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Updates in Michigan Family Law

Updates in Michigan Family Law is a blawg written by Traverse City, Michigan family lawyer Jeanne M. Hannah. Jeanne explores developing Michigan law, and also the following topics of interest: divorce, custody, child support, paternity, domestic abuse, and adoption issues.\r\n\r\n

Post Frequency: 4.5/day

Last Entry: March 31, 2011 at 12:07:04

Cyberbullying | First Amendment | Where does it begin & end?

Posted on November 11, 2010
I've written before about folks who claim that they have a First Amendment right to talk about others--either though telephoning or writing friends, family, employers or by posting to blogs or websites. Earlier posts have concerned the public exposure on...

Find a process server - US nationwide

Posted on November 09, 2010
Lawyers often need a process server in another state. There are several ways to find one. Sometimes, I will look at one of the nationwide legal directories and contact a lawyer in the town where I need process served and ask who the firm uses as a process server...

Ethical concerns of family law lawyers

Posted on November 09, 2010
Today, I am pleased to have Professor Barbara Glesner Fines as a guest author. Professor Glesner Fines Glesner-Fines is the Associate Dean and Ruby M. Hulen Professor of Law University of Missouri Kansas City. She is also the author of Author of Ethical Issues in Family Representation

Deployment | Grandparenting time to support parent-child contact

Posted on November 02, 2010
Grandparents I am not a big fan of grandparenting time if it infringes upon the right of a fit parent to decide whether that contact will be good for his or her child. However, there are some exceptions. One is a case where a parent is deceased and the child or children lived with the deceased parent and his or her parents prior to the parent's death...

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Tacky lawyer solicitations

Posted on November 01, 2010
Lately, on the State Bar of Michigan's Family Law Listserv, we've been discussing the practice of monitoring filings in the county clerks' office by certain lawyers who then send out a letter advising the defendant that his/her spouse has filed for divorce...

Scott Bassett on Microsoft's Live Mesh

Posted on October 31, 2010
Scott Bassett, Michigan family law appellate lawyer is also well-known as a highly skilled tech consultant. He consults with law firms through Affinity Consulting and writes a blog for them. If you spend a lot of time on the road, you will want to read his article on Windows Live Mesh 2011, Microsoft's free application for remote access to your computers while you're traveling

Significant changes to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure

Posted on October 30, 2010
If you practice in federal court, you'll want to review some significant changes to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure effective on December 1, 2010. Here is a summary of those rule changes:

New Android App | Beware SIMS Replicator

Posted on October 29, 2010
A New York Times tech blog exposes a new App for Android phones that would secretly forward text messages to any other phone without the knowledge of the Anroid's owner. Wow! Think how much easier it coulda been to catch...

ABA journal article | Law firm websites

Posted on October 28, 2010
Peter Geraghty, the director of ETHICSearch, discusses the Formal Opinion in more detail, especially with respect to which ethics rules apply to content (you know the drill--fair comment that is not misleading) in the October 2010 ABA Journal.

LGBT Resources in Michigan | Jeffrey Zoeller Guest Author

Posted on October 26, 2010
Bullying of LGBT people is an important issue and we family law lawyers should have a ready list of resources at hand to help LGBT people who are suffering. Perhaps we could all post the best resource we know of for LGBT students in our local area and then any listserv member who needed help could just search the archive for contacts.

How can parents help prevent bullying? LGBT teens need survival tools

Posted on October 25, 2010
In light of recent incidents of LGBT bullying and assaults, AP reporter Beth Harpaz writes: "With bullying, teen suicides and harassment of gay teenagers making headlines, parents may be wondering what role they can play in discouraging kids from tormenting others whom they perceive as different.

Beware 'Free Public WiFi'

Posted on October 21, 2010
"Free Public WiFi" is available now--in your airports, your coffee shops and your libraries. It's sort of like the flu virus hanging around shopping carts at the local supermarket. And it acts like a virus, according to NPR. NPR says that free wireless access does not actually provide access to the Internet.

Guidelines for Waiver of Court Fees

Posted on October 20, 2010
Michigan courts can waive fees in cases where the litigant files SCAO form MC20 and qualifies for the waiver. It is up to the presiding judge to determine whether a person qualifies for the waiver. People who receive IV-D or...

The Law & Living Together

Posted on October 19, 2010
The ABA Law Trends & News, Practice Area Newsletter, Fall 2010, Vol 7, No. 1 has re-published an article written for the ABA Family Law Journal, Winter 2009. This article, The Law and Living Together, states: "A cohabitation agreement is essential protection for unmarried couples...

103 Things you should know about domestic violence

Posted on October 18, 2010
By the most conservative estimate, each year 1 million women suffer nonfatal violence by an intimate. By other estimates, 4 million American women experience a serious assault by an intimate partner during an average 12-month period. Nearly 1 in 3 adult women experience at least one physical assault by a partner during adulthood.

