Adoption is an emotional process for all the parties involved. Are you prepared to assist and guide your clients through this highly emotional time in their lives? Whether you represent the birth parents or the adoptive parents, our experienced practitioners will update you on the latest adoption laws, help you understand various procedures and requirements and give you the background you need to handle adoption cases without unnecessary delays, ethical problems or surprises. Order today!

1. The Essentials of Adoption Law
2. Offering the Different Adoption Options
3. Procedures for Terminating Parental Rights
4. Overcoming Interstate Adoption Issues
5. Solving Obstacles to International Adoptions
6. Following Ethical Guidelines in Adoption Law
7. Practical Guide Through the Adoption Process
8. What to Do if Something Goes Wrong

1. THE ESSENTIALS OF ADOPTION LAW
   9:00 - 9:45, Todd E. Gaudin
1. Understanding the Definitions: Who May be Adopted
2. Who May Adopt: Criteria and Qualifications
3. Obtaining Adoption Assistance
4. Helping Calculate Adoption Tax Credits
5. Adhering to Federal Laws Affecting Adoptions
1. Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997
2. Servicemembers Civil Relief Act
3. Indian Child Welfare Act
4. Howard Metzenbaum Multiethnic Placement Act of 1994
2. OFFERING THE DIFFERENT ADOPTION OPTIONS
   9:45 - 10:30, Todd E. Gaudin
1. What are Private Placement Adoptions?
2. How Agency Adoptions Work
3. Venue: Why it's so Important
4. The Crucial Element of Consent
5. Exploring Other Adoption Alternatives
1. When and How to Use Independent Options
2. Circumstances When it's Appropriate to Adopt an Adult
3. Guidelines for Adopting Relatives
6. Understanding Step Parent Adoptions
7. Examining and Ensuring Foster Parent Rights
3. PROCEDURES FOR TERMINATING PARENTAL RIGHTS
   10:45 - 11:20, Noel E. Vargas Jr.
1. General Requirements That Need to be Considered
2. Obtaining Confirmed Consent and Surrender of Birth Parents
3. Properly Dealing With Notice Requirements
4. Observing Guidelines Governing Involuntary Termination
5. Where Complaints May be Filed
6. Issues Handled by State Common Pleas Courts
7. When Default Proceedings May Move Forward
4. OVERCOMING INTERSTATE ADOPTION ISSUES
   11:20 - 12:00, Todd E. Gaudin
1. What is the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (ICPC)?
2. Dealing With Conflicts Between State Laws
3. Navigating Multistate Adoption Procedures
5. SOLVING OBSTACLES TO INTERNATIONAL ADOPTIONS
   1:00 - 1:45, Todd E. Gaudin
1. Making Clients Aware of Risks and Realities
2. Locating a Child to be Adopted: A How-to Guide
3. Dealing With U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)
4. Adhering to State Laws Regarding Intercountry Adoptions
5. Recognizing Legal Requirements of the Foreign Country Involved
6. Crucial Steps Involving Birth Certificates and Citizenship
7. Taking All the Right Steps for Finalization
8. Practical Tips for Families Considering International Adoption
6. FOLLOWING ETHICAL GUIDELINES IN ADOPTION LAW
   1:45 - 2:45, Noel E. Vargas Jr.
1. Identifying Conflicts of Interest
2. Confidentiality in Adoption Cases
3. Guidelines for Setting Fair Attorney Fees
4. Observing the Rules of Professional Conduct
7. PRACTICAL GUIDE THROUGH THE ADOPTION PROCESS
   3:00 - 3:50, Todd E. Gaudin
1. Preparation of Pre- and Post-Placement Reports
2. The Interrelated Roles of Social Worker and Attorney
3. Determining Fees and Expenses
4. How to Conduct a Thorough Background Check
5. The Adoption Home Study: A Look Into the Reality
6. Working With Birth Parents: What You Need to Do
7. State and Local Services Available to All Parties Involved
8. Medical Care and Insurance Coverage for Birth Mother and Child
9. Responsibilities of the Guardian Ad Litem
10. Unique Considerations When Adopting Special Needs Children
8. WHAT TO DO IF SOMETHING GOES WRONG
   3:50 - 4:30, Noel E. Vargas Jr.
1. Rights of the Biological Parents vs. Adoptive Parents: Who Takes Precedence?
2. Proving a Parent is Unfit in Contested Adoptions
3. Tackling Third-Party Challenges
4. Procedures for Dissolution of Adoption
5. Withdrawal of Consent? What to do Next
6. Correctly Handling an Appeal of the Adoption Decree

TODD E. GAUDIN is a director in the Baton Rouge law firm of Kuehne, Foote, & Gaudin APLC. He has more than 15 years experience accepting contested and non-contested disputes and projects throughout the state, and limits his focus to successions and elder care issues, international and domestic adoption proceedings, and juvenile matters. Mr. Gaudin has experience in legislative lobbying and monitors bills that may affect adoptions, successions, and complex community property, the areas of focus for his law firm. He is a member of the Louisiana State Bar Association (Sole Practice/Small Firm Practice Section and Property Section) and the Baton Rouge Bar Association  (Ask a Lawyer, Volunteer Panel, Contributing Writer for Around the Bar). Mr. Gaudin earned his B.G.S. degree from Louisiana State University and his J.D. degree  from Southern University Law Center in Baton Rouge. He also is active in many community efforts.

NOEL E. VARGAS JR. is an attorney at Law Office of Noel E. Vargas, Jr., where he has specialized in adoption law for more 25 years, helping to create over 1,000 families in Louisiana and across the United States and other countries. Mr. Vargas has assisted members of the Louisiana Legislature in the composition and passage of several of the state's adoption statutes. He is the author of the "Adoption Forms" of the West Civil Law Practice. He has been a lecturer at numerous adoption CLE seminars and has served on the faculty of the Baton Rouge College Paralegal Institute. Mr. Vargas is a Fellow of the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys and is certified by them as an adoption mediator. In 2005, he served as a Judge Pro Tempore for the Juvenile Court for the Parish of Orleans. He currently is executive counsel for A.B.L. Adoptions Louisiana and is on the adoption agency's Board of Directors. He also serves on the Board of Directors for Danielle Inn, which is a non-profit maternity home in Covington, LA. Mr. Vargas was presented the 2006 Leadership in Law Award by New Orleans City Business as one of the 50 outstanding lawyers in New Orleans. In 2007, he was presented the Angels In Adoption Award by the U.S. Congress.

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