36-Hour Family Law Specialization Package

Hon. Holly J. Fujie, LA Superior Court
Hon. Rupert A. Byrdsong, LA Superior Court
Mia F. Yamamoto, Law Office of Mia Yamamoto
Dr. Gitu Bhatia, Gitu Bhatia Psy.D.
Moderated by Jinna Kang, Enenstein Pham & Glass, LLP

The lines between ethically mandated and permissive withdrawal from a client?s representation are often unclear, making it difficult for attorneys to determine their ethical obligations and how to satisfy them. This program will explore where the lines are drawn, how they are applied, and what an attorney?s duties are when withdrawing from representation.

Deborah Wolfe, Founder, Wolfe Legal Solutions, PC.

The program will address the process of onboarding new clients with emphasis on risk management and compliance with the Rules of Professional Conduct.

Joel A. Osman, Senior Counsel and General Counsel to the Firm, Parker Mills LLP
David B. Parker, Founding Partner,Parker Mills LLP

This program will review lawyers? ethical obligations in holding funds belonging to others. This program will cover the guidance and pitfalls in trust accounting and the new mandatory Client Trust Account Protection Program and will include considerations of banking stability.

Rachelle Cohen, Valensi Rose, PLC
Erin Joyce, Erin Joyce Law, PC

This presentation will explore the kinds of activities that are discouraged and prohibited by the State Bar, as well as those that are perfectly permissible in 2023 (this has changed significantly from a few decades ago when many of the Attorney Attendees started practicing, so many of us learned a very different set of rules and behaviors). Come learn what you can do to get more business, without getting in trouble with the State Bar.

Marc E. Hankin, Hankin Patent Law, APC

This CLE program will explore competence issues in the context of the aging attorney population. While mental and physical issues impacting the elderly population are very common, few CLE programs discuss them in the context of an aging attorneys? ability to perform legal services with competence.

While it is relatively easy to spot an attorney who has completely lost physical capability and mental competence, it is very challenging to spot those in the gray area who have started their descent into concerning territory often exhibiting barely perceptible signs of incompetence

Benazeer "Benny" Roshan, Partner, Greenberg Glusker

Stephanie Blondell, lead faculty for the Pepperdine Straus Institute's popular Women's Negotiation Academy, explored recent research regarding the role of gender in negotiation. Professor Blondell challenged participants to consider the various biases that can bedevil and/or support both men and women in negotiations and identify techniques to overcome or use these biases to advantage.

Jared Tonks, Director, CBIZ Forensic & Financial Services
Greta Schulz, Partner, Heppenstall & Schultz, APC
Gregory A. Girvan, CFLS, Partner, FMBK, LLP

Hon. Amy M. Pellman, Central District, LASC, Stanley Mosk Courthouse
Hon. Harvey A. Silberman, Northeast District, LASC, Pasadena Courthouse
Hon. Timothy M. Weiner, Southwest District, LASC, Long Beach Courthouse, Commissioner
Amir Aharonov, North Valley District, LASC, Chatsworth Courthouse

As our dependency and use of technology increases, we rely on electronic devices to complete many daily activities. Unfortunately, these same technologies are being seen more and more in family law cases where offenders have identified ways to exploit them in order to facilitate harm towards their victims and co-parents alike.

Steven Bradley, Safety and Technology Specialist with Bradley Training & Consulting, will explore the risks and benefits of technology, not only for the clients we serve, but also for you in your personal and professional lives. Attendees will learn safety planning and evidence collection strategies for phone technology, location apps, social media, and more. Non-technical language will be used throughout the presentation and how to safely navigate the world of technology.

Dmitry Gorin, Partner, Eisner & Gorin LLP
Mark Tseselsky, Partner, Law Office of Mark L. Tseselsky, APC
Commissioner Laura Cohen, LA Superior Court

A look at recent trends and the interplay between collaborative law and prenups.

Michelle Katz, Mediator and Collaborative Attorney, Certified Family Law Specialist, Board of Legal Specialization California State Bar
Lauren S. Petkin, Attorney/Mediator
Hon. Elizabeth Scully, Los Angeles County Superior Court
Moderated by Erin Grey, CFLS, Of Counsel, Enenstein Pham & Glass LLP

Since 2001, OurFamilyWizard (OFW) has been included in parenting agreements and custody orders to facilitate child-focused communication, reduce litigation, and improve family outcomes. While practitioners recognize the benefits that coparenting apps provide to their clients pre and post decree, many are less aware of the specific tools these platforms provide to assist family law practitioners with the management of their child custody cases.

