2012 Family Law Conference for Tennessee Practitioners - Materials Only

Held on Thursday and Friday, December 6-7, 2012
 

This two-day seminar offered an insider’s perspective on the most significant recent developments in Tennessee family law, including:

• Practice tips from judges and attorneys across the state
• 2011 amendment to custody statute -- maximum participation possible in child custody cases
• Tips for drafting marital dissolution agreements, parenting plans, and mediation agreements
• Overview of parental relocation
• Latest developments in relative and stepparent adoptions
• Military effects on co-parenting
• Dividing marital property
• Alimony after Gonsewski
• Distinguishing marital and non-marital assets
• Valuing marital assets
• Determining what is an “equitable” division of marital property
• Modification of parenting plans
• Family law case law/legislative update
• Effective use of trial and post-trial motions
• Avoiding conflicts of interest
• Dealing with stress in the legal profession

The Family Law Conference for Tennessee Practitioners packs two days with judges and leading authorities delivering critical family law practice guidance on the hottest topics and some of the most complex issues you’ll face.

• Drafting marital dissolution agreements, parenting plans, and mediation agreements
• Application of the parental relocation statute
• Latest developments in relative and stepparent adoptions in Tennessee
• Effective use of trial and post-trial motions
• Distinctions between marital and non-marital assets
• Application of the 2011 amendment to the custody statute regarding maximum participation possible in child custody cases
• Imputation of income to an under-employed parent
• Impact of one or both spouses being in the military on custody and visitation issues
• How alimony has changed over the years, including the impact of Gonsewski
• “Equitable” division of marital property
• Dealing with stress in the legal profession
• Learn from one of Tennessee’s leading authorities about recent family law developments in the appellate courts and the legislature.

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CLE: You'll earn up to 13 hours of  CLE (11 hours of general and 2 hours of dual)

Registration: $497 (full program) -- $70 off for additional attendees from same firm, $427 (full program for additional attendees), $347 (one day only)

Registration begins at 8:00 a.m. both days. The conference begins at 8:30 a.m. and concludes at 4:45 p.m. each day. There will be morning and afternoon breaks each day, and attendees will have 1 hour and 15 minutes for lunch on their own.

Outstanding Faculty. The faculty will include the state’s top family law practitioners who are seasoned speakers and recognized as the best in their areas.

Timely Topics: Attendees will get the latest word on “hot topics” in the family law arena, along with a case law and legislative update. Topics include alimony, parental relocation, adoption, child custody, child support, grandparent visitation, dividing and valuing marital property, and trial practice.

Your Faculty

Judge Joe Binkley was appointed as judge of Division V of the circuit court of Davidson County in March 2008 and elected in August 2008. He hears predominantly civil cases; however, upon request, he has also been available to hear DUI criminal cases, divorce cases, chancery cases and probate cases.

 

Judge Robert L. Childers has been the presiding judge of Division 9 of the Circuit Court in Memphis since 1984 and chair of the Civil Pattern Jury Instruction Committee for the Tennessee Judicial Conference since 1991. Judge Childers serves on the American Bar Association’s advisory commission created to assist lawyers and other legal professionals with addiction and other personal problems. He is a past president of the Tennessee Judicial Conference and has served as a Special Judge of the Tennessee Supreme Court Workers’ Compensation Appeals Panel.

Judge Phillip R. Robinson was appointed to the Davidson County circuit court, Division III, in March 2012 to replace Judge Barbara Haynes, who retired. He was elected to the position in August 2012. Before taking the bench, Judge Robinson practiced almost exclusively in the area of divorce and family law for 34 years. He served as Chair and Vice-Chair of the Domestic Relations Committee of the Nashville Bar Association and is a member of both the Nashville and Tennessee Bar Associations. He helped draft changes in domestic legislation and has testified before various legislative committees on new domestic legislation. He is a frequent speaker at seminars dealing with divorce and family law.
 

Judge Jeff Hollingsworth is a circuit court judge in Hamilton County. He practiced law for over 28 years before being elected to the bench in August 2006. He is certified as a Civil Trial Specialist by the National Board of Trial Advocacy and the Tennessee Supreme Court Commission on Specialization. He is a former prosecutor with the Hamilton County District Attorney’s office and a former shareholder of Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel PC. He has also been elected as a Fellow of the Chattanooga and Tennessee Bar Foundations.

