Law in the Family

Mark Momjian joins us to discuss the evolving views of animal law and pets in divorce cases as framed by the 20 year old case of DeSanctis v. Pritchard, whose decision and appeal have often been misunderstood when dealing with pets in family law cases.

Helen Casale discusses the Pennsylvania Superior Court decision in Glover v. Junior, which addresses issues of asserting parentage and assisted reproductive technology contracts.

Helen Casale is a shareholder at Hangley Aronchick Segal Pudlin & Schiller in Norristown. She concentrates her practice on all aspects of family law, including divorce, child support, custody, spousal support, asset protection and more. Casale is an American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers Fellow. She has been listed among the top 50 female attorneys in Pennsylvania every year since 2011 by Pennsylvania Super Lawyers, received the Philadelphia Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 award and was named a Lawyer on the Fast Track by The Legal Intelligencer. 

Mark McCreary gives us an overview of the legal and ethical issues surrounding artificial intelligence, including privacy, liability, and intellectual property. He explains how AI can impact the legal profession, especially regarding its potential for automation and its use in the decision-making process, how the ethical considerations intersect with the law, and how the law is adapting to these issues.

Co-Chair of the Privacy & Data Security Practice, Mark focuses on helping clients to comply with privacy-related laws, rules and regulations and respond effectively in the event of a data breach.

He is CIPP/US and CIPT certified by the International Association of Privacy Professionals and is the founder of the firm’s 45+ attorney Privacy & Data Security group.

Mark writes for numerous legal and technology publications and is a frequent media source on data privacy and cybersecurity issues.

Psychologist Christina Carson-Sacco discusses how to manage challenging personalities in divorce cases.

Dr. Carson-Sacco is a clinical psychologist with over 25 years of experience, co-founder of The Center for Neuropsychology and Counseling, a consultant to clinicians and other professionals, and a professional public speaker.

Currently, she works as an individual, couples, group, and family therapist for children, adolescents and adults, as well as an educational and legal consultant. In addition, Dr. Carson-Sacco devotes time to managing and growing the private group practice she created with her business partner in 2008.

Dr. Carson-Sacco has served on a number of non-profit boards that support the educational and mental health needs of children and families. In her role as a wellness consultant, she brings her decades of experience as a teacher, lecturer, and therapist to businesses with the goal of providing practical information to support employees’ well-being.

Seasoned estate attorney Mary Kay Kelm joins us to discuss the common cross-over of issues between estate litigation and family law and what concepts family law attorneys needs to be aware of for their clients.

Mary Kay Kelm practices with Kilcoyne & Kelm, LLC in Montgomeryville, Pennsylvania. She concentrates her practice in civil litigation, zoning, and estate planning & administration. Ms. Kelm also forms small businesses and provides ongoing counsel in corporate matters.

Ms. Kelm is a proud graduate of St. Joseph's University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and is a past President of the St. Joseph’s Law Alumni. She is a graduate of the Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law where she served on the Law Review and represented the school in a national moot court competition. She volunteers as an alumni judge for Villanova’s Moot Court program every year.

Ms. Kelm is the current Solicitor to the Montgomery Township Zoning Hearing Board and has served as a Montgomery Township volunteer in various capacities for many years. She is a former civics instructor in the Montgomery Township schools, and a former PA Bar Association mock trial coach for Gwynedd Mercy Academy High School.

Ms. Kelm considers herself fortunate to be a thirty-year member of the Montgomery Bar Association and currently serves on its Board of Directors. She also serves as a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s House of Delegates.

If you’re a family law attorney, you may not realize you are applying principles of constitutional law all the time. I speak with family law attorney Elizabeth Billies and constitutional law Professor Randy Lee about just that, as they prepare for their panel at the PBA Family Law Section Meeting in Hershey over the January 13th weekend, where they will examine the recent Dobbs decision and other family law/constitutional law crossover issues.

