Lawyers Who Profit at the Expense of our Children.

The late Judge E. Spencer Walton of St. Joseph County, Indiana often remarked that one of the most important duties of an attorney opening a new file was also one of the least appreciated.

Guess which he was referring to?

A.  Keeping the client informed. 

B.  Treating the client as an equal

partner in the matter. 

C.  Reviewing the file regularly. 

D.  Closing the file. 

E.  Copying the file for the client

d. Closing the file.
(The actual answer - and 21% of responses)

Judge Walton’s admonition may actually stand in some considerable contrast to what the general ethic of the legal profession is: dedicated, zealous, and perhaps even endless advocacy.

But we think that at least in family cases he may be absolutely right.  Are families actually assisted by teams of lawyers and a judiciary remaining more or less permanently involved in their affairs?

Family Law (film) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It seems to us that the legal profession, not to mention members of the public wanting to make aggressive and far-reaching use of the legal profession, could take a lesson from Judge Walton.  And perhaps from the tendency of more progressive physicians to attempt to work with the human body rather than against the human body.

The “Extra Quote” this week speaks to this point.  Chief Justice Burger went to considerable lengths to try to put the brakes on the law’s tendency (sometimes even a well-intentioned one) to get involved in too much of people’s lives.  And then to stay too long.

At the very least, it seems to us that in family matters parents should be encouraged to do all they can, and use all the useful counseling, mediation, and other resources at their disposal, to reassume responsibility for their lives and the lives of their children.

What Kind of Civil Litigator Are You?

Top 30 indications that you are probably a sleazy civil lawyer

 "South Florida Style"

(if 3 or more apply it’s a rebuttable presumption):

Dear Media, Government, and Society

Operation Family Law~CPS Reform

 Letter Campaign

In all indications of the talk out of the legislative bodies, 2017 will be the year of reform of the social programs of Child Welfare Divisions. Although funded by the Federal Government, each State and county will have their own policies and procedures drafted around the new legislative actions in 2017. The new bills could be the means for some states to adopt a 'family friendly' policy of helping families to remain together, and some states will cling to their standard practice of seizing kids for federal dollars. The only way to end the incentivized profit gain off children is to end ASFAct. We encourage all writers to demand this end to ASFA. 

In the year of 2017, the group will decide how to restructure our efforts to change the current justice system of Family law/dissolution and custody. As family law in relation to child custody, child support, is a federal justice problem, our need to write legislative bodys will end our refocus will be on addressing the justice system and the avenues available to bring a change, whereas prior change to the Child welfare divisions focused on a social program and policy change and not a justice system change.

America's Fathering Crisis

On MLK Day, I find myself reflecting on my father-in-law’s story. I am also reminded that Dr. King’s famous “I have a dream” speech was about being a father. It was about envisioning the future he wanted for his children, and then working to make that dream a reality.

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character,” he said.

We can all learn something from Dr. King, Dr. Little, and Championship Fathers across the globe …

More important than a man’s circumstances—his race, his socioeconomic status, his custodial or marital situation—is the way in which he handles his circumstances and envisions the future.

English: Dr. Martin Luther King giving his "I Have a Dream" speech during the March on Washington in Washington, D.C., on 28 August 1963. Español: Dr. Martin Luther King dando su discurso "Yo tengo un sueño" durante la Marcha sobre Washington por el trabajo y la libertad en Washington, D.C., 28 de agosto de 1963. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Do you model self-control? Do you remain calm and rational, even when others are becoming bitter … perhaps even violent? Can you hold your head high because you know you are acting like the dignified man you want your children to see?

English: Attorney General Kennedy and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., 22 June 1963, Washington, D.C. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Can't I See My Grandmother and Grandfather?

Do Grandparents Have the Rights They Should?

The experts report on the state of grandparent rights in the U.S. today

See state-by-state guide to grandparents' rights.

Coming Soon: As a service to our readers, Grandparents.com is establishing the American Grandparents Association^TM with the goal of becoming a key resource for grandparents who are physically removed from their grandchildren and would like to find a way to visit them.

Richard Kent, a family lawyer at Fairfield, Conn.-based Meyers Breiner & Kent, frequently goes to courtroom battle for grandparents seeking visitation with, or custody of, grandchildren.

"The state of grandparents' rights is terrible," says Kent. Under the current laws, if a couple's adult daughter dies, he says, those grandparents could be denied visitation with their grandchild by the child's father.

Even if they had what most people would consider a classic grandparent-grandchild relationship and, let's say, saw their grandchild every Sunday afternoon. But in the eyes of Connecticut law, says Kent, unless grandparents have functioned as de facto parents — meaning they lived with their grandchildren or took care of them while the parents were at work — they are treated no differently than strangers.

"I think it's absurd that a boy's father can legally keep his grandparents out of his life," says Kent, who wrote Solomon's Choice: A Guide to Custody for Ex-Husbands, Spurned Partners, & Forgotten Grandparents (Taylor Trade Publishing).

Families crumble for any number of reasons: divorce, the death of a parent, drug and alcohol abuse, incarceration. Grandparents in the U.S. do have rights and can seek visitation with grandchildren, but those rights vary from state to state. Understanding your basic rights can help ensure that your relationship with the grandchildren doesn't end should that with their parents. Of course, every case involves a unique set of facts and grandparents who find themselves suddenly cut off from grandchildren should consult a lawyer to discuss the course of action their specific situations require.

When Grandparents' Rights Changed

In June 2000, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a 6-3 decision on grandparents' visitation rights in the Troxel v. Granville case. This canceled out a Washington State law that permitted judges to grant visitation to any interested party so long as the visits were in the best interest of the child — even if the parents objected.

The Troxel v. Granville decision was ambiguous because while the majority of the justices agreed that Troxel should be decided a certain way, each had a different reason for doing so which resulted in six written opinions.

Grandparents4Justice Worldwide    parentalrights.org's photo —  Divorce & Corruption a Persistent Pursuit for Justice: Corrupt Lawyers and the Absurd Legal Decisions in the Fraternal Order of Matrimonial Law  Alienated Grandparents Anonymous, Inc. National Headquarters-FL.