Family Law

The newsletter of ISBA’s Section on Family Law

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2007 Articles

Chair’s column By Gregory A. Scott August 2007 A message from Chair Gregory Scott.
Chair’s Column By Scott C. Colky July 2007 Life’s short, so I will get to the point.
Chair’s column By Scott C. Colky June 2007 The Illinois and Federal Eavesdropping and Wiretap statutes were originally passed to protect the privacy of persons in their own conversation and over the telephone.
Chair’s column By Scott C. Colky April 2007 Recently, there appeared on the internet a Petition to Abolish Section 506, Representation of Children.
Child custody statutes ready for a complete overhaul By David N. Schaffer July 2007 On this, the thirtieth anniversary of the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act (“IMDMA”) 750 ILCS 5/1above01 et seq., it is clear that, at minimum, the section concerning child custody and visitation Id. at 5/601 – 5/608 needs a complete overhaul.
Cohabitation revisited By Gary Schlesinger December 2007 There have been several cases dealing with cohabitation as a means of terminating maintenance payments. These newer cases have significantly changed the law in this area so it is time to revisit the issue.
Compensation-for-contribution: An alternative method for handling personal goodwill in divorce matters By Brian R. Potter & Justin L. Cherfoli June 2007 As in numerous jurisdictions throughout the United States, Illinois courts require valuators in family law settings to delineate personal goodwill from the total goodwill of the business enterprise being valued.
Contempt of Court: Is bad faith enough? By Thomas A. Else September 2007 In many marital settlement agreements, the parties are required to engage in various complex acts in order to achieve the goals embodied in the agreement.
Contested custody / visitation litigation: A satire By Roza Gossage & Pamela J. Kuzniar April 2007 Years ago, superheroes held the values of our ancestors and would not father a child out of wedlock.
Courtroom security: Whose problem is it? By Barbara E. Hardin July 2007 For those of us practicing in the challenging arena of domestic relations, we often are witness to the turbulent and volatile situations that occur in courtrooms which require prompt and effective security intervention.
The defacto parent: Legal guardianship without court order or common law parents By William E. Hourigan June 2007 The appellate court for the 4th district of Illinois has recently ruled that a person who voluntarily adopts the role of a parent stands in loco parentis and therefore is responsible for that child’s medical bills and has a right of action to collect those bills from a tortfeasor, pursuant to the Family Expense Act, even though that person is not the legal guardian.
Depositions from a court reporter’s perspective By Andrea Trippi Else August 2007 I have been a freelance court reporter for nine years, and in that time, many attorneys have asked some advice from me as to how to make a great record during a deposition and how to deal with court reporters generally.
Grandparent visitation—A practitioner’s approach By Raiford D. Palmer December 2007 Grandparent visitation is an issue of growing concern in Illinois and across the U.S.Because the Illinois Supreme Court held a prior version of the statute unconstitutional, the Legislature amended the Grandparent Visitation Statute again, and the current version became law on January 1, 2007. 
Grandparents’ visitation rights are still in limbo in Illinois By Hon. Laninya A. Cason September 2007 In this ever-changing society, more and more grandparents are called upon to perform the duties and responsibilities of parents.
Hello, young lawyers By Rory Weiler October 2007 Experienced practitioners will agree that one of the most overlooked elements of the practice of law, and certainly one topic none of us heard much, if anything, about in law school is the art of client selection and management.
Lawyers’ lives in balance: Developing your plan and tips for staying energized & productive By John W. Olmstead December 2007 It is much easier to begin your life and career with balance that it is to try to bring your life back into balance later in life.
MCLE credit and newsletter authors August 2007 According to Rule 795(d)(7) of the Supreme Court of Illinois’ Minimum Continuing Legal Education Rules, authors who write “law-related articles in responsible legal journals or other legal sources” can get MCLE credit.
Message from the Chair By Gregory A. Scott December 2007 A message from Section Chair Gregory Scott.
Message from the Chair By Gregory A. Scott October 2007 It doesn’t take long for an attorney practicing in the area of family law to be confronted with difficult situations concerning a client’s visitation with his or her children.
Message from the Chair By Gregory A. Scott September 2007 A message from Chair Gregory Scott.
Message from the Chair By Scott C. Colky January 2007 Out of state CLEs, fun and learning in the sun!
MUM is the word for allocating personal and enterprise goodwill By James M. Godbout November 2007 Every so often a new case comes down from the Court and causes a stir. Marriage of Alexander is one of those cases.
No legal relationship between paternity and registry By Zora Ristanovic August 2007 The Illinois Supreme Court recently held that the Putative Father Registry provisions of the Adoption Act and the Parentage Act are to be construed separately, and therefore, a father seeking to establish a parent-child relationship under the Parentage Act was not required to first register as a putative father within 30 days of the child’s birth pursuant to the Putative Father Registry provisions of the Adoption Act. J.S.A. et al., v. M.H. et al., 2007 WL 289829 (2007).
Obtaining law enforcement records: Remember the Daniels case By Matthew A. Kirsh October 2007 Imagine you represent children whose mother is accusing the father of sexual abuse.
Prevention of the Holiday Emergency Motion…is it possible? Maybe yes, maybe no. But, minimizing the possibility, absolutely! By Brigid A. Duffield November 2007 Taking charge of your office policies and reviewing your own client control techniques and especially your office “lines in the sand” will go a long way to helping you plan your own stress-free holiday and enjoy it with your family instead of your client’s family.
Removal in parentage cases after Fisher v. Waldrop By Nanette A. McCarthy & Carol Jones January 2007 Joan and Richard had one child—Samantha—during their relationship.
Retainers in dissolution of marriage actions By Michelle Lawless & Patrick Ryan July 2007 The recent Illinois Supreme Court ruling in Dowling v. Chicago Options Associates, Inc., et al., clarifies that attorneys have a third option when considering the type of written retainer agreement to enter into with a client.
Rethinking divorce through collaborative practice By Samia Zayed August 2007 By now it is no surprise to most people that 50 percent of all marriages in the United States end in divorce.
The top 10 things they did not teach me in law school By Dennis A. Norden October 2007 Upon starting the actual practice of our profession, nearly every attorney begins to realize how little he or she knows.
Transfer of marital residence found fraudulent by Bankruptcy Court By Matthew G. Shaw April 2007 Most family law practitioners experience the dissolution case that is fraught with financial problems.