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Child Custody Factors: Relationship with Both Parents Gains in Importance
Deciding between parents in a contested child custody dispute is one of the most daunting challenges a court can face. The relevant statute in New York, for example, directs simply that the court make its decision on the basis of “the best interests of the child.” (Domestic Relations Law ' 240.) The statute essentially stops at this level of abstraction. It provides no objective or operational definition of “best interests of the child,” meaning that it remains an elusive concept, an aspiration really, rather than an operational standard.
Underscoring the subjectivity and complexity of the concept, judicial proclamations have made clear that the “only absolute in the law governing custody of children is that there are no absolutes” Friederwitzer v. Friederwitzer, 55 N.Y.2d 89, 432 N.E.2d 765 (1982), and that the court must base its determination on the totality of the circumstances. As often stated by the Court of Appeals, the decisional law eschews absolutes in favor of elucidating “policies designed not to bind the courts but to guide them in determining what is in the best interests of the child.” Eschbach v. Eschbach, 56 N.Y.2d 167, 171, 451 N.Y.S.2d 658, 436 N.E.2d 1260 (1982). These decisions leave the litigation landscape immersed in a thick fog of subjectivity and the lawyers and judges who traverse it in constant search for points of clarity. As an example, a review of recent New York decisions offers slight elucidation.
The DOJ's Corporate Enforcement Policy: One Year Later
The DOJ's Criminal Division issued three declinations since the issuance of the revised CEP a year ago. Review of these cases gives insight into DOJ's implementation of the new policy in practice.
The DOJ's New Parameters for Evaluating Corporate Compliance Programs
The parameters set forth in the DOJ's memorandum have implications not only for the government's evaluation of compliance programs in the context of criminal charging decisions, but also for how defense counsel structure their conference-room advocacy seeking declinations or lesser sanctions in both criminal and civil investigations.
Use of Deferred Prosecution Agreements In White Collar Investigations
This article discusses the practical and policy reasons for the use of DPAs and NPAs in white-collar criminal investigations, and considers the NDAA's new reporting provision and its relationship with other efforts to enhance transparency in DOJ decision-making.
A Lawyer's System for Active Reading
Active reading comprises many daily tasks lawyers engage in, including highlighting, annotating, note taking, comparing and searching texts. It demands more than flipping or turning pages.
Bankruptcy Sales: Finding a Diamond In the Rough
There is no efficient market for the sale of bankruptcy assets. Inefficient markets yield a transactional drag, potentially dampening the ability of debtors and trustees to maximize value for creditors. This article identifies ways in which investors may more easily discover bankruptcy asset sales.