case’s focus. One such opinion believes a child's voice should play a key role in any custodial arrangement. This opens a wide range of questions and concerns: why should we listen to a child, what potential concerns exist when listening to them, and how do we solicit their opinions? This book is written provide a framework for addressing those questions and providing the most productive answers.
A unique family law resource, this book by a psychologist with extensive experience in working with children, and an attorney who almost exclusively represents children in dependency court matters, reflects the real-world issues that are critical for working with child clients in dependency and family court settings. This is a clearly written and logical resource accessible to lawyers and related professionals at any level of experience.
This book takes a practical look at what special needs are, how they are relevant in the arena of divorce, and what lawyers can do to make the system work better for these children and their families. It examines how child support guidelines and standard visitation schedules often don't meet the needs of special needs children, and provides a model child support chart, parenting plan, and modification for these cases.
Criminal Law for Family Law Attorneys is a guide to spotting criminal issues and concerns in family law cases, useful for family law attorneys or anyone going through a family law matter.
This classic reference explains how to use the 1040 return as a discovery tool in divorce cases, showing where to start a review and how to discover cash flow and the existence of assets. A line-by-line analysis of a hypothetical couple's federal tax form and its schedules provides guidance for drafting a detailed and effective discovery plan for assets and income.
This new edition is a invaluable tool for reviewing commercial business and professional practice returns to gather information and prepare a complete discovery plan for family law cases. The Business Tax Return Handbook, Fifth Edition supplies hypothetical examples to illustrate points in the text, including the most common forms and schedules for partnerships, corporations, and unincorporated businesses.
This popular resource provides a basic knowledge of all aspects of the substantive law of QDROs, with step-by-step explanations and discussion of advanced techniques for all stages of the drafting and approval process. This edition also includes sample language and clauses with commentary, as well as model letters, forms, interrogatories, and checklists.
A multitude of complex issues can be involved when handling the divorce of a couple who has achieved a level of personal and financial security. This updated edition addresses how a divorce case is affected by estate planning established during the marriage, explaining how to review existing estate plans to avoid complications.
Providing a practical guide to understanding, negotiating and dividing assets in the category of executive compensation. A clearly written roadmap, this book helps you avoid the common pitfalls associated with these complex assets and allows you to explain these issues to your clients.
Social Security issues frequently arise in cases involving family law matters. This long-awaited updated edition explains the various Social Security programs and provides examples of how they impact the practice of family law.
The relationship between the family lawyer and the forensic accountant can be an effective weapon in the advocacy arsenal. Forensic accounting can help family lawyers win cases while at the same time their clients are able to keep money which might otherwise be taken from them by the difficult and confusing divorce process. This updated edition of one the ABA's most popular resources explains the practice of forensic accounting and business valuation and how to apply it in family law cases. It provides a practice-focused introduction to the core financial concepts in divorce, such as asset identification, classification, and valuation, income determination, expenses, and more.
One of the most important tools a family lawyer can use in a divorce case is a lifestyle analysis: the process of tabulating and analyzing the income and expenses of the parties in order to confirm or refute a spouse's income claims, among many other uses. This updated edition discusses these subjects in logical, easy-to-understand manner, bringing clarity to a topic that can be confusing for attorneys and judges who often lack an accounting or finance background.
Cost of capital is an essential aspect of the valuation of business interests, particularly in closely held entities. Providing attorneys, judges, and valuation experts with the most comprehensive survey of cost of capital case law across jurisdictions and venues, this is a comprehensive sourcebook for understanding the basis of a business valuation and for background in examining and cross-examining expert witnesses.
Be prepared to knowledgeably represent current and former federal employees by understanding the major features of the largest federal government pension systems and how to divide them in divorce. Now this essential information is available in a single volume that explains the complexities and nuances of the benefits at stake: retirement, health insurance, and life insurance.
This book is, in essence, a step-by-step roadmap of everything you need to know about the financial aspects of divorce. It is a great resource to initiate self-empowerment and take control over your divorce.
A divorce may be the most important business and personal transaction that your clients will go through. This concise, user-friendly guide is written especially for clients. It is a road map that explains the entire process clearly and thoughtfully, helping them understand the process while clearing up some of the concerns and misconceptions that can occur during a divorce. Author Randy Kessler explains, step-by-step, the entire process of divorce, including how to select an attorney, know the questions to ask and the answers that are needed, how to prepare for trial, and much more.
Written by a veteran family lawyer to meet the specific needs of practitioners in the area, this hands-on manual provides forms, checklists and procedures for every aspect of family law practice. The book's numerous documents are available online to be downloaded and customized to meet the needs of your practice.
A must-read for any family lawyer, this book helps you understand the specialized skills and knowledge necessary to build and manage a successful and rewarding practice. It takes a no-nonsense, nuts-and-bolts approach in explaining the most critical issues for developing a thriving family law practice.
Family issues are among the most sensitive and pressing matters that enter our civil justice system, and the outcomes of these cases can affect entire families for years to come. This book provides a crucial step forward in matching individuals with the family law services they need.
Written by two experienced and respected leaders in the field of separation and divorce, this book is a roadmap for efficiently and effectively helping even the most "difficult" clients to achieve their best possible outcomes. Litigators, mediators, Collaborative professionals, mental health professionals, financial experts and allied professionals—from beginners to veterans—will find new, inspiring, practical tools they can put to use at tomorrow’s client meeting.
