Mary Cushing Doherty, Head of High Swartz's family law practice was a co-presenter and educator at the recent AFCC-AAML Conference in San Diego. The joint conference brought together leading experts in Family Law to address the most difficult issues many in the profession face.
The AFCC (Association of Family and Conciliation Courts) and the AAML (American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers) teamed up to bring an advanced-level training opportunity to the Family Law community. Programs during the 3-day conference, September 19-21, 2019 included topics like parent/child contact problems, psychological testing in child custody evaluations,, de-biasing strategies, personality disorders and affluence's effect on child development.
On Thursday, Mary taught alongside Dr. Larry Fong, a psychologist from Calgary, Alberta, Canada regarding Parent relocation dilemmas.
About the presentation:
Relocation cases increase the myriad complications confronting post-separation families. They also create significant challenges for attorneys, custody evaluators, and judicial officers. Each of these professionals may have different approaches to addressing the conflict that arises when one parent wishes to relocate, and the other parent believes that the move will upset the child’s familiar surroundings and disrupt their own relationship with the child. This session will present the views of an experienced attorney and psychologist who will provide the nuts and bolts of the law, and the components and reasoning behind a custody/access assessment addressing relocation.*
Mary also taught a program on Saturday regarding Analysis of Risk and Pre/Post Separation Problems. She was joined again by Dr. Larry Fong, as well as Gordon D. Cruse, Esq., of CFLS in San Diego.
About the presentation:
Attorneys, mental health professionals, and others require criteria that assist in determining the management of risk with their own clients or others. Risk management in the field of negotiations, alternate dispute resolution, and in analyses of clients, are of concern to everyone in the field. Presenters will discuss the HCR-20, a structured professional judgment assessment, and other tools, in light of how these criteria assist professionals in making better determinations of risk.*
*Summary from AFCC/AAML Conference brochure.