Dean's Column
Family Law in the Year 2000
Professor Lisa Kelly
A recent New Yorker cartoon shows a bewildered little boy in shirt sleeves sitting in his livingroom, his little legs not even long enough to dangle off the side of the couch. His eager parents are marching into the room with their arms loaded down with thick books. His father says, "We’re going to start with the birds and the bees and work our way up to the reproductive technologies."
Teaching Family Law can feel like that sometimes. In fact, not only students, but family law practitioners undoubtedly can empathize with that little fellow whose head will soon be swimming. What with all the sweeping changes in family law in West Virginia this past year. We all wait to see what will it mean....the new standards, mandatory mediation, parenting plans, case coordinators, case screeners, elected family law masters.
The College of Law continues its active role in preparing the state not only for these recent statewide changes, but for other issues in the forefront of family law as well. Mark your calendars because on March 2-3, 2000, the West Virginia Law Review in conjunction with the Edward G. Donley Memorial Fund and the Women’s Law Caucus will sponsor a symposium entitled "Family Law in the Year 2000." This symposium will bring together the family law academic and practitioner communities for a thoughtful exploration of the many questions that face our state and nation today and in the future.
Renowned experts from across the country will address the audience on critical issues of concern to family law practitioners. Here is just a sample of the line-up. Duke Law Professor Katharine Bartlett, the Reporter for the American Law Institute’s Model Law on the Allocation of Custodial and Decision-making Responsibility, will provide insight into the act that served as the basis for West Virginia’s new custody statute. Rutgers Professor Sally Goldfarb will discuss the federalization of domestic violence, including the recent Fourth Circuit decision which found the Violence Against Women Act unconstitutional. This case is now before the United States Supreme Court.
Both Professors Bartlett and Goldfarb will join others in a panel discussion of the case currently before the United States Supreme Court on grandparents’ visitation rights. Other panels will discuss issues surrounding marriage, adoption and domestic violence. Of particular state interest, presenters will comment on how to fulfill the obligation to screen cases for mediation, whether our current adoption statute is constitutional in its treatment of non-marital fathers, and the controversial Kessel decision in which a jury verdict of nearly $8,000,000.00 was affirmed against a biological mother, her family and her attorney for fraudulent concealment of a child placed for adoption.
"Family Law in the Year 2000" is an event not to be missed. There is no charge for registration, although the dinner on Thursday evening at which Professor Bartlett will speak will require the purchase of a ticket. All proceeds benefit the Women’s Law Caucus Scholarship fund.
If you would like more information about the symposium, please feel free to write, call or e-mail me at Lkelly@wvu.edu and I will be happy to send you registration information.
The symposium is just the most recent evidence of the College of Law’s commitment to issues affecting children and families. Behind the scenes of the rush to meet the January 1, 2000 deadlines imposed by the recent legislative changes, you could find Professor Marjorie McDiarmid hard at work on the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals Rules Task Force, Professor Tom Patrick providing leadership on the Court’s Mediation Task Force, Randy Minor of the College of Law’s Appalachian Pro Bono Project hammering out rules for the Mediation Task Force, and me struggling with the issues of screening for domestic violence and how the Court should evaluate the effectiveness of family law mediation. Many members of the bench, bar and counseling professions also gave generously of their time to recommend rules to the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals.
Within the College of Law, we have also tapped into the student body’s deep interest in child abuse and neglect. Last spring, the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals provided the Clinical Law Program with a grant to train students in the area of child abuse and neglect. In March of 1999, we provided students with the opportunity to learn at the feet of some of our state’s most experienced attorneys, social workers and psychologists. Many thanks go out to Catherine Munster, Brenda Waugh, Mary Ellen Griffith, and Jane Moran for giving of their time and talents to share with the students. Thanks also to Randy Minor and Susan McLaughlin who worked hard with me to plan this event. The students’ commitment also deserves recognition. They received no class-room credit for this training which took place over three weeks in 3-hour intervals. We were absolutely astounded at how many students came and attended every session. Eighty students attended at least one session and seventy-five attended all three! We were so impressed with the turn-out that we plan to give the program again this March with advanced topics sections so that the students who attended last year can learn more about this area that has captured their legal imaginations.
The College of Law has also provided the larger University community with insight into the many mind-boggling issues in which family law crosses over into the realm of bio-ethics. During the Fall 1999 semester, the College of Law brought Professor Lori Andrews, the Director of the Institute for Science, Law and Technology of the Illinois Institute of Technology, to speak to a packed Lugar courtroom. Thanks to the generosity of Dr. Thomas S. Clark, M.D. and Jean Clark, Professor Andrews was our guest for the 2nd Annual John W. Fisher II Lecture in Law and Medicine. Dr. Andrews surveyed a wide-range of reproductive technologies. She began with a summary of current cloning capabilities and proceeded to touch upon the ownership of human embryos, surrogacy, in vitro fertilization, and the use of fetal tissue for research and other purposes. I must confess that by the end of Professor Andrews’ engaging lecture, I was ready to join that little boy on his couch for milk, cookies and a few answers to these impossible questions about who we will be and how we will construct our families in the new millennium.
Please join us on March 2nd and 3rd as we continue to contemplate the meaning of family in the year 2000.