In January and February's newsletters, we discussed the problems inherent in setting up parental access plans in this era in which parents are increasingly demanding a greater share of parenting time. The two charts below offer more options for allocating time between parents.

Recent rulings of importance to you and your practice.

We live in a mobile society. Parents with a child in common may move from state to state, with or without the child involved in the moves. People with court orders granting custody or access to a child, sometimes including grandparents or siblings who have statutory rights, may not be in the same state as a child. They may need to enforce or modify custodial determinations.

Some New Yorkers have been attempting for years to get same-sex marriage legalized in this state, but the past year has been a true watershed. The latest development, of course, is the February 4 decision in <i>Hernandez v. Robles</i> by Justice Doris Ling-Cohan of State Supreme Court, which held that same-sex couples have the same constitutional right to marry that opposite-sex couples do. It was the first state-level decision in New York in support of gay marriage rights.

Features

One of the most perplexing problems that a matrimonial attorney will face is deciding whether or not to take the chance of antagonizing the judge and moving for his or her recusal. Although a judge may act gruff, be antagonistic or treat the attorney poorly, this is not a basis for recusal, even though it may be a basis for judicial discipline.

Important rulings you need to know.

With Americans spending more time at work, and with large numbers of women joining the workforce since World War II, the workplace has become a principal place where men and women seek and find their romantic partners, whether for a fling or a long-term relationship ending in marriage. Indeed, by some reports, nearly 60% of employees acknowledge engaging in a workplace romance. At the same time, however, American employers have been tempted to cultivate a near zero-tolerance culture for workplace romance given the development of sexual harassment law and the explosion of discrimination lawsuits alleging harassment. In many ways, it is impracticable for employers to maintain an outright ban on workplace romance: love will find a way, and employees may well hide relationships, which could end up being more problematic for the employer and just as likely to lead to an eventual lawsuit.

Overtime eligibility has developed into a snake pit for employers. The rate of claims for unpaid overtime compensation in court cases and agency proceedings has been increasing faster than that of any other type of employment litigation for several years now. During this period the number of federal overtime collective actions has been more than the number of federal class actions for all types of employment discrimination combined. The cumulative damages awarded to current and former employees for these claims have been enormous.