Welcome family law attorneys.
Thank you for taking the next step!
First.
This video will help make it easier for you to use Kids Caught in the Middle as a tool to represent your clients and help you in the trial court. I want to give you the confidence to take a stand against judges who are not following the law in your cases. But that is not say that there are not judges out there who are willing to learn. I also want to make it easier for you to educate the judges, always with the hope that - regardless of the outcome in any particular case - trial judges will correctly interpret and apply the law for cases involving children.
Your role is a pivotal step in the process of effectuating change. Unless you raise the issues in the trial court, or challenge a judge who appears inclined not to follow the law, then there won’t be an issue to raise on appeal. And getting good appellate decisions is a great way to start effectuating change, even if it is only on a case-by-case basis.
Second.
If you are not already a member, I encourage family law attorneys to join and get involved with the State Bar of Michigan’s Family Law Section. The Section takes positions on legislation, court rules, and legally significant family law cases. The more voices of attorneys who join and participate in the Family Law Section, the more impact the Section can have on all of these fronts.
For example, the Council for the Family Law Section has many committees, one of which is the Dedicated Family Court Committee. This committee has spent and will continue to spend a lot of time drafting proposed legislation and court rules to give family law attorneys a bigger voice in the process of how the courts are deciding their client’s cases. The Dedicated Family Court Committee has worked on legislation that would require judges who are elected or appointed to the family law bench to have experience and training in family law. We as family law attorneys want judges who care about families and who want to hear cases involving kids. But too many times, judges use their election or appointment to a family court seat as a stepping stone to reach the general circuit bench. These judges are not bad people, but they don’t care about family law, and many of them don’t care to learn either. The Dedicated Family Court Committee is trying to solve this institutional problem with legislation, but we need your help. We need your voice because the more family law attorneys who bring these problems to the attention of the Legislature, the Governor, and even the chief judges of your county (who decide which seat is a family law seat and often who sits in that seat among the elected judges), the more likely and quickly we will be able to solve the problem.
Family Law Section.
Third.
We need your help in educating the Governor on the importance of family law cases to the future of our children and our society. The Governor often appoints judges to fill unexpired terms. But if the Chief Judge cannot guarantee that the seat will remain a family law seat, (even though everyone in the county knows that the seat has historically been a family law seat) then the Governor tends to appoint a judge with broader experience who will be able to sit on the general circuit bench. This means that many of our judges appointed to sit on the family law bench do not have any, or very minimal, family law experience. This is a huge problem.
You can help educate the Governor by sending letters of support to family law attorneys who are applying for a judgeship and by contacting the Governor’s office to show that we believe this to be a widespread problem. And it is a problem that can and should be easily fixed, but we have to get the Governor’s attention first.
Fourth.
When proposed legislation comes up that impacts family law, sometimes we have a chance to testify before the Legislature either to support or oppose legislation. When that occurs – and there are often not many pieces of legislation where we have an opportunity to provide testimony – please come to Lansing and testify! Even if your card is not chosen to speak (which happens when there are too many people there to testify), the Legislators will still see all the cards supporting or opposing the pending legislation. They will also see all the people filling the room so they know the legislation before them is significant to Michigan families.
Fifth.
When proposed court rules amendments come before the Michigan Supreme Court, sign up to testify in favor of or in opposition to the rules. The Supreme Court’s administrative hearings are now by Zoom, so it is easy to participate. We have had major court rules proposals come before the Supreme Court with family law attorneys testifying - such as on topics like nonrefundable retainers, jurisdiction for custody appeals, and anti-trolling rules, to name a few. We have had mixed and sometimes even bad results on court rules modifications. We need more attorneys to speak up on the important court rules that the Supreme Court is considering.
Introducing…
The Guidebook!
Your quick reference guide written by Liisa Speaker, this guide is for trial attorneys who are confronted with an unfamiliar area of family law.
We are giving away free copies, click the button below to get yours!