NYL Journal, March 10, 2016
Med-arb, a process whereby mediation is followed by arbitration, is not a panacea for every impasse any more than mediation or collaborative law is appropriate for every controversy. However, it has proven its merit in the commercial, labor and family law settings. Read more here >>
NYL Journal, June 4, 2014
Because June is the preferred month for weddings and because the subject of prenuptial agreements commonly surfaces shortly before the wedding, we submit this article for the benefit of the bar and the public. Prenuptial and postnuptial agreements have been commonly endorsed because they often serve the important function of providing financial protection and certainty in the event of divorce or death. They are particularly appropriate when older or previously divorced couples seek to provide that in the event of divorce or death their property goes to their children or grandchildren rather than the other parties' children. Read more >>
NYL Joumal, April 4, 2013
Pace law Review, Volume 15 1995
Carol Bellamy, Lecturer 2015
Dolores Gebhardt, Honorable Sondra Miller
Pace Law Review, June 200
In a January speech delivered on receipt of the Kay C. Murray Award, former Appellate Division, Second Department Justice Sondra Miller said: If I have been in any way a trailblazer my role has been fortuitous, I have been consistently in the right place at the right time. Read more>>
This article is written on behalf of those children who have been, and will be, victims of the law of relocation as it is frequently applied in New York by well-meaning judges who often find themselves constrained by precedent to render custody determinations that disregard the well being of children. The long recognized fundamental truth that "the only absolute in the law governing custody is that there are no absolutes,"' has been ignored in many relocation cases which have resulted in custody determinations where the best interest of the child is not even reached...Read more here.
The Judge's determination will reflect his or her values - personal philosophy - psychological makeup. You will not know, when you choose to litigate custody, who that Judge will be. Consider that fact when I conclude my remarks with this recommendation for alternatives to litigating custody issues - in mediation, arbitration, negotiation and collaborative law.
Abandonment has been a ground for judicial separation in New York since 1813.1 It became one of the six causes of action for divorce enacted by the Legislature in the Divorce Reform Act of 1966. To obtain a divorce upon this ground, the plaintiff must prove "abandonment ... by the defendant for a period of one or more years." The Divorce Reform Act of 1966 was the result of a "searching investigation of New York State's matrimonial and divorce laws" conducted by the Joint Legislative Committee on Matrimonial and Family Laws in 1965 and 1966. Read more>>