Work of the Family Lawyer

Book excerpt: Work of the Family Lawyer, Fifth Edition is more concise and practice-focused than traditional casebooks. It integrates the study of fundamental family law principles with exploration of the policy dilemmas and practical problems faced by today’s family lawyers. The flexible design makes the book an effective learning tool for traditional classrooms, blended and online learning environments, simulated courses, and clinical settings. Its problem-based approach encourages the development of critical thinking, participation, debate, and dialogue. New to the Fifth Edition: Surveys the impact of marriage equality across family law topics Updates to chapters on parentage and alternative reproduction, exploring how marriage equality and advances in reproductive science and genetics are transforming the identification of legal parents Examination of the revised Uniform Parentage Act (2017) providing for equal treatment of same-sex couples, use of gender-neutral terminology, and recognition of de facto parenthood Exploration and expansion of the marital presumption to include same-sex spouses pursuant to Pavan v. Smith and McLaughlin v. Jones Examination of the implications of changes in tax treatment of spousal support and state activity with respect to spousal support guidelines and durational limitations An updated discussion of the impact of intimate partner violence on child custody and access decisions and participation in alternative dispute resolution processes Updated social science and demographic information, setting the background for policy discussion Professors and students will benefit from: Examination of existing and emerging family law policy from a variety of perspectives Integration of history, culture, and social science material to stimulate learning Chapters which may be taught selectively and/or in any order depending on course objectives Contextual commentary providing foundation for edited cases Material inviting student curiosity and participation through reflective questions, discussion questions, and chapter problems “Preparation for Practice” sections, which blend substantive family law theory with real-world learning “Guiding Principles” sections promoting student mastery of fundamental concepts Support of blended and online learning activities and courses Problems at the end of each chapter, encouraging students to apply a host of principles throughout the chapter to a hypothetical