Litigating Parental Alienation Claims: Strategies, Investigation, Obtaining Evidence, Role of Experts, Intervention
Recording of a 90-minute CLE video webinar with Q&A
This CLE webinar will discuss the issue of allegations of supposed “parental alienation” and offer guidance for handling a case involving such allegations in court. The panel will discuss the term “parental alienation”, why it is controversial, how to defend against a claim of “parental alienation” in cases involving allegations of child abuse, how to litigate alleged matters where the resist/refuse dynamic presents itself, the role of a child’s attorney or guardian ad litem, and practical strategies for obtaining and admitting evidence to prove or defend against such allegations.
Outline
- Brief history and overview of the controversies about parental alienation
- Type of situations where it arises
- How courts define and address it
- Proving or challenging parental alienation
- Law
- Investigation
- Role of guardian ad litem
- Role of experts
- Selection
- Examining the child
- Admissibility
- Remedies and intervention
Benefits
The panel will review these and other key issues:
- What are the controversies surrounding the label of “parental alienation” in the mental health profession and in the legal profession?
- Understanding the implications of “parental alienation” allegations for children’s safety and credibility.
- What should be the role of a child’s attorney or a guardian ad litem?
- How to litigate a case where the resist/refuse dynamic presents itself?
- How to defend against a claim of alleged “parental alienation”?
- How to keep the focus on the child’s best interests and a child-centered resolution?
- What are the purported remedies for the resist/refuse dynamic, and are they effective?
Faculty
Suzanne Chester
Attorney
Legal Aid of North Carolina
Ms. Chester is the director of The Child's Advocate, a project of Legal Aid of NC. Attorneys from The... | Read More
Ms. Chester is the director of The Child's Advocate, a project of Legal Aid of NC. Attorneys from The Child's Advocate specialize in providing direct representation to children who are trapped in custody battles between their parents. Before representing children, Ms. Chester spent fifteen years representing adult clients in cases related to domestic violence, child custody, immigration and housing. Ms. Chester has taught as an adjunct professor at the UNC school of law, and at several NITA programs. She speaks at local and national CLE programs on topics related to family law, fair housing, children's rights, and domestic violence. Ms. Chester works extensively with the private family law bar and the judiciary to recruit and train pro bono attorneys on how to give children a strong voice in family court. She enjoys writing about children's rights, family court, and "parental alienation", and has published articles in the Journal of Family Trauma, Child Development and Child Custody.
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Richard Ducote, Esq.
Attorney
Ducote Law Firm
Mr. Ducote, an attorney licensed in Louisiana (1978) and Pennsylvania (2009), has been one of the nation’s... | Read More
Mr. Ducote, an attorney licensed in Louisiana (1978) and Pennsylvania (2009), has been one of the nation’s leading child abuse/domestic violence litigators and law reformers for 39 years. He received a B.S. in psychology from Tulane in 1974. Immediately following his law school graduation from Loyola in New Orleans in 1978, which he earned while serving as a juvenile probation officer in the Jefferson Parish Juvenile Court, he created a specialized program to provide and train attorneys for abused and neglected children. That project, which developed the Tulane University School of Law Juvenile Law Clinic, was one of only four in the country nationally recognized by the federal government for its innovative court improvements.
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Seth L. Goldstein
Attorney
Law Offices of Seth L. Goldstein
Mr. Goldstein created a resource and referral program dedicated to helping litigants in child abuse cases. He... | Read More
Mr. Goldstein created a resource and referral program dedicated to helping litigants in child abuse cases. He represents protective parents and children in child custody matters where family violence and child abuse are alleged. Mr. Goldstein testifies as an expert witness and often sits second-chair in litigating these matters. He has authored a leading textbook on investigations of sexual abuse and has articles in several publications including for the FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, the APSAC Advisor, and the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts.
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