Failing to answer a family court complaint can be malpractice
Posted Thursday, July 18th, 2013 by Gregory Forman
Filed under Family Court Procedure, Litigation Strategy, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys, South Carolina Specific
Recently I was an expert witness [for the first time in my career] in a legal malpractice case. I was asked to provide an opinion
Posted Friday, July 12th, 2013 by Gregory Forman
Filed under Child Custody, Litigation Strategy, Not South Carolina Specific, Of Interest to Family Court Litigants, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys
Sometimes, in contested custody cases, parents seek more time with the children than they actually want or can realistically handle. The motivation can be malevolent:
Renegotiating with litigants who won’t obey their previous court-approved agreements
Posted Friday, March 22nd, 2013 by Gregory Forman
Filed under Contempt/Enforcement of Orders, Litigation Strategy, Not South Carolina Specific, Of Interest to Family Court Litigants, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys
Folks who refuse to comply with their court-approved agreements but then ask you to renegotiate those agreements to make them more to their liking are
Going for the “easy kill” in contempt proceedings
Posted Monday, March 11th, 2013 by Gregory Forman
Filed under Contempt/Enforcement of Orders, Litigation Strategy, Of Interest to Family Court Litigants, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys, South Carolina Specific
Clients seeking to hold the other party in contempt for violation of a family court order often present a mix of potential contempt claims. Some
Using prior consistent statements to bolster credibility
Posted Saturday, February 23rd, 2013 by Gregory Forman
Filed under Litigation Strategy, Not South Carolina Specific, Of Interest to Family Court Litigants, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys
A few years ago I was court appointed in a Department of Social Services abuse and neglect case as the lawyer for a twelve year
Seeking procedural relief before seeking substantive temporary relief
Posted Saturday, February 23rd, 2013 by Gregory Forman
Filed under Family Court Procedure, Litigation Strategy, Of Interest to Family Court Litigants, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys, South Carolina Specific
My colleagues frequently recount war stories in which their attempts to obtain substantive relief on a temporary basis early in the case failed while subsequent
Considerations in reconciliation
Posted Monday, February 18th, 2013 by Gregory Forman
Filed under Divorce and Marriage, Litigation Strategy, Of Interest to Family Court Litigants, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys, South Carolina Specific
Occasionally separated spouses in marital dissolution actions attempt to reconcile. Even though it’s bad for my business when they do so, I generally encourage reconciliation
Is there ever sufficient evidence of “continued cohabitation” to terminate alimony?
Posted Wednesday, January 30th, 2013 by Gregory Forman
Filed under Alimony/Spousal Support, Litigation Strategy, Of Interest to Family Court Litigants, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys, South Carolina Specific
I occasionally get telephone calls from men whose ex-wife’s are receiving alimony but also appear to be living with a boyfriend. They want to know
When a child’s mental health professional makes a guardian ad litem unnecessary
Posted Thursday, January 17th, 2013 by Gregory Forman
Filed under Child Custody, Guardians Ad Litem, Litigation Strategy, Not South Carolina Specific, Of Interest to Family Court Litigants, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys
South Carolina Code §63-3-810(A)(1) allows the family court to appoint a guardian ad litem in a private custody case when “without a guardian ad litem,
When a child supposedly speaks ill of a parent
Posted Thursday, January 10th, 2013 by Gregory Forman
Filed under Child Custody, Litigation Strategy, Not South Carolina Specific, Of Interest to Family Court Litigants, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys
How an attorney should react when a client’s child speaks ill of the client is often dependant upon things young attorneys (and often even experienced
