ABA family law conference to focus on surrogacy insurance, mobile families and more

Leading practitioners and professionals from across the country will discuss important developments for family law lawyers during the American Bar Association’s 2022 Section of Family Law Fall CLE Conference, October 12-15.

Three days of programming for new and seasoned family law practitioners will include topics such as divorce and mental illness, insurance for surrogacy, developments in domestic violence law and families on the move in the wake of COVID-19. The conference will take place at the InterContinental San Diego.

Program highlights include:

• “Mama He’s Ridiculous: You Need to Divorce Him” — Vulnerable and impaired clientele are increasingly opting for separation and divorce and are at increased risk of exploitation and undue influence factoring into their decision on marriage, divorce and allocation of assets. Many factors can interfere with mood, thought processing, memory, judgment, reasoning, insight and decision making. A panel of experts will discuss the benefits of incorporating a forensic psychologist in domestic relation cases, review relevant case law and provide an overview of mental illness as well as psychological assessment techniques that can be applied to cases.

• “Navigating the Sea of Insurance: Are You Swimming with the Dolphins or the Sharks?” — The world of insurance in surrogacy journeys is ever changing. An expert panel will provide an overview of existing insurance options and will discuss why policy construction and the language included in contracts and judgments matters. They will also discuss liens, coverage issues and other options.

• “Mobile Families — Interstate and International Family Law Issues” — Post-pandemic life and remote work environments have created more opportunities for parents to relocate with their children — both nationally and internationally. A panel of experts will address issues associated with parental relocation, including parenting plans, the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act and relevant Hague Convention treaties, as well as support issues and the Uniform Interstate Families Support Act.

• “Recent Developments in Domestic Violence Law: Using Non-Physical Abuse to Explain a Pattern of Power and Control” — This program will focus on legislative trends across the nation to codify coercive control or non-physical forms of abuse as domestic violence for the purpose of seeking remedies in family court. A panel of experts will discuss how coercive control shows up in family law matters and identify common tactics used to exert power and control. They will discuss strategies for presenting an effective case that highlights how abusive tactics can support a finding of domestic violence, even if your state does not have an anti-coercive control law.

For additional information on the conference, visit www.americanbar.org/groups/family_law.