This presentation advises family law professionals of communication technology designed specifically for divorced and separated families to reduce conflict and improve coparenting, with a particular emphasis on the platform features applicable to case management for family law practitioners. Attendees will learn how parents and practitioners utilize OFW?s platform to manage and document communication, organize, authenticate, and produce evidence, avoid unnecessary return trips to court, and reduce the costs of discovery and litigation. Each attendee will receive examples of agreements and court orders currently used to specify parent and professional use of OFW, as well as a full demonstration of the available features and best usage.

Kevin J. Mooney, Certified Family Law Specialist
Matt Havrevold, OurFamilyWizard

This program will address various issues that arise post judgment regarding spousal support. The panel will explain how best to present your argument to the Court, the impact of the payee?s failure to seek employment, receipt of inheritance, new mate income, the effect of a temporary decrease in income to the payor that has become more common due to COVID-19; the retirement and timing of the taking of social security benefits by either party; the passage of time affecting the marital standard of living; Richmond orders and termination of spousal support.

Hon. Anne K. Richardson, Los Angeles County Superior Court
Hon. Gary D. Roberts, Los Angeles County Superior Court
Brian P. Lepak, CFLS, Brian Lepak & Associates PC
Natalie S. Lowe, Esq., Law offices of Natalie S. Lowe

Beyond Cryptocurrency: A Family Law Primer on NFTs and Other Digital Assets. The program will inform family law attorneys about this emerging and expanding class of assets, and how it affects their practice. Panelists will discuss the nature of NFTs and other digital assets; their impact on property, support, attorneys fees, and fiduciary duties; and the unique challenges they present for discovery, valuation, and division.

? What are NFTs and why should we care about them
? How are they acquired, held, and controlled
? Fiduciary duties
? How can the court protect NFTs
? How are NFTs discovered, valued, and divided
? Income
? Tax implications
? Caselaw

Ariel Leichter-Maroko, Founding Partner, Leichter Leichter-Maroko LLP
Mike Dudas, VP Business Development, Paxos, a Regulated Blockchain and Crypto Infrastructure Platform

So, you have an order for support or attorney?s fees but the obligor does not pay. Now what? In Part 1 of a two-part Nuts and Bolts series, David Friedman, Esq. and moderator Chelsea Stevens, Esq., will discuss best practices once a financial order is obtained, mechanisms for enforcing support and attorney?s fees orders, and evaluate the pros and cons of each approach depending on the goal to be achieved.

David Friedman, Friedman & Friedman
Chelsea Stevens, Feinberg, Mindel, Brandt & Klein, LLP

This panel with discuss contempt procedure, best practices, and complicated evidentiary issues unique to family law contempt proceedings.

Family law practitioners are frequently called upon to analyze and present complex financial data. This program, presented by two skilled forensic accountants, JB Rizzo and Avi Reichman of Frankel Reichman & Rizzo LLP, is designed to provide practitioners of all levels with the skills and confidence they need to argue complex financial issues by teaching practitioners what documents to request and why they are important, how to read and interpret financial documents, and proper data and inputs when preparing support calculations.

JB Rizzo, CPA/ABV/CFF, CVA, Partner, Frankel Reichman & Rizzo, LLP
Avi Reichman, CPA/ABV/CFF, Partner, Frankel Reichman & Rizzo, LLP

Jinna Kang, CFLS, Enenstein Pham & Glass LLP
Marshall W. Waller, CFLS, Feinberg & Waller, APC
Hon. Scott M. Gordon (Ret.), Signature Resolution
Jennifer Skolnick, Esq., CFLS, Skolnick Family Law

This program features various experts who may provide useful information for family law
attorneys in complex, current areas of child custody. The panel will comprise of a retired
judicial officer (Hon. Roy Paul, Judge, Ret), a school expert (Allyn Shapiro), a co-parenting
expert/evaluation consultant (Lisa Hacker, MFT), a special needs/autism expert (Traci
Azer), and a family law attorney (Alexandra Leichter). ¬ The panel will discuss how family
law practitioners can utilize various experts both as consultants or as expert witnesses in
court, in cases involving high conflict, difficult custody issues. The panel will also explore
the potential practical and strategic ways various experts can be brought into and
involved in custody cases, and will also discuss the potential benefits and pitfalls in use
of such experts.

