Sample Christmas Custody Schedules

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If you are divorcing in Tampa Bay and you have children, Florida law requires that a parenting plan be created.  The parenting plan outlines parental responsibility (decision-making authority) along with a time-sharing (custody) schedule.

The time-sharing schedule should not only address where the children stay during the school year and in summer months, but also how holidays, such as Christmas, are to be handled.

Below are some sample Christmas time-sharing schedules:

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Collaborative Training for Family Law Staff

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When a potential client calls your firm, who is the first person with whom she speaks?  When a potential clients arrives at your office, who is the first person that he sees?  If you are a collaboratively-trained attorney, mental health professional, financial professional, or mediator, there is a good chance that your staff is the first voice that a potential client hears, the first face that a potential client sees.

How is that staff member representing you?  Is that first interaction being used as an opportunity to familiarize the client with the term “collaborative practice?”

Joryn Jenkins

Those first interactions are but one of the many different skills that a friend and mentor of mine, Joryn Jenkins, will discuss in her unique collaborative training geared towards professional staff.

The training will take place in Tampa, Florida, on January 22, and it will also be streamed live for professional staff that is outside of the area.

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A Friendly Divorce in Tampa Bay

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Have you had friends or family members who have gone through a War of the Roses divorce?  These are divorces where each spouse hires a “pit bull” attorney, they both engage in a scorched earth strategy, and they try to win at all costs, even as both of them tend to lose.

If you do know people who have experienced this, you have probably wondered whether divorce needs to be this way.  Is there an alternative?  Is there a friendly divorce?

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Video: Separating Together

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A collaborative practice group out of North Carolina called Separating Together has put together an excellent video that emphasizes that divorce is not only a legal process, but it is also an emotional, logistical, and financial process.

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You can see the video below:

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A Low Profile Divorce for High Profile People

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We see it in the news and magazines all of the time.  Publicly available divorce documents accuse a celebrity of secretly supporting a child born out of wedlock.  Sports figures’ assets and judgment become public spectacles.  Politicians and their spouses lob accusations at each other for all to see.  Businessmen’s private details and dirty laundry end up as front page stories.

Fortunately, your divorce does not need to be in the public eye.

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Primary Care Lawyer

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I recently read a very interesting article by Michael Zeytoonian, a Massachusetts lawyer and mediator, asking a very interesting question: Do you have your primary care lawyer?

Michael opines that while most people have a primary care physician to help direct them for their medical needs, most people at some point will have legal issues and do not know to whom to turn.  He then cites an old adage: “The worst time to hire a lawyer is when you need one.”

Here are some excerpts:

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Adopting A Muslim Name in Florida

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Muhammad Ali NYWTS.jpgMalcolm Little became Malcolm X.  Cassius Clay became Muhammad Ali.  Cat Stevens became Yusuf Islam.  All three changed their names to reflect their Muslim identity and cultural beliefs.

And if you wish to change your legal name to reflect your identity and beliefs, section 68.07 of the Florida Statutes sets out how you may do so.

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Potential Drawbacks to Collaborative Divorce

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I strongly believe that the vast majority of Tampa Bay spouses who are considering divorce would be best served by engaging in the collaborative divorce process, where attorneys are used as problem-solvers rather than gunslingers. Decisions such as where children will sleep at night are made by parents rather than judges, and interactions between the parents are private and confidential rather than public and discoverable by their children in the future.

And yet, I would be remiss if I were to not underscore that there are potential disadvantages to the collaborative divorce process.  In fact, in 2009, the American Bar Association Section of Dispute Resolution, Collaborative Law Committee Informed Consent Subcomittee published its draft Suggested Protocols to Obtain Clients’ Informed Consent to Use a Collaborative Process.

From the Suggested Protocols, families who are considering the collaborative process should know the following:

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Video: Collaborative Law in Medical Malpractice

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Here in Tampa Bay and around the world, collaborative practice is most frequently associated with divorce and other family law matters, as a non-adversarial method to resolve disputes.  And yet, the collaborative process has been and is being used in many different legal matters, including in the area of medical malpractice.

Many times patients and their families simply want to know what happened when there has been an injury or fatality at a medical facility, and yet doctors feel hamstrung as they are afraid that any discussion will be utilized against them as an expression of culpability.  The collaborative process provides a safe space for direct and confidential dialogue, and it also allows hospitals to be more open in examining incidents and figuring out how to avoid error in the future.

IACT Program

Below is a video from a pilot program, the Integrated Accountability and Collaborative Transparency (IACT) Program from North Carolina: Read more →

Reform Judaism Welcomes Transgender Individuals

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The Tampa Tribune recently reported that the Union for Reform Judaism (“URJ”) passed a resolution in support of transgender rights.  The resolution of the URJ, representing approximately 1.5 million American Jews, is the most wide-reaching indication of support for transgender equality.

The resolution did not mandate changes to Reform synagogues or require them to spend money on changes, though it did set suggested protocols on welcoming transgender and non-gender-conforming individuals.

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