Making the defendant testify in the plaintiff’s case-in-chief
Posted Saturday, February 12th, 2011 by Gregory Forman
Filed under Litigation Strategy, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys, South Carolina Specific
I have never understood the general preference of litigants and attorneys to be the plaintiff in family court proceedings. “You get to go first,” is
Collecting child (or spousal) support from actual dead deadbeats
Posted Thursday, February 10th, 2011 by Gregory Forman
Filed under Child Support, Litigation Strategy, Of Interest to Family Court Litigants, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys, South Carolina Specific
Due to recent changes in the law, it has become much easier to collect back child support from a deceased deadbeat’s estate. Here’s how to
Playing the jerk to encourage dispute resolution
Posted Saturday, January 22nd, 2011 by Gregory Forman
Filed under Guardians Ad Litem, Litigation Strategy, Not South Carolina Specific, Of Interest to Family Court Litigants, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys
Sometimes a guardian ad litem can assist resolution of a custody dispute by doing things that initially make the parents unhappy. This won’t render the
Provision for adjustment of child support using a “Shared Parenting Formula” [Schedule C]
Posted Tuesday, January 18th, 2011 by Barry Knobel
Filed under Child Support, Litigation Strategy, Of Interest to Family Court Litigants, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys, South Carolina Specific
From Guest Blogger, the Honorable Barry W. Knobel I've been involved in a number of mediations in which we were working to settle a child support
Discovery in family court: shotgun or rifle approach?
Posted Saturday, January 15th, 2011 by Gregory Forman
Filed under Family Court Procedure, Litigation Strategy, Not South Carolina Specific, Of Interest to Family Court Litigants, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys
Many of these blogs are inspired by young attorneys I am informally mentoring. This one was inspired by a query as to the sort of
Posted Sunday, January 9th, 2011 by Gregory Forman
Filed under Attorney's Fees, Litigation Strategy, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys, South Carolina Specific
Yesterday, I blogged on how mediators (and guardians) might collect fees for the time they spend as an attorney collecting the fees they earn as
Collecting fees as the mediator or guardian
Posted Saturday, January 8th, 2011 by Gregory Forman
Filed under Attorney's Fees, Litigation Strategy, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys, South Carolina Specific
For attorneys who also act as mediators or guardians ad litem, many family court judges’ interpretation of Calhoun v. Calhoun, 331 S.C. 157, 164-65, 501
Specificity versus flexibility in custody agreements
Posted Sunday, January 2nd, 2011 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 the more things you allow folks who don’t get along to argue about, the more arguments you are going to create. There is always
A “shot across the bow”: issuing discovery as a method of encouraging settlement
Posted Sunday, December 5th, 2010 by Gregory Forman
Filed under Litigation Strategy, Not South Carolina Specific, Of Interest to Family Court Litigants, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys
Quite often in my family law cases I will issue written discovery along with a settlement proposal. This is a strategy I see few other
Posted Sunday, December 5th, 2010 by Gregory Forman
Filed under Litigation Strategy, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys, South Carolina Specific
In part one of this blog I explained how an opposing party’s failure to call certain witnesses at trial could be considered as negatively impacting
