Advanced Family Law

This course has two goals. The first is to acquaint you with the Family Court Act and issues which affect abuse and neglect, custody, family offense and delinquency proceedings. The second is to enable you to use law as a practitioner, thereby integrating doctrine, policy analysis and procedure into a cohesive framework from which trial strategies are crafted. Inherent in our analysis of family law is a critique of social policy as it gives shape to the law. To that end, we will analyze law and current legislative issues. Additionally, we will be studying this area by looking at the position of women and children within society and the family. Hence, it is imperative that we approach the study of family law with and understanding of the importance of identifying and then critiquing the cultural underpinnings of the law. The course will not duplicate the Law and Family Relations course. Although there will be some overlap, we will focus exclusively on the application of broader family law issues to practice in this are in the New York Family Courts.

Fall, Spring