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Law and the changing family

December 2006 | Volume 42, Issue 13

Relatives’ rights to care for children
Carolyn A. Kubitschek and Darius Charney

When children are removed from their homes because their parents cannot or will not care for them, other relatives are often willing to step into the breach. But what seems a simple and natural solution to a difficult problem is often anything but. When a potential client wants to know whether he or she can take in a relative’s child, make sure you are prepared to talk about all the legal advantages and disadvantages of kinship foster care and legal custody.

The ethics of representing the incapacitated
Rhonda Hill Wilson

Before you start working with an incapacitated client, ask yourself: Is your client competent to make legal decisions? Are you acting on the client’s behalf—or his or her family’s? And what other conflicts of interest lie in wait? In considering these issues, let ethical codes—specifically, the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct—be your guide through this tricky territory.

Autonomy and end-of-life decision-making
Ray D. Madoff

Many people say they know whether their loved ones would choose to be kept alive through extraordinary means or be allowed to die naturally. But the question of autonomy when a person is near the end of life is complex, and easy choices are rarely at hand—as the author learned when her own family had to face her ailing father’s end-of-life decisions.

When a parent steals a child away
Carole S. Gailor and Cathy C. Hunt

Books and television shows have highlighted the plight of parents whose foreign-born spouses spirit their children away, often to a country whose customs and laws are a mystery. The number of such cases is growing—and the trend is likely to continue. Learn how international law enforcement and child-abduction laws can help parents who face this frightening situation.

Features

Win the battle for access to e-data
Marian K. Riedy and Suman Beros

The rules for discovery of electronic data have changed—and so should your tactics. Under amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, effective this month, defendants likely will try to brand data as “not readily accessible” to avoid producing it. With a creative approach and some technological know-how, you can counter this claim and turn up the information you seek.

News & Trends

Courts stamp out industry claims about “light” cigarettes

Florida high court says med-mal fee limits impede right to counsel

Federal judge allows obesity lawsuit alleging deceptive ads

Ambien users sound alarm over sleepwalking risks

Guest worker litigation gains ground

Judge rejects secrecy in med-mal settlement involving public funds

Departments

President’s page
Victory—and the work ahead

Supreme Court review
Mixed messages on the exclusionary rule

Tech brief
The less-paper office

ATLA Endowment: Donor profiles

Hearsay

ATLA in motion

Proposed evidence rule changes would thwart state law, ethics

TRIAL to accept law firm advertising

ATLA’s message hits the airwaves as staff hits the road

Straight talk about ‘frivolous’ lawsuits

Overcome insurer bad faith with Exchange litigation packets

Schwarzenegger vetoes measure to reimburse attorney general’s office

Favorite trial advocacy course is back

Books

Soldier Slaves: Abandoned by the White House, Courts, and Congress by James W. Parkinson and Lee Benson

Sorcerers’ Apprentices: 100 Years of Law Clerks at the United States Supreme Court by Artemus Ward and David L. Weiden

Experts & Professional Services

Classifieds

Lawyer Networking

Products & Services

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