Amy Amundsen is a partner in the Memphis law firm of Rice, Amundsen & Caperton PLLC. Ms. Amundsen is a Fellow of the International Academy of Matrimonial Attorneys (2010 to present) and a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Attorneys (2008 to present). She is has been recognized as a Family Law Specialist by the National Board of Trial Advocacy since 2001. She has been a Rule 31 Listed Family Mediator since 2001, and she was trained in Collaborative Law by the American Academy of Matrimonial Law. She has been chair of the Tennessee Bar Association’s Alimony Bench Book Committee since 2000. She was president of the Leo Bearman, Sr. American Inn of Court from 2010 to 2011. She is a past president of the Memphis Bar Association (2007-2008).

Dawn Coppock is a sole practitioner based in Strawberry Plains. She is a frequent speaker, writer and consultant on the subject of adoption in Tennessee and nationally. Her practice area includes all Tennessee counties east of Nashville. She is certified as a Juvenile-Child Welfare Specialist and a Family Law Mediator and is a Fellow in the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys. She is the author of Coppock on Tennessee Adoption Law published by LexisNexis, now in its 6th edition. She has twice been listed among the top lawyers in Tennessee by Business TN magazine.

James H. Drescher, is a sole practitioner in Brentwood. He was a member of Stokes, Bartholomew, Evans and Petree from 1991 to 2003 and was made a principal in 1993. In 2003, he became a founding member of Drescher & Sharp, PC. Mr. Drescher practices exclusively in the areas of civil litigation and domestic relations. He has participated in more than 50 jury trials, and has been involved in a wide range of cases at the trial and appellate level in state and federal court. In addition to Tennessee, he also licensed to practice law in Missouri and South Carolina.

Barry L. Gold, a founding partner of the firm McWilliams and Gold, has been practicing law since 1983. He practices almost exclusively in the areas of family law and mediation and is a frequent speaker and lecturer on family law and related topics before a variety of professional groups. Mr. Gold has been selected for inclusion in the 2010 and 2011  Mid-South Super Lawyers, in the area of family law. Only five percent of the lawyers in Tennessee are selected as Super Lawyers. Mr. Gold chaired the 2010–2011 Tennessee Bar Association Family Law Section, and is the 2011-2012 Chattanooga Bar Association’s Family Law Section.

Leslie B. McWilliams, a founding partner of the firm McWilliams, Gold & Grant, is one of only twelve lawyers in the State of Tennessee certified as a Family Law Specialist by the Tennessee Commission on Continuing Education and Specialization. Ms. McWilliams practices almost exclusively in the area of family law and adoption. She is a frequent speaker on family law and related topics before a variety of professional groups.

Marlene Moses, founding partner of Moses, Townsend & Russ PLLC, focuses her practice in the areas of family law, mediation, arbitration, and collaborative law. Ms. Moses is Board certified as a Family Law Trial Specialist by the National Board of Trial Advocacy. She was designated as the first Family Law Specialist in the State of Tennessee. The Best Lawyers in America has included her in its publication as a specialist in family law, and she is named as a Mid-South Super Lawyer in its yearly publications. She is a certified fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. She has been Vice President of the National Board of Legal Specialization Certification/National Board of Trial Advocacy since 2009, and she is Immediate Past President of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers.

Kevin Shepherd has more than 20 years of experience and is currently in solo practice with an office located in Maryville. He practices in the areas of family law and divorce, personal injury, criminal defense, appellate practice, and general practice. He is a Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 31 family law mediator.

Greg Smith, a member of the Family Law Service Group of Stites & Harbison PLLC, focuses his practice primarily on divorce, custody litigation, support disputes and neglect cases. He has helped clients find and recover children abducted by former spouses and obtained help for children with disabilities. He has experience in international custody litigation in both state and federal courts. His appeals include a Tennessee Supreme Court case that set the standard for subject matter jurisdiction in child support cases. He is listed in the Best Lawyers in America since 2008 in Family Law. He has been named to the “Best of the Bar” by the Nashville Business Journal and has chaired the Juvenile Court Committee and the Circuit and Chancery Court Committee of the Nashville Bar Association.

Virginia Lee Story, with Story and Abernathy, focuses her practice in the areas of family law. Mrs. Story established a law practice in Franklin in 1985, immediately after her graduation from the Nashville School of Law. She practices primarily in Williamson County. She is a Rule 31 Listed Family Mediator and has been so since 2001. Mrs. Story is a member of the Tennessee John Marshall Inns of Court, Tennessee Bar and Williamson County Bar Association. She has been named one of the Best Lawyers in Tennessee and Best Lawyers in America for three years. Mrs. Story was named a Fellow by the Tennessee Bar Foundation in 2010.