Randy Lee teaches constitutional law, professional responsibility, torts and various writing and advocacy courses. Professor Lee has taught previously at the Villanova and University of Pittsburgh Law Schools and in the Harvard University Summer Program. The moot court teams Professor Lee has co-coached with Professor Kearney have advanced to the National Appellate Advocacy Championship three times, and their 1993 team was recognized for the third best brief in the nation. Professor Lee is a frequent speaker for the Pennsylvania Bar Institute and has also done programs for the Pennsylvania Office of General Counsel, the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office, and the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.

Elizabeth Billies is a Partner at Dischell, Bartle & Dooley, PC, in Lansdale, PA, and concentrates her practice in all aspects of family law. Prior to her current position, she was law clerk for the Honorable Susan Devlin Scott of the Bucks County Court of Common Pleas, the former President Judge and Administrative Judge of Family Court. She has contributed articles to the Pennsylvania Family Lawyer and has presented on various family law topics at the Pennsylvania Bar Association, PBI as well as on family law related podcasts and webinars. You can also find her writings on her blog, The Divorce Lawyer Life. Ms. Billies received her B.A. from University of Wisconsin-Madison and her J.D. from Villanova University School of Law.

NIL deals are still making waves in high school sports, but a Philadelphia councilmember is already looking to support high school students who have NIL opportunities, to help them avoid pitfalls and predatory financial behavior. Councilmemeber Isaiah Thomas speaks about his efforts and why attorneys should be paying attention to this issue.

Councilmember Isaiah Thomas has put the success of young people at the forefront of his work. Whether in the classroom, on the basketball court, or in City Hall - he believes that education, opportunity and coalition building is the way to make a Philadelphia that works for all of us.

Councilmember Thomas has non-profit, government and private sector experience which allows him to hear multiple sides of an issue and receive input from a variety of stakeholders. He has helped young people get the best possible education, provided out-of-school time (OST) programming, strengthened communities of color and worked to improve civic education across the city.

In his freshman year on Council, Councilmember Thomas was named Chair of the Streets Committee and Vice Chair of the Children and Youth Committee. He also sits on the Appropriations, Disabled and Persons with Special Needs, Education, Creative Economy, Legislative Oversight, Parks and Recreation, Public Health, Public Safety, and Technology Committees.

A proud graduate of Philadelphia public schools, Councilmember Thomas has a Bachelor of Arts from Penn State and a Master of Education from Lincoln University, the oldest degree-granting historically Black college in the nation. He still actively coaches basketball at Sankofa Freedom Academy and is President of the Coaches Association. Thomas lives in Oak Lane with his wife Klissa and their sons, Isaiah Jr. and Isaac.

Katherine Norton and Morgan Grey of Duquesne University’s School of Law are leveraging their experience in the law and artificial intelligence/machine learning to create a program that allows pro se custody litigants to bring better crafted custody appeals to the Superior Court. This program hopes to be an example of how technology can serve the dual purpose of giving access to justice for pro se litigants, while also providing pro bono counsel an effective intake and preparation program that will allow them to maximize their time and expertise when accepting a custody appeal.

Katherine L.W. Norton, is an assistant professor and director of clinical and international programs at the Thomas R. Kline School of Law of Duquesne University. Within the clinical legal education program, she teaches and acts as the supervising attorney for the Family Law Clinic. The Family Law Clinic provides limited legal services to low-income individuals needing assistance in the areas of child custody, divorce, family support, and domestic violence. Norton focuses her research on issues relating to access to justice and the role that technology and artificial intelligence have in this arena. Most recently Norton received an American Bar Endowment Grant for the project, Utilizing Technology to Enhance Access to Custody Appeals. This research will result in the development of an online tool to assist low-income individuals access the custody appellate process.

Morgan A. Gray is an Adjunct Professor of Law at the Thomas R. Kline School of Law of Duquesne University, where he teaches programming for lawyers. He is also a Doctorate Student in the University of Pittsburgh’s Intelligent Systems Program.  His main area of research is Legal Text Analytics, which focuses on using Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing to analyze and learn information from legal text.  Aside from this, his research interests include access to justice.  In this vein, he is currently researching the development of a tool to increase access justice for low-income individuals with respect to custody appeals. This research has been enabled by the American Bar Endowment Grant for Utilizing Technology to Enhance Access to Custody Appeals.

