More Judicial Officers Leaving - Collaborative Divorce Spreading

Judge Aviva Bobb will be retiring from the Superior Court. After a distinguished career, including 29 years on the bench, Judge Bobb will be available to provide private mediation and work with non-profits. She was one of the most innovative and effective supervising judges of the family law departments and was responsible for major expansions in family law.
Commissioner Gretchen Taylor will end her tenure on the family law bench at the end of this month. She was honored by the Beverly Hills Bar, family law section earlier this year.
Judge Mark Juhas has volunteered to hear cases in the Antelope Valley until a more permanent arrangement is made for the family law court. Commissioner Maren Nelson is now Judge Maren Nelson. The courts are gradually phasing out commissioners and the hope is that more of the current sitting commissioners will also be elevated to become judges.
Collaborative Divorce is becoming more popular. Robin Williams' divorce is not in the news because the attorneys, Robert Kaufman and Patsy Ostroy are working things out through collaborative divorce meetings. The economy and litigation costs are creating new opportunities for attorneys, mental health and financial professionals in collaborative practice.
Collaborative Practice California (CP-Cal) will be holding a major conference at the Hilton Long Beach, April 24-26, 2009. See www.cpcal.com. Gary Neuman will speak at a plenary session as well as conduct an institute. I give his book, Helping Your Kids Cope With Divorce, to my clients. Royal Oakes, JD, a national TV and radio commentator will be speaking. Fern Salka and Wendy Landes, co-chairs of the State Bar ADR/CDR committee will present a panel of adult children of divorce.

Looking Forward to Better Times in 2009

"Breadline" by George Segal. A reminder of the Great Depression. The words of Franklin D. Roosevelt engraved next to the men: "The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little." Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial, Washington, D.C.

• My father once stood in a breadline but like many of his generation, hope and determination enabled him and the country to recover. Just as Roosevelt led our nation out of the Great Depression, we look forward to better times for our country under our new president. We must all do our part and not rely only on others.
• "The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so must we think anew, and act anew...and then we shall save our country." Abraham Lincoln, 1862
• "Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America: They will be met." Barack Obama, 2009
  

New Judicial Officer in Long Beach - Divorce Court Reforms - Frances Feldman's Legacy

Starting in November, 2008, Commissioner Lori Behar will hearing divorce cases, following Judge Kenneth Black's departure. Judge Black will become available for private judging.
Frances Feldman, one of my mentors and most influential social workers in So. California died on Sept. 30 at the age of 95. She had just renewed her driver's license and was driving an Acura TL. She established the USC counseling service for faculty and students and started the social work specialization in corporate settings. She recruited me for the CA Social Welfare Archives and provided wise counsel to me on many occasions. See Milestones in Time Magazine: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1848806,00.html
Honors. Dr. Fances Wu was honored with the George Nickel Award for Professional Achievement by the CA Social Welfare Archives yesterday. She was the first Chinese-American to earn her Ph.D. from the USC Social Work School. Ann Thor, wife of prominent social worker, Dick Thor, received the Nickel Award for her volunteer work for over 50 years.
Divorce Court Reforms. The Elkins Family Law Task Force is soliciting suggestions for improvements in family law procedures in the following areas: access to justice, due process, effective, consistent and understandable rules, procedures, policies. Send ideas to patricia.rivera@jud.ca.gov. Photo: Royal York Hotel, Toronto, IACP, International Association of Collaborataive Professionals Conference, 2007.

Alec Baldwin - ABC - Divorce Changees - Collaborative Divorce - Co-Parenting Counseling & Classes

• ABC's Good Morning America featured Alec Baldwin talking about his seven-year custody battle with Kim Basinger. http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=5855885
• Baldwin's new book suggests changes in divorce law. Family Law Specialist, Peter Walzer, suggests Collaborative Divorce as a better way of getting divorced. He described the importance of mental health professionals as coaches and child specialists.
• The greater use of co-parenting counseling and classes was urged by Jane Shatz, Ph.D. to help parents learn to work together. The courts are beginning to order more parents to utilize these programs, and increasingly, with professionals in the community. This will lessen the burden on the overworked Family Court Services staff.
• Judge Marjorie Steinberg, supervising judge of the family law departments, spoke at the Beverly Hills Bar Association Dinner last week. She announced the departure of two of the most experienced judges, Robert Schnider and Kenneth Black, by the end of the year. The courts will be hurt by the state's budget problems, but she was pleased to announce Judge Lee Edmon will be the next assistant presiding judge. Virtually assured to be the next presiding judge of the Superior Court, Judge Edmon will be the first woman selected for the prestigious and powerful position, and a judge with family law experience.
  

Divorce Law and the Courts

At the recent State Bar Committee on ADR, alternate dispute resolution), we discussed ways of making mediation and collaborative divorce more mainstream rather than alternative. California initiated innovative changes in family with no-fault divorce and mediation, but has fallen behind to other states in family law.
Elkins Family Law Task Force has been convened to propose changes in divorce law and procedures. After a divorcing father had a bad experience in divorce court (he couldn't speak and present some documents), he filed an objection that went all the way to the Supreme Court. The court agreed with him and the chief justice put together a committee to look at the divorce law system and will be reviewing suggestions for changes.
Fast track evaluations are not fast. The Superior Court of LA will be offering free training for mental health professionals interested in child custody evaluations. These special services are now called solution-focused evaluations. The trained evaluators will then be required to provide three pro bono evaluations for the court.
Parents Without Conflict and PACT programs continue to be very effective, but take family court staff away from their mediation and evaluation responsibilities, adding to the long delays. Private services in the communities could provide relief. lasuperiorcourt.org/familylaw/pdfs/referrallistforparents.pdf

Westside Office - "People Would Never Go to Torrance"

• When I left the Superior Court to start my practice, a number of people told me I needed to have an office on the Westside. They gently told me people from 90212, 90024, 90049, the Palisades, Malibu and the Valley would never go down to Torrance---not even to see you, David. So I have an office in Westwood, 10921 Wilshire Blvd. #610, 90024.
  
• I even attend events for the Beverly Hills Bar Association and yesterday, the Santa Monica Bar Association. There was a fascinating program on counseling by court order(Family Code section 3190). Family Law attorneys, a judicial officer and mental health professionals discussed how counseling can be helpful for divorcing families. One of the lawyers who helped write the law was present. When I asked a couple who were ordered have co-parent counseling with me what the judge said, they told me "He said he didn't want to see us in his courtroom again; it would be better for us if we were in counseling. I'm still seeing them, and they haven't been in court.
• According to "Juno" Collaborative Divorce is the latest thing in divorce. A 2-day training program is scheduled for professionals on May 9,10, 2008 at the Sheraton Gateway. (See lacfla.com). Although there was no joy in hearing about Robin and Garces Williams divorce, it was encouraging to hear they will using Collaborative Divorce to help them "close the book gently."
  

New Experience - Developing a Collaborative Divorce Website

As part of our Collaborative Divorce practice group, we are developing our website for the Los Angeles Westside Collaborative Divorce Professionals (LAWCDP). It was fun to include short articles and links to resources. It was my son who encouraged me to develop a blog, but it's taken a while to add another post. The link to the new website: http://www.lawcdp.org/biographies/userview/24
The photo was taken in Central Park, NY with a Lumix camera after I jumped over the low fence to capture this view. Tomorrow, I'll be attending the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (AFCC) Conference. In the evening the South Bay Bar Association will be holding their Judges' Night and Installation Dinner.