2012 Family Law Conference for Tennessee Practitioners

Thursday and Friday, December 6-7, 2012

Day 1: December 6

8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.: “Trial of a Divorce Case”
James H. Drescher

• Trial practice
• Introducing evidence
• Maximizing client/witness testimony
• Final disposition
• Effective use of trial and post-trial motions
• Preserving issues for appeal

9:30 to 9:45 a.m.: Morning Break


9:45 a.m. to 10:45 a.m.: “Ethical Considerations in Domestic Relations Law”
Barry Gold, McWilliams, Gold & Grant

• Rules of Professional Conduct
• Conflicts of interest
• Attorney fees
• Confidentiality and disclosure issues

10:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.: “Case Law and Legislative Update”
Greg Smith, Stites & Harbison PLLC

Get up-to-date on the most recent decisions in the family law area from Tennessee’s appellate courts on child support, child custody, visitation, alimony, and more. As the speaker says, “Most of the important cases and all of the fun ones,” including every case in which the divorce lasted longer than the marriage. Also, get the latest on the new laws enacted during the 2012 legislative session.


12:15 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.: Lunch (on your own)


1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.: “Child Custody/Co-Parenting Issues”
Kevin Shepherd, Maryville attorney

• 2011 amendment to the custody statute – maximum participation possible in child custody cases
• Grandparent rights
• Co-parenting issues
• Military effects on co-parenting

2:30 p.m. to 2:45 p.m.: Afternoon Break


2:45 p.m. to 3:45 p.m.: “Parental Relocation”
Judge Joe Binkley, Davidson County Circuit Court

Judge Binkley reviews the current state of the law in determining whether a parent may relocate with the parties child(ren). When will the move be deemed “reasonable” or “vindictive”? When will the move result in a change of custody? Does the relocation statute apply when a parent seeks to relocate while the divorce is pending? Get the answers to these and other questions from one of Nashville’s trial court judges.


3:45 p.m. to 4:45 p.m.: “Dividing Marital Property”
Judge Phillip Robinson, Davidson County Circuit Court

What are the common problems that arise in dividing marital property? What constitutes an “equitable” division of property? What factors do the courts consider most important? Get insight from a long-time family law attorney who is now one of Davidson County’s trial court judges hearing domestic law cases.

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Day 2: December 7

8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.: “Relative and Stepparent Adoption in a Nutshell”
Dawn Coppock, Strawberry Plains attorney

Ms. Coppock will cover the latest developments in relative and stepparent adoption(s). She will discuss ethical and social issues arising when a relative or a stepparent seeks to adopt a child. You will also receive basic forms to aid you in your practice.


9:30 a.m. to 9:45 a.m.: Morning Break


9:45 a.m. to 10:45 a.m.: “Ethics & Professionalism: Stress in the Legal Profession”
Judge Robert L. Childers, Shelby County Circuit Court

• Substance abuse/mental health issues
• Where do lawyers rank among professions?
• Why is law practice so stressful?
• Law practice stress
• Lawyer personality traits
• TLAP services

10:45 a.m. to 11:45 a.m.: “You’ve Come a Long Way, Alimony”
Amy Amundsen, Rice, Amundsen & Caperton PLLC

As family dynamics have changed, Tennessee’s alimony law has evolved to keep pace. Gain insight from the chair of the Tennessee Bar Association’s Family Law Section committee that edited the 10th Edition of the Alimony Bench Book.

• History of alimony
• Gonsewski v. Gonsewski
• Today’s alimony
• Practical considerations

11:45 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.: Lunch (on your own)


1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.: “Child Support Concerns”
Judge Jeff Hollingsworth, Hamilton County Circuit Court

• Imputation of income to unemployed or under-employed parent
• Modification of child support in today’s economy
• Contractual obligations
• Use of contempt power

2:00 p.m. to 2:45 p.m.: “Understanding Asset Types”
Leslie McWilliams, McWilliams, Gold & Grant

• Asset acquired before the marriage
• Marital vs. non-marital assets
• Real estate v. investment assets
• Property, businesses and vehicles
• Valuation issues

2:45 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.: Afternoon Break


3:00 p.m. to 3:45 p.m.: “Drafting Marital Dissolution Agreements, Parenting Plans and Mediation Agreements”
Virginia Story, Story & Abernathy

• Marital dissolution agreements: Real property issues, division of bank and retirement accounts, debts, QDROs, alimony, tax provisions, and attorney fees
• Parenting plans
• How to have a successful mediation

3:45 p.m. to 4:45 p.m.: “Modification of Permanent Parenting Plans”
Marlene Moses, Moses, Townsend & Russ PLLC

Ms. Moses will discuss recent case law developments addressing what constitutes a “material change in circumstances” warranting a modification of a permanent parenting plan. Does the fact that the child has gotten older or is starting school constitute a material change in circumstances? Is a child’s poor performance in school sufficient to justify a change in custody? What if the custodial parent is uncooperative with the non-custodial parent’s visitation schedule?