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 - 9:45, Sherry A. Dalessandro

• 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
9:45 - 10:15, Janet M. Catina

• 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
10:30 - 12:00, Kimberly A. Fedrigon

• 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
1:00 - 2:30, Janet M. Catina

• 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, Sherry A. Dalessandro

• 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, Kimberly A. Fedrigon

• 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 M. CATINA is the owner of the Law Office of Janet Marsh Catina, LLC, where she focuses her practice in family law. She is also an assistant district attorney for Monroe County. Ms. Catina has previously lectured for PBI and was previously an adjunct professor in Business Management at East Stroudsburg University. She has also taught business law, management, and health law at the university. Ms. Catina earned her B.A degree from Muhlenberg College, her J.D. degree from Dickinson School of Law of the Pennsylvania State University, and her M.B.A. degree from Lehigh University. She is a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association and the Monroe County Bar Association (Mock Trial, Lawyers and Judges Go Back to School, and Fairy Tale Trial Programs).

KIMBERLY A. FEDRIGON is a partner in the law firm of Kash & Fedrigon, Attorneys at Law. Ms. Fedrigon focuses her practice in family law, including divorce, custody, support, adoption, dependency and juvenile delinquency. She is the Monroe County advocate for domestic violence by appointment of the Honorable Ronald Vican, representing petitioners in actions for Protection from Abuse cases. Ms. Fedrigon also serves the county through her representation of parents in dependency matters and as a Guardian Ad Litem for children who have been placed in foster care. She is a 1990 graduate of Luzerne County Community College with a degree in paralegal studies. Ms. Fedrigon worked as a paralegal with the law office of James and Mihalik, Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania from 1990 to 1992. She is a 1996 graduate of Bloomsburg University with a Bachelor of Arts in mathematics education, graduating with an honors thesis on chaos and fractal theory. Ms. Fedrigon taught mathematics in Maui, Hawaii until returning east in 1997. Prior to attending law school, she worked as a support paralegal to the office of Regional Counsel for Veterans Affairs in North Carolina, defending employment discrimination claims filed against the facility. Ms. Fedrigon attended law school at North Carolina Central University School of Law graduating in 2002 with honors.  Upon passing the bar exam in 2002, she worked in Philadelphia before returning to northeast Pennsylvania in early 2003.     

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