Archive for the ‘Litigation Strategy’ Category
Posted Saturday, December 3rd, 2011 by Gregory Forman
Filed under Child Custody, Litigation Strategy, Not South Carolina Specific, Of Interest to Family Court Litigants, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys
No Comments »
There are lots of obvious witnesses in a custody case: the child’s teachers; the child’s coaches; the child’s mental health professionals; the parents of the child’s friends; the parent’s adult child(ren). But the best witness can often be someone that few ever think to call: the parent’s ex-spouse. The nature of family court is that [...]
Tags: Child Custody, Litigation Strategy
Posted in Child Custody, Litigation Strategy, Not South Carolina Specific, Of Interest to Family Court Litigants, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys | No Comments »
Posted Friday, December 2nd, 2011 by Gregory Forman
Filed under Alimony/Spousal Support, Child Support, Litigation Strategy, Of Interest to Family Court Litigants, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys, South Carolina Specific
3 Comments »
Counseling clients to pay support by having their bank mail the support check can be a useful prophylactic for defending false claims of late payments. Most of my child support and alimony-paying clients hate paying through the courts. This hatred is completely justified. The 5% fee associated with paying support through the South Carolina clerks [...]
Tags: Alimony/Spousal Support, Child Support, Litigation Strategy
Posted in Alimony/Spousal Support, Child Support, Litigation Strategy, Of Interest to Family Court Litigants, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys, South Carolina Specific | 3 Comments »
Posted Saturday, November 19th, 2011 by Gregory Forman
Filed under Divorce and Marriage, Litigation Strategy, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys, South Carolina Specific
2 Comments »
Did an uncontested fault divorce yesterday in which the pro se defendant failed to appear. To prove the defendant’s habitual intoxication required testimony and evidence of his extremely heavy drinking. The result was a brief, incomplete, biography of a life devolved into a tragic waste. Not quite as depressing to hear as to live through, [...]
Tags: Divorce, Litigation Strategy
Posted in Divorce and Marriage, Litigation Strategy, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys, South Carolina Specific | 2 Comments »
Posted Friday, November 11th, 2011 by Gregory Forman
Filed under Litigation Strategy, Not South Carolina Specific, Of Interest to Family Court Litigants, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys
2 Comments »
Few math majors go into law and those who do rarely go into family law. I’m one of the rare family law attorneys who often thinks in mathematical constructs. A question from last night’s “newbies” class demonstrates the benefits of sometimes thinking like a mathematician when practicing family law. A newbie asked for advice in [...]
Tags: Litigation Strategy, Pareto optimal, Vilfredo Pareto
Posted in Litigation Strategy, Not South Carolina Specific, Of Interest to Family Court Litigants, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys | 2 Comments »
Posted Saturday, October 1st, 2011 by Gregory Forman
Filed under Litigation Strategy, Mediation/Alternative Dispute Resolution, Of Interest to Family Court Litigants, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys, South Carolina Specific
2 Comments »
For a few years my friend and colleague, Barry W. Knobel of Knobel Mediation Services, LLC, has been encouraging me to rethink my opposition to family court arbitration. Barry is a retired family court judge–thus my frequent, joking references to him as “the formerly honorable…”. He now makes his living doing family court mediation and [...]
Tags: Anthony Lamantia, Arbitration, Barry W. Knobel, Litigation Strategy, Mediation/Alternative Dispute Resolution
Posted in Litigation Strategy, Mediation/Alternative Dispute Resolution, Of Interest to Family Court Litigants, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys, South Carolina Specific | 2 Comments »
Posted Thursday, August 25th, 2011 by Gregory Forman
Filed under Attorney-Client Relations, Litigation Strategy, Not South Carolina Specific, Of Interest to Family Court Litigants, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys
1 Comment »
Only inexperienced or unthinking family law attorneys take aggressive action against an opposing party without expecting blowback against their client. It’s animal nature to strike back when attacked and being served with a pleading or motion that challenges one’s behavior feels like a personal attack. Typically whatever good will the opposing party had towards one’s [...]
Tags: Attorney-Client Relations, Litigation Strategy
Posted in Attorney-Client Relations, Litigation Strategy, Not South Carolina Specific, Of Interest to Family Court Litigants, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys | 1 Comment »
Posted Thursday, August 25th, 2011 by Gregory Forman
Filed under Contempt/Enforcement of Orders, Litigation Strategy, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys, South Carolina Specific
7 Comments »
Friend and colleague Mary Jane (M.J.) Goodwin suggested I blog on the propriety of citing unpublished appellate opinions as legal authority in other cases. Are attorneys really doing that? M.J. indicates they are, for example, citing State v. Hercheck to get DUI charges tossed. She’d love to cite SCDSS v. Rene in prosecuting a termination [...]
Tags: Contempt, Litigation Strategy, Mary Jane Goodwin, South Carolina Appellate Court Rules, Unpublished Opinions
Posted in Contempt/Enforcement of Orders, Litigation Strategy, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys, South Carolina Specific | 7 Comments »