MEDIATION PARENT EDUCATION PROGRAMS IN THE CALIFORNIA FAMILY COURTS

This article presents information about parent educational programs connected to court-based child custody mediation services in California. The educational content and methodologies most commonly practiced in California family court mediation services are discussed. In addition, new directions in parent education for mediation clients are described.     

THE POTENTIAL OF THE FAMILY LAW EDUCATION REFORM PROJECT FOR FAMILY LAWYERS1

Family lawyers are major beneficiaries of the reforms set out in the Family Law Education Reform Project (FLER) Report. This commentary from a veteran family law practitioner explores the needs of the family law bar for the training of law students in practical, interdisciplinary, client‐centered lawyering that goes beyond the traditional case method. I trace many of the current innovations evolving in family law practice and how FLER reforms will not only benefit law schools but also have a major impact in the courts and private practice sector.     

GENDER ISSUES IN THE CALIFORNIA COURTS

The Judicial Council of California's Advisory Committee on Gender Bias in the Courts is one of approximately 30 similar task forces throughout the country charged with investigating issues of bias based on gender in the various state court systems. This article summarizes portions of the committee's draft report, "Achieving Equal Justice for Men and Women in the Courts," and its findings and recommendations. The crucial area of family law including cases where there are allegations of domestic violence is its focus. This article also describes the committee's investigatory process and collaborative efforts and explains the steps planned to implement the advisory committee's blueprint for change.     

FAMILY COURTS

Oregon has encouraged experimentation with family courts using the one family-one judge approach. At the First Annual Family Law Conference, sponsored by the Oregon Judical Department and the Oregon Family Law Advisory Committee, the author presented a keynote talk addressing the "ethical" issues raised by the use of comprehensive family courts. In this adaptation, the author places the concept of family courts in historical perspective and then assesses the rationale for them and the policy trade-offs involved, as well as possible procedural safeguards. Consolidated family courts using judical specialists dealing with multiple interrelated parties and integrating an array of social services appear to offer a better approach to related party cases. The author concludes that the benefits outweigh the speculative risks.     

UNIFIED FAMILY COURTS

Much has been written about the potential success of unified family courts. Unified family court proponents share great optimism and enthusiasm for what they see as a solution to several of the problems facing court systems today. This enthusiasm should be applauded. As with any reform, however, unified family court advocates must stop to consider the possible drawbacks to the system that they propose; otherwise, they might end up with a system that is the same or worse than the one that they were attempting to fix. This article highlights several of the potential problems with unified family courts. It is not a condemnation of unified family courts per se; it is simply a suggestion that reformers proceed with their eyes open, taking time to consider the potential drawbacks of the unified family court system before using valuable resources for its implementation.     

UNIFIED FAMILY COURTS

Fragmented court systems are especially problematic for domestic violence victims because they typically are involved in more than one proceeding that stems from the same pattern of abuse. The proceedings are handled in different courts and before different judges, who are often unaware of these orders being issued in other proceedings. Consequently, conflicting orders are prevalent and the protection and needs of victims are often not met. A unified family court, on the other hand, provides one court with the subject-matter jurisdiction to handle all family-related matters and one judge to hear all cases that involve a single family, resulting in conflicting orders being issued less frequently. Additionally, the needs of victims are better served as a result of the services component. Given the fragmented state of the court systems in New York and Pennsylvania, United States; Alberta, Canada; and Australia, unified family courts should be implemented in each locality.     

GENDER ISSUES IN FAMILY LAW

Family mediation has been the target of criticism from feminists, the legal profession, and mental health professionals. Although this article will primarily address the concerns of feminists, it will, to a limited extent, address some of the concerns put forth by the other groups because of the similarities in their perspectives. Many of the concerns and issues expressed by feminists are valid on one hand, yet contradictory on the other. By exploring the gains made by women and how these gains were incorporated in the Ontario Family Law Act, the contradictions inherent in their arguments will be revisited and discussed in relation to a feminist-informed mediation process. This article will explore seven aspects of the feminist critique of family mediation: protection of women and children's rights, spousal and child support, equal distribution of marital property, negotiations, empowerment, custody, and spousal abuse. Many of these issues are intertwined and therefore will occasionally be discussed in relation to other issues.     

AN EVALUATION OF CHILD PROTECTION MEDIATION IN FIVE CALIFORNIA COURTS

This article presents the results of an evaluation of five California counties utilizing court-based mediation services to process child maltreatment cases filed with the court. The programs employed a variety of different service delivery approaches and targeted cases at a variety of different stages of case processing. The results indicate that mediation is an effective method of resolving cases and may offer a number of benefits over adjudication, including more detailed treatment plans and fewer contested court hearings.     

PROFILE: CHILD CUSTODY MEDIATION SERVICES IN CALIFORNIA SUPERIOR COURTS

California is now in its 11th year of mandatory child custody mediation, with a current yearly case volume statewide estimated at 65,494. This article profiles the variations in programs and mediation styles in 56 of the state's 58 Superior Courts. Two research studies provide the basis for the information on program structures, case activity, procedures, agreement formats, recommendations, facilities, security, and fees.