Facebook: You can have one for business and one for friends

Posted on October 17, 2010
The New York Times recently noted that Facebook has introduced an easier way to make posts and photos visible only to certain groups. Recent criticism about privacy concerns was one thing motivating Facebook. However, this was also a recognition of the need to separate digitally, the way we live at work and life away from the office.

Facebook & MySpace |Is it ethical for lawyers tell clients to change, delete?

Posted on October 14, 2010
Are custody litigants/divorce litigants barred, in states with strong spoliation statutes, from changing any publically accessible aspect of their lives? Are they only barred from doing so once opposing counsel has sent some sort of "notice to preserve"? If this is the law, is it anything like a good policy?

Realistic expectations about custody modification

Posted on October 13, 2010
Winters v James, decided on August 31, 2010, is a good case study for lawyers to use in helping certain parents to form a realistic idea of what their chances of success may be in a motion to modify custody. This case has a little of everything that we?re getting used to seeing in this economy?relocation, return, live-in companions, multiple moves, on-again / off-again verbal custody agreements.

Google voice | Record phone calls

Posted on October 13, 2010
Now on your cellphone: Google Voice records incoming calls as MP3 audio files. Free. There are a few caveats.

Unilateral letter from counsel sufficient evidence of binding settlement

Posted on October 12, 2010
The Court of Appeals decided an unpublished case on September 23, 2010 in which a settlement agreement was binding on the parties even though there was no mutually exchanged written, signed agreement because there was evidence sufficient to satify the requirements of MCR 2...

Apple to offer iPhone on Verizon

Posted on October 11, 2010
The NY Times today published an article stating that iPhone is going to offer access to Verizon.

Keeping LGBT Students safe at school

Posted on October 09, 2010
The National Education Association has addressed the issue of school environment and safety for LGBT students in a brief by Stuart Biegal and Sheila James Kuehl. Additionally, in an article on the NEA website by Mary Ellen Flannery and Ilana Kowarski, two recent suicides of LGBT students are discussed in connection with the release of the brief...

Lawyers should use care in email with website inquiries

Posted on October 06, 2010
The ABA says: "Websites have become a common means by which lawyers communicate with the public. Lawyers must not include misleading information on websites, must be mindful of the expectations created by the website, and must carefully manage inquiries invited through the website...

"De-Baptism" -- Families' self-initiated separation from the church

Posted on September 18, 2010
The Global Post online reports from Belgium that "(f)aced with ever-more harrowing revelations of child sex abuse by Roman Catholic clergymen, Belgians are turning in record numbers to apostasy ? formally breaking with their religion through a process of ?de-baptism...

Medical Marijuana Act | Custody and Parenting Time

Posted on September 15, 2010
Perhaps this is the decision many family lawyers are waiting for . . . and perhaps not. Judge O?Connell surely intended no pun: ? I will attempt to cut through the haze? of the Medical Marijuana Act [?MMA?] [Concurring opinion at page 3]. O?Connell and the majority found the MMA to be inartfully drafted and much in need of revision, and declined to engage in judicial legislation...

Sexual assaults on college campuses | Prevalence | Protection

Posted on September 14, 2010
A recent New York Times article cited statistics about sexual assaults on college campuses as well as off-campus places where young people congregate. Certainly parents need to be talking with their young adults about staying safe while at college.

Parents | Protecting your children from real dangers

Posted on September 14, 2010
"Shoomp, shoomp, shoomp. That?s the sound of helicopter parents hovering over their children, worrying every second of the day that terrorists could strike Johnny's school or a stranger will snatch Jane from the bus stop. "Scary stuff. But it turns out most parents are worrying about all the wrong things.

Vodvarka standard applies to both custody and parenting time modifications

Posted on September 13, 2010
In Stelman v Stelman, Docket No. 294105 [Unpublished August 3, 2010], the Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court?s order denying his motion to modify a parenting-time schedule, refusing him an evidentiary hearing. The plaintiff there claimed that because he sought only a modification of parenting time, rather than a full change of custody, he was not obligated to demonstrate proper cause or a change in circumstances.

Families homeless in America

Posted on September 12, 2010
On September 11th, the lead story in the online New York Times focused on family homelessness. I don?t know what it?s like in other cities, other parts of the country, but here in Traverse City, Michigan every time I go to town, it seems that one more storefront is empty, one more restaurant is closed...

In the wake of infant death / abandonment, moms need more information

Posted on September 12, 2010
In May 2010, I wrote about Michigan's Safe Haven law that allows mothers to drop off newborn infants anonymously at hospitals, fire departments, police stations. No questions are asked. In the wake of two recent news reports in the Record...

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