Reproductive technologies and the law are both evolving at a rapid pace. Elizabeth Vaysman joins us to help decipher some of the concepts that make up the contracts that help people have families.

Michelle “Elle” Barr brings her deep knowledge of the use of Our Family Wizard as both a practicing attorney and as an education director for OFW. Elle’s insight is a must-hear for attorneys and clients alike who use OFW.

Elle is an experienced court attorney with a demonstrated history of working in the legal services industry, and with a deep commitment to children and families. She also serves as a Judicial Education Coordinator for OurFamilyWizard.

Mark Ashton has been a presence in the family law for decades and brings his analysis to the Seagraves case: a PFA that resulted in an indirect criminal contempt sentence of over 10 years. Mark discusses with us the unintended consequences a PFA can create in many areas of the law.

Mark practices in the area of civil litigation with a particular emphasis on family law. He has lectured throughout the Commonwealth and has written extensively on family law. After serving as judicial clerk to the Honorable Mason Avrigian on the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas, Mark was associated with Abrahams and Loewenstein, and later chaired the Domestic Relations Group at Riley, Riper, Hollin & Colagreco. A longtime officer in the Pennsylvania Bar Association, Mark served as the 2016 Family Law Section chair. He is the former president of the Doris J. Freed American Inn of Court, a group of 60 attorneys in the Philadelphia area concentrating in family law. Additionally, he served as a board member of the Montgomery Bar Association and Historic Yellow Springs, Inc. where he also was President from 2009-2012.

Chelsey Christiansen was court-appointed to a contested adoption case and ended up arguing before the Supreme Court on her birthday. Chelsey shares with us the unusual procedural and factual background of a contested trial and the impact of a party seeking custody of a child.

Chelsey A. Christiansen focuses her practice on family and juvenile law, litigation, child custody, divorce, child support, and child advocacy. Ms. Christiansen has experience representing clients in family law matters at the mediation, arbitration, trial, and appellate level. She also has experience providing litigation support to commercial clients, including drafting pleadings and representing the interests of commercial clients in small claims court.

Incoming chair of the PBA Family Law Section, Darren Holst, joins us to discuss his goals and plans for his year as section chair and ways for attorneys across the state can benefit from being involved in the section.

Darren Holst is a partner with the Pennsylvania family law firm of Howett, Kissinger & Holst PC. He focuses his practice on matrimonial law. Darren handles cases including complex divorce, child custody, and child support. He frequently finds himself in trial and appellate courts protecting the rights of his clients. Previously, Darren served as the clerk to Judge Samuel A. Kline of the Lebanon County Court of Common Pleas. He also serves as an adjunct professor at Harrisburg Area Community College, where he instructs paralegals on areas including legal research, writing, ethics and core substantive law such as contracts, torts, criminal law, real property, business law and family law.

Section Chair Helen Casale discusses the release of a co-parenting video created and produced by the Section as a resource for parents and attorneys to help develop better co-parenting relationships and better outcomes for children.

Helen Casale is the 2021-22 chair of the PBA Family Law Section and a shareholder at Hangley Aronchick Segal Pudlin & Schiller in Norristown. She concentrates her practice on all aspects of family law, often taking on the most complicated cases. Helen is a fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. She has ranked as one of the top 50 female attorneys in Pennsylvania every year since 2011 by Pennsylvania Super Lawyermagazine, received the Philadelphia Busines Journal’s 40 Under 40 award and was named a Lawyer on the Fast Track by The Legal Intelligencer and Philadelphia Law Weekly.

We speak with Janine Dunlap Kiah from the SeniorLAW Center. The SeniorLAW Center is the only pro bono organization specializing in grandparent custody cases. Volunteer opportunities exist across the state from in-person pro bono representation to serving on the Center’s hotline to advise and assist parties in need.

We speak with Skip Persick about steps that Family Law attorneys can take in dealing with repetitive custody litigants.

