Consider seeking judicial notice of what occurs in court

Posted Thursday, February 22nd, 2024 by Gregory Forman
Filed under Litigation Strategy, Not South Carolina Specific, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys

If more family law attorneys handled appeals they would likely consider using judicial notice during their trials.  Judicial notice can be used to draw the

Allegations and records determine outcomes

Posted Sunday, November 12th, 2023 by Gregory Forman
Filed under Litigation Strategy, Not South Carolina Specific, Of Interest to Family Court Litigants, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys

I suspect the concurrence new Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson authored in the case of Twitter, Inc. v. Taamneh, 143 S. Ct. 1206 (2023)

The danger of sandbagging witness lists and trial exhibits in discovery responses

Posted Saturday, November 11th, 2023 by Gregory Forman
Filed under Litigation Strategy, Not South Carolina Specific, Of Interest to Family Court Litigants, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys

The four standard interrogatories that are relevant to family court are basically questions about witnesses, expert witnesses, and trial exhibits.  Any initial request for production

Using the opposing party’s deposition in court

Posted Friday, November 10th, 2023 by Gregory Forman
Filed under Litigation Strategy, Not South Carolina Specific, Of Interest to Family Court Litigants, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys

There are a number of reasons to take an opposing party’s deposition prior to trial.  Such depositions can limit what the other party can credibly

The hierarchy of witnesses for custody trials

Posted Thursday, October 26th, 2023 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

Attempting to give guidance to various clients indicated a need for me to explain the hierarchy of witnesses for custody trials.  As I have noted

Visitation cases mandate a narrower focus than custody cases

Posted Friday, October 6th, 2023 by Gregory Forman
Filed under Litigation Strategy, Not South Carolina Specific, Of Interest to Family Court Litigants, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys, Visitation

Not all litigation over time with a child is actually a battle over physical custody of that child.  A subset of “custody” litigation involves only

Deposition goals differ from trial testimony goals

Posted Wednesday, September 27th, 2023 by Gregory Forman
Filed under Litigation Strategy, Not South Carolina Specific, Of Interest to Family Court Litigants, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys

Because deposition goals differ from trial testimony goals, deposition preparation should look different than trial testimony preparation.[i] Whereas trial testimony is intended to elicit predetermined

Subpoena friendly witnesses to trial

Posted Friday, July 14th, 2023 by Gregory Forman
Filed under Litigation Strategy, Not South Carolina Specific, Of Interest to Family Court Litigants, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys

There’s a misconception that only witnesses who are reluctant to testify for one’s client should be subpoenaed to trial.  Actually, I’m surprised attorneys issue trial

Don’t forget the “why” questions

Posted Tuesday, March 21st, 2023 by Gregory Forman
Filed under Litigation Strategy, Of Interest to Family Court Litigants, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys

I’ve recently been preparing for a number of custody trials while also working on a number of appeals I’ve inherited from trial counsel.  These experiences

In contested custody litigation, there’s no downside to kindness

Posted Saturday, March 4th, 2023 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

One of the quickest, easiest, and most effective “fixes” I can counsel my clients to do in contested custody litigation is to be kind to

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