Hon. Roy Paul, (Ret).
Alexandra Leichter, Esq.
Traci Azer, Certified Autism Specialist
Allyn Shapiro, Education Expert
Lisa Hacker, MFT

With so many families having changing custody arrangements due to the increasing mobility of our society and additionally due to the COVID-19 crisis, the courts are facing an onrush of UCCJEA litigation. What happens when a parent left out of state before the pandemic and then never returned? Who has custody jurisdiction?

These questions and many more will be addressed by our panel led by Judge Hank Goldberg (Ret.). This is a program for both seasoned practitioners seeking a refresher on this complicated area of law, and also a starting point for new attorneys on how to approach a jurisdictional issue. It will address the legal basis for temporary emergency jurisdiction, initial jurisdiction, continuing jurisdiction and modification jurisdiction under UCCJEA, using a hypothetical to demonstrate the often-labyrinthine analysis, and raise tactical considerations. Judge Goldberg will explain the nuts and bolts of how California judges meet the requirement to communicate with judges of another state when a custody proceeding is pending in another state. The objective of the program is to have a framework to deal with UCCJEA issues and a toolkit for tactical considerations.

Hon. Hank Goldberg (Ret.), Signature Resolution
Alphonse F. Provinziano, CFLS, Provinziano & Associates
Ellyn Stein, Esq., Attorney at Law

You will be provided with a sample judgment and court check lists for processing judgments. Learn from the LA County family law court operations manager how the court processes judgments so that you can comply with procedural requirements in drafting your judgment to avoid rejection. Discover the top reasons a judgment is rejected. Receive tips on handling a rejected judgment. Learn other valuable judgment tips including suggestions as to certain judgment terms, bifurcated status and how to properly modify a judgment.

Judge Amy Pellman, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge, Central District
Peter Ontiveros, Family Law Court Operations Manager for Los Angeles Superior Court
Kendra Thomas, CFLS, Thomas Law Office
Brian P. Lepak, CFLS, Brian Lepak & Associates PC

The intersection of family law with estate planning has become fraught with rules, complexities, challenges and opportunities. The knowledgeable professional faced with this common situation has to navigate the avenues of both family law and estate planning to protect the client at a highly stressful time ? when their marital relationship is on the rocks, during a divorce, through a resolution and finally the aftermath. This seminar, given in a problem set format, is designed to guide you through this maze.

Stephanie Blum, Reuben Raucher & Blum
Burton Mitchell, Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell LLP

This program will focus on steps family law attorneys and their clients can take to prepare for life after divorce. Topics will include tax considerations of a settlement, trust structures, and estate planning for both simple and complex cases, ways clients can take control of their wealth, and the optimal time to bring outside advisors into the mix.

Danielle Miller, Deputy Chair, Trusts and Estates, Loeb and Loeb
Abhi Parikh, Shareholder and Head of Tax Department, Sobul, Primes and Schenkel
Dan Bemel, CDFA, Private Wealth Advisor, Senior Vice President ? Wealth Management
Ron Reitshtein, Partner, Youngman Reitshtein, PLC (Moderator)

The panel will discuss typical tax issues faced in a family law case from the perspectives of a family law attorney, a tax attorney, and a forensic accountant, and provide tips and tricks for the practitioner.

Alex Grager, CFLS, Feinberg, Mindel, Brandt & Klein, LLP
Igor S. Drabkin, Holtz, Slavett & Drabkin, APC
Jennifer J. Magnes, CPA, White, Zuckerman, Warsavsky, Luna & Hunt, LLP

Financial issues are often the most difficult aspects of a case. Complicated financial issues may be present in a family law case regardless of its size. Meet the Financial Professionals is a new series designed to educate family law attorneys about how to work effectively with financial professionals and the types of financial expertise that will prove invaluable in successfully representing your clients through case resolution and beyond.

Join us for a wide-ranging conversation about identifying and working with financial professionals to evaluate, prepare, present, and settle a case.

This MCLE, co-sponsored with the BHBA Entertainment Section, focuses on cross over issues family law
attorneys should be apprised of when representing clients working in the entrainment industry. An
entertainment law attorney veteran will explain issues regarding how various contracts and deals can
be structured and negotiated, topics such as intellectual property, royalties and other forms of
compensation, and endorsement deals will also be discussed. A family law attorney will explain how
these concepts can impact family law proceedings, including issues of support and property division. A
forensic accountant will also be on hand to explain how property rights, such as royalties and other types
of IP, can be divided in a divorce. Additionally, the panel will explore how entertainment attorneys and
family law attorneys can and should work together when they share a common client.

