From the Editor in Chief

• Author: Kathleen A. Hogan
• Pages: 4-5

from the

editor in chief

By

Kathleen A. Hogan

4 FAMILY ADVOCATE www.shopaba.org

FAMILY ADVOCATE

KATHLEEN A. HOGAN (kah@hoganomidi.com) is a prin cipal with Hogan

Omidi, PC, in Denver, Colora do, and Editor in Chief of

Family Advocate

.

Editorial Board

EDITOR IN CHIEF

Kathleen A. Hogan

3773 Cherry Creek N. Drive

Suite 950

Denver, CO 80209

kah@hoganomidi.com

ISSUE EDITORS

Lilka B. Martinez, Placerville, CA

Gerald L. Shoemaker Jr., Norristown, PA

EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS

Livia DeFilippis Barndollar, Westport, CT

Joy M. Feinberg, Chicago, IL

Ann M. Haralambie, Tucson, AZ

Debra H. Lehrmann, Austin, TX

Lilka B. Martinez, Placerville, CA

Ronald W. Nelson, Overland Park, KS

Michelle Piscopo, Philadelphia, PA

Gerald L. Shoemaker Jr., Norristown, PA

Gene Brentley Tanner, Raleigh, NC

Steven K. Yoda, Woodland Hills, CA

EDITORIAL POLICY

Family Advocate, published by the

American Bar Association Family Law

Section, oers practical, practice-oriented

articles for family lawyers, their clients,

and other professionals involved in

divorce, child custody, adoption, and other

family law–related issues. e articles

in Family Advocate do not express the

off‌icial policy of the ABA or the Family

Law Section. ey represent the views of

thoughtful members of the bench and bar

who are interested in eective advocacy

and the American family.

MANAGING EDITOR

Lori Lyons

lori.lyons@americanbar.org

312-988-5662

DESIGN

Mary Anne Kulchawik

maryanne.kulchawik@americanbar.org

ADVERTISING

Jonathan McGraw

MCI-Group

jonathan.mcgraw@mci-group.com

410-584-1979

Almost twent y years ago, the Family Advocate produced

what was then a cuttin g-edge issue on Gende r Bias.

Looking back at that is sue with 20/20 hindsight, it is n ot

hard to suggest that w e were really only examining the tip

of an iceberg. A popula r advertising tag line from that time

was “We’ve come a long way, Baby!” In some re spects, that’s true. I am

not imagining that we have elimina ted bias from our laws, judicial

proceedings , or viewpoints. However, we have come to recognize more o f

the components of th at bias iceberg. Our hope is that by ide ntifying and

examining the problem s, we can educate ourselves a nd our colleagues in

ways that lead to solution s.

Citing recent legal and s ocial research, Mark B. Baer denes d ifferent

types of biase s and how prevalent they are in the legal realm in his ar ticle,

“Unchecked Biases in Family L aw Are Pervasive and Harmful.“ He explains

that because unc hecked biases inherently color, and therefore cl oud, our

reasoning, they ca n impair judgement. He points to publi c policy, statutes,

case law, and judicial deci sions as all being subject to biases . He then

offers ways, ro oted in scientic research, that all pe ople, especially

attorneys, c an “debias” or challenge th eir own biases and those of their

clients, oppos ing parties, witnesses , and presiding judges.

The problem of gend er bias we rst discussed so m any years ago has

been reexamined in a n article by Gia M. Conti and Cora Gennerma n called

“Gender Bias in Family Law.” Because n ot all states have statutes that

expressly prohi bit gender discrimination when taki ng into account what is

in the best interes t of a child in a custody case, creating mo re procedural

requirements for t he court-appointed “neutrals” in a case, su ch as a

guardian ad litem or paren ting coordinator, can help mitigate gender

bias, say Conti and Ge nnerman. The authors describ e specic actions

family law attorneys c an take if they believe gender bias is negative ly

affecting the ir case.

Geri C. Sjoquis t, in her article “Bias Toward the Disabled,” illustra tes,

through difcult to re ad real-life examples, that, d espite an array of federal

protections , disabled parents are at a much highe r risk of losing custody of

their children than abled p arents, due in part to a lack of und erstanding

about their ability to p arent. Unconscious bias, say s Sjoquist, unfairly

Published in Family Advocate, Volume 44, Number 3, Winter 2022. © 2022 by the American Bar Association. Reproduced with permission. All rights reserved. This information or any portion thereof

may not be copied or disseminated in any form or by any means or stored in an electronic database or retrieval system without the express written consent of the American Bar Association.