2007 Special Issue: Meet Your Family Lawyer

A client’s entry into the world of domestic relations law and its professional personnel. [Read the entire issue 2.7MB PDF]

• Commentary by Norman N. Robbins
• The Big Picture by David C. Sarnacki
• Anatomy of a Family Lawyer by John F. Mills
• The Initial Consultation With Your Divorce Attorney by John F. Schaefer & Mark A. Bank
• Important Questions that Clients Most Frequently Ask by Robert B. Guyot, III
• Meet Your Family Law Judge by Hon. Bill Callahan
• Meet Your Friend of the Court by Barbara J. Kelly
• Enforcement of Support Obligations by David Findling
• Child Custody: A Sample Letter to a Client by Gilbert Gugni & Mathew Weaver
• Meet Your Family Psychologist by Daniel H. Swerdlow-Freed
• Meet Your Business Appraiser/Financial Expert by Joseph W. Cunningham
• Use of Ex Parte Orders in Family Law Proceedings by Carlo J. Martina
• Property Division in a Divorce: Have a Plan by Carole L. Chiamp
• From the Family Business to the Antique Teacup Collection by Amy B. Folbe
• Why the Lawyer Representing You in Your Divorce is so Concerned About Retirement Plans by Robert Treat
• Domestic Violence; Persecution, Victims and Family Law by Jennifer M. Granzow
• Legislation - Help For Victims Available by Ross Stancati
• Resource Guide - Domestic Violence Shelters
• Alternative Dispute Resolution by Marie A. Pulte & Rebecca Tooman
• Preparing For the Divorce Trial by Patricia M. Ouellette
• Attorney Fees: A Sample Letter to Client by Robin Omer
• Glossary Terms in Family Law by Ronald M. Bookholder & Patricia S. Leary

Domestic Violence Resources

Immediate Assistance for Victims of Domestic Violence

National Domestic Violence Hotline
(800) 799-7233
www.ndvh.org/

Michigan Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence
MCADSV provides a resource center and current list of domestic violence service agencies throughout the state.
http://mcadsv.org/

General Domestic Violence Information

For Clients

Women’s Law
Provides easy-to-understand legal information and resources to women living with or escaping domestic violence.
www.WomensLaw.Org

The Feminist Majority Foundation
This foundation provides a domestic violence informationcenter.
http://feminist.org/other/dv/dvhome.html

Help Guide
Created in 1999 by the Rotary Club of Santa Monica, provides links to domestic violence education materials.
www.helpguide.org/

Minnesota Center Against Violence and Abuse (MINCAVA)
MINCAVA operates an electronic clearinghouse with access to more than 3,000 violence-related resources.
www.mincava.umn.edu

Focus on Teens

Love is Not Abuse (Liz Claiborne, Inc)
This site provides information and tools that men, women, teens and corporate executives can use to learn more about domestic violence and how to help. The site also includes information specifically for teens.
www.loveisnotabuse.com/index.htm

For Professionals

Violence Against Women Resources
Violence Against Women Online Resources is a collaborative project between the Minnesota Center Against Violence and Abuse (MINCAVA) and the Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) and provides materials on domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking for criminal justice professionals, advocates, and other multi-disciplinary professionals.
www.vaw.umn.edu

American Bar Association, Commission on Domestic Violence
The Commission provides individualized support to attorneys representing victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking that includes research assistance, sample practice tools, model pleadings, and access to experts in the field.
www.abanet.org/domviol/

National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges
NDJFCJ has a dedicated program addressing family violence and provides cutting-edge training, wide-ranging technical assistance, and research to help the nation's courts, judges and staff.
www.ncjfcj.org/

Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women (OVW)
OVW provides online resources on interventions to stop violence against women for criminal justice practitioners and advocates.
www.ovw.usdoj.gov/index.html

Danger Assessment
This site provides access to the danger assessment, a tool developed to assess the risk factors and level of danger faced by a battered woman.
www.dangerassessment.org/

Interactive Information Site for Professionals

Batterer Intervention Services Coalition of Michigan
To provide a working forum for interaction and information sharing among agencies and individuals concerned with the provision of batterer intervention services in Michigan. The site also includes the Michigan Batterer Intervention Standards created by the Governor’s Task Force on Batterer Intervention Standards in 1998.
www.biscmi.org/

Domestic Violence Prevention

Family Violence Prevention Fund
For more than two decades, the Family Violence Prevention Fund has worked to end violence against women and children around the world and was instrumental in developing the federal Violence Against Women Act.
http://endabuse.org/

Legal Assistance for Clients in Domestic Violence

Legal Resource Center on Violence Against Women
The LRC works to obtain legal representation for domestic violence survivors in interstate custody cases and to provide technical assistance to domestic violence victim advocates and attorneys in such cases.
www.lrcvaw.org/