Jurisdiction in a matrimonial action has several statutory components requiring the repeated cross-application of the Civil Practice Law and Rules with the Domestic Relations Law (DRL). Knowledge of the statutes' interplay becomes especially essential to the matrimonial attorney when seeking to affect the status of the marriage and obtain jurisdiction over a non-resident.
The author has spent some considerable time reading and re-reading the Court of Appeals' decision in Keane v. Keane, 3 NY3d 115 (2006), but cannot quite get it. He realizes fully that the court's word on this is the final one ' 'for now.'
To address existing irrevocable life insurance trusts (ILITs) in the context of a divorce, there are five steps that practitioners must take. The first four were addressed in Part One of this article: Collect Documents; Analyze Current Circumstances and Facts; Establish Insurance Objectives; and Review Existing ILIT to See If and How Objectives Can be Achieved. The conclusion discusses the fifth step.
Have you ever had cases that you felt were appropriate for collaboration, where the clients and lawyers got started but then the clients disengaged from the collaborative process somewhere along the way? This article explains the value of a divorce coach in the collaborative process.
This and the next issue of The Matrimonial Strategist explore the Interdisciplinary Collaborative Divorce method. In the Interdisciplinary Collaborative Divorce, one of the parties chooses the collaborative process after consultation with a collaborative attorney or a mental-health professional who participates in a collaborative practice group. If both husband and wife decide that the Interdisciplinary Collaborative Divorce model would be appropriate, they choose an interdisciplinary team to assist them in settling the issues presented in their case.
Over the years, matrimonial lawyers everywhere have increasingly embraced the concept of working with experienced, credentialed professionals who specialize in the financial aspects of divorce. Originally, most of these specialists were Certified Public Accountants and the work was mainly of a forensic nature. Recently, however, we have seen an increase in the involvement of professionals whose background is in the financial planning arena. Today, among other tasks, the planner is often retained to examine the longer-term impact of settlements and answer the client's question: 'Will I be okay financially?'
In order to stay ahead of the competition in today's economic environment, a law firm needs to be flexible and agile in adapting to change, whether through a corporate restructuring, adopting new technologies or processes, or introducing new products or services. Let's face it, for a firm to grow and be successful, change is inevitable. It's just part of doing business today.
No matter how conflicted inside counsel may be in their expectations of outside counsel, they all want you to be client-centric. Simply by taking tangible steps to clarify their priorities on an ongoing basis, you send a powerful message about yourself. Caring is the crucial first step.
Affinity groups are groups that are sponsored and supported by an organization and consist of people with a common set of characteristics. Common affinity groups in larger law firms include ones involving women attorneys; attorneys of color; reduced-schedule attorneys; and people who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender ('GLBT'). Affinity groups are effective tools that organizations have used successfully to improve retention and promotion, and to enhance recruiting efforts.
