Perry v. Olson is an unpublished May, 2023 opinion from the Court of Appeals. On appeal, I represented the mother, Ms. Olson, who, at trial, had lost custody of her son. At the beginning of the appeal process, I had that custody order superseded, so she kept custody during the three years the appeal took to resolve.
The Court of Appeals originally scheduled oral argument. When it later cancelled oral argument, I expected a reversal or a remand for a new trial. Instead it affirmed, disposing with my substantial argument on custody with a mere “The family court did not err in granting Father custody of Child without prohibiting contact between Child and Father’s brother.” When the Supreme Court refused to grant certiorari, the child was returned to father.
Olson remains one of the biggest disappointments of my career.
I regularly hear from potential clients who want to seek or modify custody when they are happy with the actual status quo on
A cross-examination question for every custody witness
Continuing with the theme of my repeated violations of the Fourth Commandment of Irving Younger’s Ten Commandments of Cross Examination—“Don't ask a question
On cross examination, ask when it can’t hurt to ask
When I attended law school (1988-91) there were few educational videos on the practice of law. The most famous one was Irving Youngers
