BusinessWeek Article: Good Divorce, Good Business

BusinessWeek has an interesting article on amicable divorces involving spouses who are also business partners: Good Divorce, Good Business

Get More Done

Have you ever worked all day only to discover you had not made a dent in your to-do list? Telephone calls, emails, new projects and other distractions can keep you busy and cause you to lose sight of your real priorities.

Science to the rescue -- "Interruption Science" to be exact. A recent MyShingle post points to an interesting article in New York Times Magazine called Meet the Life Hackers. For tips on dealing with the constant interruptions of modern practice, check out the following resources:

An NPR interview with the author of the NYT Magazine piece
43 Folders - a blog dedicated to Life Hacking

Don't Threaten the Judge (Or His Wife)

In case you were wondering, threatening a judge's wife is not a good way to obtain a favorable resolution of your divorce case. Warren County land developer Jarrell Parris recently learned this valuable lesson, and earned an extortion conviction, for threatening Judge Larry Ross and his wife. WTVF reports that sentencing is scheduled for next month.

Expectation of Trust Proceeds Relevant to Division of Marital Estate

The Iowa Supreme Court has held that a court may consider a spouse's expected (but not guaranteed) income from a trust when dividing marital property. The dissent argues that the majority opinion would also allow a court to consider expected inheritance.

You can find the case at In Re Marriage of Rhinehart, and a discussion of the case on the Family Law Prof Blog.

Rethinking Direct Examination

The ABA Litigation Section has an interesting article on direct examination. The article basically advocates leading your witness (without leading). The technique can be used to add drama to important testimony, to emphasize important facts, or just to make life a little easier on your witness.

Grounds for Relief from Paternity Judgment

Can a "father" get relief from a judgment of legitimation based upon his own fraud on the Court? In Welch v. Welch, the Tennessee Court of Appeals said "no." This seems an obvious decision -- but consider the implications. Tennessee courts have also held that one cannot bypass state adoption laws by obtaining a legitimation order based on false testimony. Which is it? It seems that the rule is whichever result the putative father wants, he gets the opposite.

Legal parenthood involves responsibilities and rights. And legal parenthood is not an appropriate sanction. (Keep in mind that the child's mother was surely involved in misleading the court when the parties obtained the legitimation order.) If Mr. Welch is not the child's biological father, and if he has not adopted the child, then he should not bear the resposibilities or enjoy the rights of fatherhood.

For more on this case, see this entry from the Family Law Prof Blog.