Manage client questions about family law issues with this library of informative, client-friendly handouts. Forms cover both general and state-specific legal issues, explaining important information in an easy-to-understand manner, many in Q&A format, and can be modified to suit your practice and jurisdiction.
Learn the tips and techniques that leading family lawyers have developed to help make their legal practice more effective. This popular compendium takes this practice-tested knowledge and distills it into an array of concise tips focused on family law. This information-packed guide is organized in 15 categories, including custody, fees, taxes, discovery, valuation, premarital agreements, settlement, trial tactics, and post-divorce issues.
Clearly written and informative, this updated and expanded edition explains the most critical aspects involved in creating a premarital agreement. Includes a model agreement, sample letters and forms, and summary of the law in all 51 jurisdictions.
Make the strongest argument for your client with this in-depth research and analysis. Focusing on the legal issues of validity and construction in marital agreements, the authors demonstrate how identifying the best argument can benefit the client while avoiding potential drafting problems.
Now published in 2 volumes!
Military personnel are involved in the same domestic situations as civilians - divorce, separation, custody, support, and division of property. Yet when a military client is involved, many special issues arise that makes a divorce case more difficult. Covering all facets of representing servicemembers and their spouses in divorce, this comprehensive resource draws on Mark Sullivan's decades of specialized practice to provide clear explanations of key issues such as the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act and military retirement benefits as well as guidance on handling every aspect of a military divorce.
Be prepared to knowledgeably represent current and former federal employees by understanding the major features of the largest federal government pension systems and how to divide them in divorce. Now this essential information is available in a single volume that explains the complexities and nuances of the benefits at stake: retirement, health insurance, and life insurance.
The Divorce Paralegal Handbook is a "how to book" for family law paralegals and legal assistants to help their lawyer navigate the administration of effective case and client management, the use of technology, document assembly, hearing preparation and presentation, deposition preparation and trial preparation and presentation. Each chapter contains brief and to the point discussions of each area, usually with one or more forms or checklists to make things easy. This manual is not intended to be an educational piece on substantive law and procedure. Such education falls in the realm of formal paralegal training and the training in individual law offices in the states.
Pet Law and Custody provides synthesizes legal and ethical information on how the law affects pets with pertinent case law analysis. This is a very useful and well-crafted work for lawyers. The book takes an in-depth look at the subject of pet custody disputes from many angles. Not only explaining legal topics, such as what judges do in a practical way and how they might approach a case, the book also considers how cultural perspectives, cognitive biases, and points of view impact negotiations, alternative dispute resolutions, and decision-making processes.
This book describes and applies the practical four-step PLAN Model, based in caselaw and professional psychology's literature to help lawyers organize, critique, and use psychological materials and testimony when examining experts and framing legal arguments.
Cross examination can make or break your case, making it the most lethal double-edged sword in the trial lawyer’s arsenal. Veteran family lawyer Stephen Gassman provides clear, focused guidance on how to improve and enhance your skills at cross examination to advance your case.
This step-by-step manual helps family lawyers navigate through the complexities of domestic litigation – a much-needed resource as divorce lawyers spend more time in court than in other legal practices. A complete rewrite of the first edition, this hands-on book puts into words the lessons taught during the renowned Trial Advocacy Institute, providing divorce lawyers a comprehensive guide to managing and trying a divorce case.
Issues of access to and the forensic use of electronic evidence are front and center to our social agenda—and nowhere are those issues more complicated than in family law. Who but a spouse knows your passwords and may share legal title to the accounts that control your family’s information? This state-of-the-art book explains the complexities of evidence as well as how to effectively integrate this knowledge into your family law practice.
For many attorneys, arbitration is becoming the preferred method for resolving many family law issues. Understand the pros and cons of arbitration and the types of processes employed with this comprehensive manual. Invaluable resources include a state-by-state survey of family law arbitration, practical guidance on choosing an arbitrator and conducting an arbitration, and sample forms.
Family law matters are intimate, personal and touch upon people's most private treasures and issues. This perspective directly affects all aspects of domestic relations, including appellate practice. Serving as a practical guide on whether to appeal a family court decision, and then how to proceed with the appeal, this is a valuable resource for both the newer and more seasoned family lawyer, and it fills a void in the literature by focusing on the unique issues involved in appealing a family law case.
The Family Law Professional's Field Guide helps family law professionals better understand and communicate the dynamics of the conflicted family system.
Written especially for lawyers handling divorce cases, this common-sense guide discusses to the fundamentals of evidence and how to use them to advance a case. With a focus on family law evidentiary issues, it explains concepts and theories in an easy-to-use format with Practice Points.
Recognize, analyze, and address mental health expert issues encountered in cases with this quick and accessible reference. Examining issues through the dual prism the legal and psychological perspectives, the book offers a structured approach for developing clear direct examinations, sharpening cross examinations, and composing effective, compelling arguments to the court.
This book reviews and analyzes the international treaties that form the basis for reciprocal relationships between the United States and more than eighty-five nations, focusing on their definition of the law applicable to transnational family issues in the United States.
One hundred days before trial may seem a long way off when handling a divorce case, but it can best be viewed as the beginning of a systematic approach to trial preparation. This book focuses on the process of creating a persuasive vision of the case prior to trial, using set points ahead of the trial to develop internal systems necessary to ensure thorough preparation for an effective presentation in court.