Helping clients through marriage dissolution requires an in-depth understanding of the obstacles they face and techniques for successful problem resolution. Do you have the skills you need to handle complex issues that come your way? Are you up to speed on the latest trends and current tips for overcoming common challenges? Let our experienced practitioners help you find the answers you need to your tough divorce and custody questions. Order today!

1. Troubleshooting Marriage Dissolution Issues
2. Resolving Disputes and Speeding Up the Process
3. Valuation and Division of Complex Assets
4. Child Custody, Child Support and Cases Involving Domestic Abuse
5. Ethical Dilemmas
6. Post-Divorce Considerations

TROUBLESHOOTING MARRIAGE DISSOLUTION ISSUES
8:30 - 9:30, James F. Lovett, Jr.

• Disputing the Enforceability of Marital Agreements
• Interstate and International Divorce – Arguing the Jurisdiction
• Managing the Client
• Persuading Your Own Clients to be Reasonable and Not Follow Their Friends' Advice
• Preventing Harmful Combative Communications Between the Divorcing Spouses

RESOLVING DISPUTES AND SPEEDING UP THE PROCESS
9:30 - 10:45, James F. Lovett Jr.

• The Role of Professional Family Mediators in Dissolution of Marriage
• Mediation vs. Arbitration
• Collaborative Law
• Tips for Handling the Stress and Quelling the Fires of Conflict
• Handling Difficult Opposing Counsel
• Flying Through the Electric Storm – Tips for Managing the Ever-Increasing Volumes of Electronic Communication
• Time Management in Complex Cases With Difficult Client and Difficult Attorney

VALUATION AND DIVISION OF COMPLEX ASSETS
11:00 - 12:15, Janet L. Gemmell

• Separate vs. Marital Property: Commingling and Premarital Contributions
• Finding Hidden Assets and Debts
• Valuing Business Assets
• How are State, Federal and Military Retirement Plans Divided? Effective Use of QDROs
• Pet Placement Issues in Divorce – Is “Fido” Property or Family?
• Spousal Support Issues When Mental Infirmities are Involved
• Making the Best Use of Your Valuations Specialist
• Handling Conflicting Expert Testimony
• Preparing Effective Sworn Financial Statements
• The Effect of Bankruptcy on Marriage Dissolution

CHILD CUSTODY, CHILD SUPPORT AND CASES INVOLVING DOMESTIC ABUSE
1:15 - 2:30, Donna Ambler Rice

• UCCJEA
• New Avenues in Collecting and Preserving the Evidence
• The Brave New World of Custody in Assisted Reproduction
  (Including: custody of embryos and frozen sperm, in vitro fertilization, surrogacy)
• Custody and Visitation Rights of Non-Biological Parents
  (Including: domestic partners, de facto parents, non-marrieds who raised the child, aunts, uncles, same sex partners, etc.)
• Qualifying and Examining the Mental Health Professionals in Custody Hearings
• Parenting Coordinators (and Others Deciding the Child's Life)
• Relocation Challenges
• Allegations of Child Abuse in Custody Disputes
• Restraining and Protective Orders and Injunctive Relief
• Child Testimony in Child Abuse Cases
• Law Enforcement Involvement
• Child Sexual Abuse Evaluations
• Mutual Spousal Abuse Accusations
• Dealing With Therapy Privilege
• Hearsay Rule

ETHICAL DILEMMAS
2:45 - 3:45, James F. Lovett Jr.

• Determining and Collecting Attorney Fees
• Maintaining Confidentiality
• When Doing Everything You Can for the Child is Too Much
• Where Does the Line Between Legal and Mental Health Counsel Lie for You?
• When You Suspect Your Client is Lying
• Accepting Referral Fees From Investment Advisors

POST-DIVORCE CONSIDERATIONS
3:45 - 4:40, James F. Lovett Jr.

• Preserving Issues for Appeal From the Start
• Appeals Process and Tips
• Realistic Child Support and Alimony Enforcement
• Post-Divorce Financial Planning – Give Your Client a Clear To-Do List

JANET L. GEMMELL is a Board Certified Family Law Specialist and founding member of  Cape Fear Family Law in Wilmington, North Carolina. Ms. Gemmell has been a contributing writer and public speaker on divorce law topics for local publications and a national magazine, and has been interviewed by local media for divorce related stories. She is an active presenter of her firm's monthly divorce legal seminar and was voted as a Legal Elite from the NC Business Magazine in 2010. Ms. Gemmell is an active member of the North Carolina Bar Association. She graduated, cum laude, from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington in three years and went on to earn her law degree from the Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law at Campbell University. In 1999, she was selected as one of a three-person team sent to represent Campbell University School of Law at the National Christian Legal Society Conference. Ms. Gemmell gained valuable experience through a pair of internships - one a highly selective program in the United States District Attorney's Office, the other, at Fort Bragg, which involved watching soldiers of the 82nd Airborne jump out of planes.

JAMES F. LOVETT JR. is a principal in the law firm of Rik Lovett and Associates, where he practices in the areas of divorce and family law. Mr. Lovett is a board-certified specialist in family law by the North Carolina State Board of Legal Specialization. He frequently lectures on family law issues to various business and professional groups. Mr. Lovett earned his B.A. degree from Furman University, Greenville and his J.D. degree from Wake Forest University School of Law. He is a member of the Wake County, North Carolina and American bar associations, and the North Carolina State Bar (member, Family Law section).

DONNA AMBLER RICE is the president and senior attorney at Donna Ambler Davis, P.C. Mrs. Rice (formerly Davis) is a board-certified family law specialist and certified mediator of equitable distribution and other family financial cases. She earned her B.A. degree, magnum cum laude, from Montclair State College and her J.D. degree from Washington & Lee University School of Law. Mrs. Rice is the chairperson of the Orange County Family Lawyers' Association, and secretary/treasurer of the 15-B Judicial District Bar Association. She also is a former chairperson of the North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers' Family Law Sections and a former president of the Orange County Bar Association. Mrs. Rice is a member of the North Carolina State Bar Association, the North Carolina Bar Association (chairperson, Children's Issues Committee, Family Law Section), and the North Carolina Association of Women Attorneys, The Academy of Family Mediators, and the Triangle Collaborative Family Law Association.

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