The Family Law Bar: Stewards of the System, Leaders of Change

• Date: 01 January 2017
• Author: Natalie A. Knowlton
• Published date: 01 January 2017
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fcre.12259

REPORT

THE FAMILY LAW BAR: STEWARDS OF THE SYSTEM,

LEADERS OF CHANGE

Natalie A. Knowlton

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

In November 2015, the Honoring Families Initiative at IAALS, the Institute for the

Advancement of the American Legal System at the University of Denver, hosted the Family

Bar Summit: Shaping the System for the Families We Serve. The two-day event brought

together diverse leaders of the family law bar to identify obstacles to serving children

and families in separation and divorce matters, and explore opportunities for meaningful

change.

Interactive, engaging conversation highlighted a number of themes and recommendations for

reshaping divorce and separation processes to support better outcomes for children and provide

greater accessibility, efficiency, and fairness for all parties:

For Family Law Attorneys:

Recalibrate our understanding of advocacy to emphasize problem solving, teaching, and

counseling.

Amend regulatory and professional ethics rules in order to fully realize the role and respon-

sibilities of the modern family law attorney.

Establish robust and interdisciplinary continuing legal education programs for family law

attorneys and increase client-centric training programs.

For Family Courts & Court Personnel:

Acknowledge and celebrate exemplary family court judges.

Ensure adequate court resources to assist litigants, especially those who are without

representation.

Implement client-centric court practices, including front-loaded status conferences, differen-

tiated case management, and innovative trial procedures.

Develop specialization and training for family court judges and, where practical, establish

dedicated family courts/dockets.

Maximize available judicial and non-judicial court personnel.

Gain an increased understanding of post-decree matters through experimentation with

streamlined processes and data collection on post-decree filings.

For Law Schools & Legal Educators:

Develop specialized and interdisciplinary law school curricula, tailored to the unique skill

set of a family law attorney.

FAMILY COURT REVIEW, Vol. 55 No. 1, January 2017 12–25

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C2017 University of Denver – IAALS