Herring Imming attorney, Taylor Fuller, recently attended the Conference on Advanced Issues in Child Custody, co-presented by the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts and the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. She is a member of the AFCC. Greg Herring is a Fellow of the AAML. The Conference, held in Washington DC, focused on:
- The intersection of custody disputes and sexual abuse. These are sensitive but critical issues requiring skills toward identifying, understanding, and countering adults who sexually abuse children.
- Social science and family Law. Taylor brought home the latest research — including practical case-management/settlement strategies and evidence-based ones for the courtroom.
- Parent-child contact problems. Uniquely difficult challenges arise in maintaining healthy parent-child relationships during custody disputes. The Conference probed the tensions between (1) the well-being of children relative to (2) the rights of each parent. Proactive strategies must be rapidly deployed when a child resists/refuses contact with a disfavored parent.
- Technology and evidentiary issues. Technology now plays a significant role in family law cases. HI is a regional leader in using electronically stored information (“ESI”) in discovery and trial strategies. The Conference highlighted emerging trends and implications. Offering texts, emails, and home surveillance videos into evidence is substantially different, but legally identical to offering traditional letters, writings, and photographs!
- Culture and intimate partner violence. Understanding cultural nuances and their impact on cases involving intimate partner violence can be critical. Taylor learned how to better understand these dynamics in presenting our clients’ narratives and expectations.
- Children’s stress, trauma, and resilience. Almost by definition, child custody cases are emotionally challenging – especially for the children. HI appreciates the need toward addressing their stress and trauma — while promoting their resilience, too.
- Drugs, alcohol, and family court. Substance abuse complicates child custody matters. The Conference taught the latest strategies for addressing this challenge.
Taylor’s active involvement in the AFCC and attendance at the Conference exemplifies HI’s commitment to excellence. The knowledge and insights she gained and shared with is will directly benefit our clients. We anticipate implementing them inside and out of the courtroom. This is a great example of our routinely “walking the walk” – she and we pledge to continue doing so.