In Creating Effective Parenting Plans for Children with Disabilities, the authors provide an overview of issues that should be given special consideration when drafting parenting plans for families in which a child has a physical, developmental, or emotional disability or a mental health condition. The issues they discuss include decision-making, parenting time schedules, medical care, education, health care, health insurance, and future planning. They share practical recommendations for attorneys based on their insights and experience.
The first-place Schwab essay is The Privilege of a Presumption: A Proposal for the Equal Application of the Presumption of Parentage to Same-Sex Couples, by Mary J. “Janie” Nichols. This essay highlights the importance of clarifying that parentage presumptions—including presumptions that a child born during a marriage is the child of both spouses—apply to same-sex couples in the same way that they apply to heterosexual couples. Notwithstanding the Supreme Court decisions in Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 U.S. 644 (2015), and Pavan v. Smith, 582 U.S. 563 (2017), some state-law statutory presumptions of parentage are written as if they only apply to a man, and do not expressly apply to a woman who is married to the biological mother of a child. While courts applying these statutes after the decision in Pavan have interpreted them as gender-neutral, Nichols recommends that legislatures revise their statutes to include gender-neutral language in order to provide clarity and strengthened protections.
In the second-place essay, Personality Disorders and the Parent-Child Relationship: Breaking the Cycle of Generational Trauma in Family Courts, Ashtar Abboud discusses the concept of generational trauma. She also reviews the definitions of different types of personality disorders and how they may impact the child-parent relationship. Abboud provides recommendations for how courts should consider and address generational trauma in the context of family law disputes.
Finally, in “You’ve Got Dreams He’ll Never Take Away”: The Role of Protective Employment Legislation in Liberating Survivors of Domestic Violence, third-place winner Emily Dillan reviews state-law workplace protections for domestic violence survivors, including laws that authorize paid or unpaid leave, prohibit discrimination, and provide for reasonable accommodations. She includes an in-depth discussion of Massachusetts law in this area, as well as pending legislation that she proposes should be enacted in Massachusetts and serve as a model for other states.
This is the last issue edited by the New York Law School (NYLS) student editors from the 2023–24 academic year, with assistance from the 2024–25 student editorial board. Congratulations to all NYLS student editors for wonderful work on this issue, and to Executive Articles Editor Sofia O’Shea ’24, Student Editor in Chief Alexandra Ogunsanya ’24, Research and Reference Editor Chelsea Ryan ’24, Curriculum Editor Toni-Ann Kreisberg ’24, and Development and Communications Editor Darryl Bobb ’24, as well as incoming Executive Articles Editors Natalie Halpin ’25 and Kelly Jackson ’25 and student Editor in Chief Nimra Tariq ’25, for their leadership of the articles editing process. Thank you and congratulations as always to ABA Managing Editor Susan Lorimor, Director of Digital Publishing Kyle Kolbe, and Copy Editor Betsy Blumenthal. Thank you also to the FLQ Board of Editors; the ABA Family Law Section Council and 2024–25 Chair Lyne Ranson; Family Law Section Director Cindy Swan and Associate Director Danielle Pruger; NYLS Dean and President Anthony W. Crowell, Dean of Faculty William P. LaPiana, and Senior Associate Dean Matt Gewolb; the NYLS faculty, administration, and staff; and Diane and Arthur Abbey.
We hope you enjoy this issue and welcome your feedback. Best wishes to you and your families.
Lisa F. Grumet
Editor in Chief, Family Law Quarterly
Director, Diane Abbey Law Institute for Children and Families
Professor of Law, New York Law School
