The Steering Committee of the D.C. Bar Family Law Section is pleased to submit its Annual Report to the D.C. Bar Sections Council on the activities of our section, including our community outreach efforts, programming, and work with our local court and legislative systems.
The Family Law Section continues to provide volunteer support to a variety of programs in the District of Columbia. Family Law Section members staff the Attorney Negotiator Program in D.C. Superior Court, through which experienced practitioners mediate domestic relations cases when parties appear at court for the first time. Section members also continue to help staff the Family Court Self–Help Center—which the D.C. Bar Family Law Section actually helped create. Our Section also continues to provide volunteers every month to staff the D.C. Bar Pro Bono Program’s Advice and Referral Clinic. These Section members provide legal assistance to individuals and mentor other volunteers at the Clinics. Section members also assist with the D.C. Bar Pro Bono Program’s Law Firm Pro Bono Clinic by serving as mentors to attorneys who take cases through that Clinic. Finally, the Family Law Section Steering Committee amended the criteria to determine who is eligible to be an Alternative Dispute Resolution (“ADR”) facilitator, solicited applications from Section members, and updated the list of ADR facilitators used by the judges. The Section continues to be responsible for maintaining this list.
As in previous years, the D.C. Bar Family Law Section has cosponsored a number of D.C. Bar Pro Bono Trainings to prepare attorneys from all areas of practice to volunteer at the Family Court Self–Help Center, to assist pro se litigants at the Pro Se Divorce Plus Clinic, and to represent adults and children in child custody, divorce, and domestic violence cases. Section members continue to serve as faculty, help to write training materials, and provide assistance to attorneys who take pro bono family cases.
The D.C. Bar Family Law Section has made other contributions to the greater community–at–large. During the past year our Section cosponsored the Youth Law Fair. In addition, we made a contribution to the D.C. Bar Pro Bono Program. Finally, we updated the D.C. Bar Practice Manual, a publication that assists lawyers and community members as they navigate family law cases in the District of Columbia.
Over the past year, the D.C. Bar Family Law Section has provided section members with a large variety of multi–disciplinary educational programs. Evening programs have addressed topics including “Expert Witnesses,” “Tax Issues as they relate to Family Law,” “Special Needs Children,” “Divorce in the Golden Years,” and a “Primer on Domestic Violence.” The Family Law Section has many exciting evening programs planned for the upcoming months, including: “Evidence in Family Law Cases,” “Child Witnesses,” the “Domestic Relations Bench–Bar Dialogue,” and “When Criminal Law Issues Arise in Family Law Cases.”
The Family Law Section has also hosted and will continue to host monthly courthouse ‘brown bag’ meetings, which have allowed section members to discuss issues such as “Parental Kidnapping,” “Collaborative Law,” “Military Law,” and “Legislative Updates.” Upcoming programs include “Child Prostitution” and a “Primer on Abuse and Neglect Cases.”
In addition, the D.C. Bar Family Law Section continues to forge strong relationships with the judicial officers of the Family Court of the D.C. Superior Court. In October 2011, our Section held its annual Judicial Reception, at which Magistrate Judge Joan Goldfrank was honored for her service to the Family Court and her development of an innovative new program, the Juvenile Behavioral Diversion Calendar, in which juveniles with relatively minor delinquency charges are diverted for intensive mental health services that benefit the child and family. In November 2011, the section will host the second annual Abuse and Neglect Bench–Bar Dialogue. In December 2011, the bench and bar will have the opportunity to mingle socially at our Section’s Annual Holiday Party. Later in the Spring, we will host our annual Bench–Bar Dialogue for the Family Court’s Domestic Relations Branch and another for the Domestic Violence Unit. All of these events provide opportunities for judges to discuss programs that they are overseeing, and give practitioners an opportunity to ask questions of judges.
The Family Law Section has continued its role of working to make the Family Court and Domestic Violence Unit of the D.C. Superior Court as just, successful, and accessible as possible. By having our Section and Steering Committee members on countless court committees, meeting regularly with the presiding judges, and organizing opportunities for our section members to interact with the bench, we are able to maintain an ongoing dialogue with the Court and help to shape its reform. Furthermore, members of the Steering Committee are involved in the Family Law Task Force, which will start by examining ways to improve the functioning of the Paternity and Support branch of D.C. Superior Court. Steering Committee members are also actively involved in the Attorney Negotiator Program, which has had a very positive effect in the lives of D.C. litigants and on the Family Court docket. Finally, our Section has commented on several court initiatives and consulted on others.
Over the past year, the D.C. Bar Family Law Section Steering Committee has worked to develop its legislative agenda. In the Spring of 2011, the section sponsored a brown bag where former Steering Committee Member, Kristin Henrikson, and Children’s Law Center Policy Director, Sharra Greer, reported to the Section on legislative developments in the family law area. Section and Steering Committee members are actively involved in monitoring and commenting on these types of legislative developments and ensuring that our members are informed.
Finally, in the past year the D.C. Bar Family Law Section was selected to pilot a list serv for all its members. The list serv is now active, and Steering Committee members encourage colleagues to use the list serv as a way to disseminate information and promote dialogue on important issues related to family law.
It was our pleasure to provide the Sections Council with this Annual Report. If any member of our Steering Committee can provide any additional information, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
