Agenda / Content Covered

Session Time: 10:00 AM - 1:15 PM Eastern
Break: 11:30 AM - 11:45 AM Eastern
Presenter: Karen S. Law and Stanton Phillips

1. Aftereffects of COVID-19: Case Delays, Agency Issues, Visa and Consular Services, E-Signature Use, Citizenship Proceedings, etc.
2. Citizenship for Adopted Children
3. Interstate Adoptions and ICPC: Who Files, Residency Determination, Which State to File, Exclusions, etc.
4. ICWA and the Brackeen v. Haaland Decision
5. Putative Father Registries
6. Adoption Tax Credits and Qualifying Expenses Update
7. Federal Influence on Adoptions; Supreme Court, MEPA, PKPA, Adoptions and Safe Families Act and Servicemembers
8. Foster Adoption Unique Issues: Title IV-E and Interstate Placement Processing

Accreditation Details:

KAREN S. LAW is an adoption and immigration attorney practicing in Virginia. Her immigration practice is national. She graduated from the University of Pennsylvania School of Law in 1985 and became licensed in Virginia in that same year. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys and a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, the Virginia State Bar, and the Virginia Women Attorneys Association. She also co-chaired the International Adoptions Committee for the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys for three years and served on the AILA International Operations Liaison Committee for two years. Working with those professional associations, she submitted comments to USCIS on proposed rules, operating procedures and policy memoranda. She also has assisted with drafting federal and state legislation and has provided comments and technical expertise to legislators. She was designated as a 2013 Angel in Adoption by the Congressional Coalition on Adoption. In cooperation with the Loudoun County Department of Family Services and the Virginia Women Attorneys Association, she has co-chaired the annual celebration of adoption in Loudoun County, Virginia, Loudoun Adoption Day, for eleven years. She often speaks at national conferences on intercountry adoption issues and publishes articles on those same topics. She enjoys volunteering at orphanages throughout the world, including South Africa, Nicaragua, Honduras, Mexico, Belize, and Jamaica.

STANTON PHILLIPS limits his practice to adoption law and assisted reproduction in Virginia and DC. Practicing under the name Adoption Legal Services, he has successfully completed more than 3,500 adoption cases during the past 38 years. Mr. Phillips represents adoptive parents, birth parents and adoption agencies, or acts as guardian ad litem for the adoptee. He handles private, agency, interstate, intrastate, special needs and international adoptions and has represented numerous adoption agencies on adoption matters. Mr. Phillips is a frequent lecturer and a media resource on adoption law. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys, where he has served as a trustee and officer. Mr. Phillips has written a chapter entitled "Adoption Law, Procedure and Practice," in Family Law and Practice and was a contributing writer to Adoption Law and Practice and a dozen other books and legal manuals. He participated in drafting and working with the Virginia Legislature on creating the 1995, 2006 and 2007 major revisions to Virginia's adoption statutes and has provided input for various statutes since then. Mr. Phillips also has served as chair for the Advisory Council for the Congressional Coalition for Adoption Institute and as chair for the D.C. Superior Court Adoption Committee. He is a past recipient of the U.S. Congress Angels in Adoption award. In four of his cases, the children’s adoptions were finalized in the White House with the president and first lady for Adoption Day. Mr. Phillips earned his B.A. degree from the American University and his J.D. degree from George Mason University School of Law.