Lawrence J. “Skip” Persick focuses his practice on adoption, divorce, custody, support, dependency, and guardianship. Skip's experience also includes cases dealing with school discipline and the termination of parental rights. He has represented the prevailing party in many notable cases, including a Berks County decision granting compensatory and punitive damages on tort claims raised in the context of a divorce action. A former assistant public defender for Chester County, Skip has remained active within the county and also delivers annual talks on young people and the law to various secondary schools. Skip was selected by his peers for inclusion in the 2022 edition of Best Lawyers in America for Family Law. He was also recognized among Suburban Life magazine’s 2022 Five-Star Attorneys for Divorce/Family Law.

We discuss the Uniform Family Law Arbitration Act: HB 1366. The bill was unanimously passed by the state House last year and is currently awaiting action by the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Shelly Grossman is a partner with Potts, Shoemaker, & Grossman in West Chester, PA. She has dedicated her time and efforts to improving the practice of family law by authoring articles for the American Bar Association’s Family Advocate and Pennsylvania Family Lawyer. She, along with Alita Rovito, Esquire, co-authored the chapter on the Equitable Distribution Trial in Slicing Up the Pie, published by the Pennsylvania Bar Institute. Shelly is a frequent lecturer on divorce, equitable distribution, and other family law issues.

Carolyn Zack is a partner with Momjian Anderer in Philadelphia, PA. She serves regularly as a mediator and binding arbitrator for divorce matters, as well as a parenting coordinator for high-conflict custody matters. Ms. Zack works to improve the practice of family law by writing and teaching, as well as by actively participating in the state and local professional associations.

Michael Chilcot speaks with us about the new Pennsylvania Support Guidelines that went into effect this year. He discusses some of the important changes to the guidelines and some changes that might not be immediately obvious, but may have serious impacts on cases.

Michael R. Chilcot, Jr. is an associate with Leech Tishman and a member of the Litigation Practice Group, where he focuses on family law. Michael is based in the State College office where he regularly advises clients on family and collaborative law and real estate law.

Jill Scheidt, a veteran family law attorney, recently experienced one of the starkest examples of parental alienation. She takes us through the trial as we discuss the concept of parental alienation and how it can be approached in a custody case.

Since 1992, Jill has practiced in Berks County with current concentrations in family law including custody, support and divorce. Over the past 26 years, Jill has litigated a variety of cases to verdict, including premises liability, medical malpractice, motor vehicle negligence, assault, DUI and three murder cases, including one capital case. She has also taught courses in the paralegal program at the Pennsylvania State University in legal research, legal writing, civil procedure, criminal law and torts. She taught Introduction to Business as an adjunct instructor at Reading Area Community College.

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Christina DeMatteo’s career as a family law attorney has afforded her the opportunity to practice law in a range of law firms, from large firms to her current role as a solo/small firm. Christina shares with us her experience in building a thriving practice from scratch and tips that are helpful to attorneys no matter how or where they practice.

Christina has been focused solely on family law since 1999. She is experienced in all areas of family law, including equitable distribution, alimony, alimony pendente lite, spousal support, child support, custody and abuse matters.

We speak with Tracy Updike, Esquire, who specializes in commercial and consumer bankruptcy as we explore the financial and legal issues family law attorneys need to be aware of should their clients or their clients’ former spouses seek personal or business protections through bankruptcy.

Tracy L. Updike, Esq., is Of Counsel at Mette, Evans & Woodside in Harrisburg. She focuses her practice in the field of consumer and commercial bankruptcy and creditors’ rights. She is a frequent lecturer on bankruptcy topics at the Pennsylvania Bar Institute and for the Middle District Bankruptcy Bar Association. She is an adjunct professor for Bankruptcy Law at Widener Law Commonwealth in Harrisburg.

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We speak with Alex Langan, an attorney, financial advisor, and professor. Alex helps us better understand the impact cryptocurrency can have as an asset and ways family law attorneys can approach obtaining discovery, valuing, and generally what to look for if cryptocurrency is an issue – or a suspected issue – in a case.

Alex Langan is the Chief Investment Officer at Langan Financial Group.  As Chief Investment Officer, Alex oversees the management of investment portfolios, acts as a fiduciary over group retirement plans, and interacts with clients regarding their risk tolerance, asset allocation, financial goals and planning.