Robert Darwell: Partner, Sheppard Mullin ?

ENTERTAINMENT ATTORNEY
Joe Mannis: Partner, Hersh Mannis LLP---FAMILY LAW

ATTORNEY
Irwin Nachimson: Nigro Karlin Segal & Feldstein, LLP---

FORENSIC ACCOUNTANT
Warren Shiell: Moderator

Robin Sax, Partner, Law Offices of Robin Sax

Lisa Hacker, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Hacker Family Resolution

The Convention of 25 October 1980 on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. What Is It and What Does It Do? Key Features of the Convention. Countries That Are Not Signatories to Convention. Justice Partners. Two types of cases under the Hague Convention: Return, Access.

Where Do You File Your Petition? Provisional Remedies. Alternate Relief ? UCCJEA remedies. Discovery. Evidentiary Issues. Establishing a Prima Facie Case for Return. Definitions. Preponderance of evidence. Clear and convincing evidence. Habitual Residence. Wrongful Removal or Retention. Exercising custody rights at the time of removal. Age. The affirmative defenses. Other issues.

Jinna Kang, CFLS, Enenstein Pham & Glass LLP
Peter M. Walzer, Walzer & Melcher LLP
Hon. Scott M. Gordon (Ret.), Signature Resolution

Melissa A. Kucinski works with lawyers across the globe handling the international aspects of family law cases. In addition to her law degree, Melissa obtained a Master?s Degree from the American University School of International Service, focusing her studies on high conflict cross-cultural mediation and crisis negotiation. She consulted for the Hague Conference on Private International Law on a range of issues related to the Hague Child Abduction and Child Protection Conventions.

Melissa is a seasoned author, writing the seminal handbook on representing children in domestic and international custody and abduction cases for the American Bar Association and co-authoring the West Academic text on international family law cases in U.S. courts. She is a dynamic speaker, presenting on international child abduction, relocation, and cross-border mediation for national and international organizations, like the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, the International Academy of Family Lawyers, the New York State Bar Association, and the American Bar Association.

Melissa designed the International Family Law course at the George Washington University School of Law, and has taught at this prestigious institution, which boasts a top 10 ranking in International Law, since 2010.

Melissa has an active global network that adds to her expertise and provides comprehensive support for her clients. She is a long-standing member of the U.S. Department of State?s Advisory Committee on Private International Law, has served as a member on several U.S. delegations to discuss the Hague Child Abduction Convention overseas, is one of only a handful of lawyers who sit on the U.S. Uniform Law Commission?s Joint Editorial Board for Uniform Family Laws, and has chaired some of the top bar association committees and working groups on international family law.

What happens to foreign national?s immigration status when they marry a U.S. Citizen? Does it matter when and where they got married? When can they start working? What happens if they later get a divorce? How are custody issues affected? What about when both spouses are here on non-immigrant/work visas? What happens to the spouse with derivative status?

Come learn about the red flags that family attorneys need to be aware of and the potential family law issues that immigration lawyers need to navigate when getting their clients through USCIS.

Government Response and Programs. Understanding and Determining Income. The Dissomaster V.2021-2 Pandemic-Related Tax Changes and Stimuli. Valuation, Income and Cash Flow Issues in the Time of COVID. The CARES Act. Payroll Protection Plan (PPP). Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EDIL). Employee Retention Credit. Direct Cash Assistance - Stimulus Check. Qualifications for Dependent Child Tax Credit Rebate. Divorce and Support Impact. Accessing Retirement Funds. Impact on Retirement Plan Loans. American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. Eviction and Foreclosure Moratorium. ?Annual Gross Income? Defined. Business Income. Other Benefits. ?Reduction of living expenses and other relevant facts?. ?Annual Net Disposable Income? Defined. New Spouse or Subsequent Partner Income. What Else is Not Included as Income. Pandemic-Related Tax Credits. Exemptions. True-Up Declaration. Valuation and Income Issues: Businesses, Individuals. Valuation in the Time of COVID. Looking at Income and Cash Flow: COVID Relief. Cryptocurrency. When You Might Want to Consider Hiring a Forensic Accountant: The Red Flags.

Family Law Symposium Panel 2 - Identifying and Managing Changes in Finances During the Pandemic

Hon. Firdaus Dordi, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge
James P. Reape, Esq., The Reape-Rickett Law Firm
Lorna A. Mouton Riff, CPA, CFF, CBIZ MHM, LLC
Art Grater, Co-creator and Consultant, DissoMaster