Naghmeh Bashar

On December 17, 2019, the Honorable Thomas Trent Lewis retired from his long-standing position as a Superior Court judge in Los Angeles, Fam...

Hon. Mark Simmons, Hon. Thomas Trent Lewis Ret.

In 2016, the California Supreme Court reinstated a traditional hearsay rule applicable to expert testimony and triggered a tsunami: experts...

Seth Kramer

This month marks the end of my tenure as president of the Association of Certified Family Law Specialists (ACFLS)—an honor that certainly ha...

Debra Frank

Welcome to our Winter edition of the ACFLS Family Law Specialist. My thanks to the authors for their contributions. During my time as editor...

Leslie Ellen Shear

Thank you, Carolyn Keene1 Our work sometimes brings out my inner Nancy Drew.23 One of the most enjoyable aspects of family law practice is r...

Dawn Gray

Editor’s Note: The holdings from various cases are below. Dawn Gray’s extensive summaries of those cases, too lengthy to publish in the News...

Mark Sullivan

IntroductionThe 2017 Department of Defense Appropriation bills from the House and the Senate have similar provisions for rewriting entirely...

Lynette Berg Robe

It was Otto von Bismarck who gave us the descriptive quote, “Laws are Like Sausages. It’s better not to see them being made.” Bismarck was a...

Forrest Mosten, Elizabeth Potter Scully

Introduction What does a “mediation consulting attoey” do? As more and more clients seek the services of family lawyers to support and assis...

Bero Porter

Divorce statistics reveal significant trends in marriage dissolution. In the United States, approximately 40 to 50 percent of marriages end...

Fredrick (Rick) Cohen

The ACFLS Amicus Committee is charged with, among other things, seeking publication of unpublished appellate opinions when publication will...

Tracy Duell‑Cazes, CFLS

Welcome to this edition of The Specialist. We have a good mix of topics for this edition. I would like to thank the contributors for their r...

Megan Thompson

Working in Silicon Valley I see a number of clients who have equity compensation including restricted stock units (RSUs) as part of their co...

Murphy Alafognis, PhD, Michael Kerner, PhD

In child custody cases, maintaining objectivity and fairness can be particularly challenging due to the inherent potential for bias to influ...

Avi Levy, CFLS

It is with immense gratitude and excitement that I write my first President’s Message as the incoming leader of this esteemed organization....