We speak with Missy Boyd, a family law partner with High Swartz in Norristown, Montgomery County, about discovery tools not often utilized by family law attorneys, including the use of Request for Admissions and the Uniform Interstate Depositions and Discovery Act.

We speak with Mark McCreary, a data and privacy attorney with Fox Rothschild. Mark is an expert in this field and gives us insight into the world of data privacy, hacker attacks, and ransomware, as well as practical ideas and considerations to help secure our practices and client data. Join us for a frank conversation about the risks lawyers run with client data and steps that can be taken so your firm and your clients aren’t victims of data breaches.

Co-Chair of the Privacy & Data Security Practice, Mark focuses on helping clients to comply with privacy-related laws, rules and regulations and respond effectively in the event of a data breach.

He is CIPP/US and CIPT certified by the International Association of Privacy Professionals and is the founder of the firm’s 45+ attorney Privacy & Data Security group.

Mark writes for numerous legal and technology publications and is a frequent media source on data privacy and cybersecurity issues.

Last summer Dori Green wrote an article about the intersection of COVID vaccines and legal custody rights of parents. In a short period of time, much has evolved including preliminary approval of children under 12 years of age being vaccinated and interesting Orphans Court opinion out of Chester County addressing vaccinations in an incapacitate adult child. Dori joins us to discuss the Chester County decision, pre-COVID vaccination laws and holdings, and what we may see in the courts going forward on this issue.

Dori F. Green, an associate in the Family Law practice, represents individuals in matters involving divorce, custody, relocation, petitions for return pursuant to the Hague Convention, support, alimony, equitable distribution, name-change petitions, marital settlement agreements, and premarital agreements.

We speak with forensic account Mitchell Benson of Savran Benson about the Biden Tax Plan and infrastructure bill and the impact of issues like the advanced child tax credit, PPP loans and tax enforcement, the potential impact on changes to the corporate tax and capital gains rates, as well as possible changes to the estate tax law.

Mitchell Benson specializes in matrimonial litigation support, real estate tax planning and compliance, and tax and consulting for individuals and closely held businesses. He has been a partner with Savran Benson LLP for over 30 years. He is a member of the American Institute and Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants, having served on various committees and in leadership positions.

Attorneys deal with an incredible amount of mental health stress and family law attorneys are no exception. In fact, family law attorneys often endue secondary trauma — trauma that is “passed” from the client to the attorney — more than almost any other practice. Brian Quinn talks about secondary or transferred trauma, the mental health challenges facing attorneys and ways to cope.

Brian S. Quinn is the education and outreach coordinator for Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers of Pennsylvania Inc., a lawyers assistance program established in 1988 for the purpose of helping lawyers, judges and law students recover from alcoholism, drug addiction and mental health disorders. Brian is also a licensed attorney having practiced law for over 40 years handling a variety of civil and criminal matters, including family law.

The chair of the PB Family Law Section, Helen Casale, discusses her initiatives to reduce conflict between separated parents, improve the practice of family law and improve the physical health and mental health of family law attorneys in Pennsylvania.

Helen Casale is the 2021-22 chair of the PBA Family Law Section and a shareholder at Hangley Aronchick Segal Pudlin & Schiller in Norristown. She concentrates her practice on all aspects of family law, often taking on the most complicated cases. Helen is a fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. She has ranked as one of the top 50 female attorneys in Pennsylvania every year since 2011 by Pennsylvania Super Lawyer magazine, received the Philadelphia Busines Journal’s 40 Under 40 award and was named a Lawyer on the Fast Track by The Legal Intelligencer and Philadelphia Law Weekly.

Divorcing spouses do not like paying alimony. Even for a spouse who may be entitled to alimony, there are incentives to request financial consideration other than monthly alimony payments, which are often subject to termination or modification. This episode discusses how alimony has evolved in recent years and how attorneys and the courts are utilizing it in resolving cases.

Catherine M. McFadden, a partner at Momjian Anderer LLC, Philadelphia, has nearly 40 years of experience in family law, including divorce, equitable distribution of marital property, alimony, child support and child custody. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, a Pennsylvania Super Lawyer and is rated AV-Preeminent by Martindale-Hubbell.