Protecting your Pet in Domestic Violence Cases Webinar (February 17, 2022)
As part of Animal Protection Awareness Week, the Schiller DuCanto & Fleck Family Law Center and Center for Animal Law cosponsored a live webinar to over 50 attendees about protecting pets in domestic violence cases. Dr. Rhonda DeLong (DePaul University College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences) addressed how pets connect to their families, how pets are impacted by domestic violence in the house, and how survivors of domestic violence are treated as pet owners when going to shelters.
Pet Allocation in Divorce and Separation Cases (February 14, 2022)
Animal Protection Awareness Week started with attorneys Tania K. Harvey and Heather Smith Grattan talking with 11 family law students about the topic of pet allocation in divorces and separation cases. This program was co-sponsored by The Schiller DuCanto & Fleck Family Law Center and the Center for Animal Law.
Donate-a-Day at a local Animal Shelter (February 2, 2022)
Nine student volunteers spent the afternoon helping make toys for animals temporarily living at a Chicago animal shelter. This event was co-sponsored by DePaul’s Pro Bono and Community Service Initiative, Schiller DuCanto & Fleck Family Law Center, and Center for Animal Law as part of Animal Protection Awareness Week.
CFLA Speed Networking Event (January 31, 2022)
The SDF Family Law Center sponsored DePaul’s Child & Family Law Association’s annual Speed Networking Event where approximately 25 students were able to connect in small groups with 10 family law attorneys in the Chicagoland area.
5th Annual Family Law Summer Internshp Fair (January 27, 2022)
Advisory Board Member Boye Akinwande (Cook County Office of the Public Guardian), Mitch Dean (The Law Office of Jonathan Merel, P.C.), Kerry Hamill (Cook County Office of the Public Guardian), Brad Kaye (The Law Office of Jonathan Merel, P.C.), Advisory Board Member Marcellus Moore (Child Advocate Law Group), Advisory Board Member Nicole Onorato (Beattie Freeman Onorato Family Law Group), Kimberly Washington (Ascend Justice), Paige Zilinskas (The Law Office of Erin M. Wilson LLC), and past Advisory Board Member David Zwaska (The Law Office of Jonathan Merel, P.C.) met with over 20 family law students to talk about their work and their individual offices. After each employer briefly presented, law students had the opportunity to meet one-on-one with each presenter, all of whom are actively hiring students for the summer.
Child & Family Law Association Associate-Alumni Panel (November 16, 2021)
The SDF Family Law Center sponsored DePaul’s Child & Family Law Association’s Associate-Alumni Panel where recent DePaul alumni discussed their life after graduation.
Sixth Annual Attorney & Student Legal Answers Pro Bono Family Law & Housing Clinic (October 29, 2021)
The SDF Family Law Center partnered with the Center for Public Interest Law and the Pro Bono & Community Service Initiative to host its sixth annual Attorney & Student Legal Answers Pro Bono Family Law & Housing Clinic with Public Interest Law Initiative (PILI). Attorneys and law students participated in the clinic and worked together to research and answer family law and housing questions posted on PILI’s Legal Answers website.
Child & Family Law Association Attorney Q&A (October 28, 2021)
The SDF Family Law Center sponsored DePaul’s Child & Family Law Association’s Attorney Q&A panel where students were able to meet with attorneys and ask questions about their paths and practice.
Annual Family Law Symposium - A Deep Dive into Domestic Violence Representation (October 7 & 8, 2021)
This year’s two-day Family Law Symposium centered on the premise that while domestic violence representation changed over the last year due to COVID, the need for strong advocacy in cases with domestic violence remains absolutely necessary. Prof. D. Kelly Weisberg of University of California Hastings College of Law was the Symposium Keynote Speaker and focused her presentation on the cutting-edge trends in law reform, specifically on coercive control & child custody. Following Prof. Weisberg’s presentation, various experts in the field discussed the following areas of domestic violence: domestic economic abuse (presented by Brendan Hammer of Schiller DuCanto & Fleck LLP); intimate partner violence (presented by Tracy Callahan of Callahan & Hockemeyer, PC); overlap of traumatic brain injuries, concussions, and domestic violence (presented by Dr. Sonya Crabtree-Nelson of DePaul University College of Liberal Arts and Social Science and Dr. Dorothy Kozlowski of DePaul University College of Science and Health); how social science can help us understand why family courts may discount women’s testimony in intimate partner violence cases (presented by Dr. Amelia Mindtoff of Iowa State University and Kelly Alison Behre of University of California Davis School of Law); the mechanics of obtaining an order of protection in different counties in Illinois (panel discussion with Hon. Megan E. Goldish of the Cook County Domestic Violence Division, Hon. Victoria M. Kennison of the Will County Domestic Relations Division, Hon. Rhonda K. Bruno of the Lake County Domestic Relations Division, and Andrea Belard of Legal Aid Society as the moderator); how to establish parenting time in domestic violence cases (presented by Hon. Maritza Martinez of the Cook County Domestic Relations Division and Marcellus Moore of The Child Advocate Law Group); how to represent the accused versus the accuser (presented by Danielle Parisi Ruffatto of Ascend Justice and Lindsay Coleman of Coleman Law PC); and a review and analysis of various hypotheticals (presented by Robert Hockemeyer of Callahan & Hockemeyer, PC).
Video link to Day 1 - Oct. 7, 2021
Video link to Day 2 - Oct. 8, 2021
Skill Series: Interviewing Clients & Intake Training (September 27 & October 4, 2021)
The SDF Family Law Center partnered with the Center for Public Interest Law and Chicago Volunteer Legal Services (CVLS) to help students gain an understanding of the process of conducting a productive client interview by gathering all important information and organizing that information into a well-drafted case memo for attorney review. Thirteen student volunteers attended the training series. Following the trainings, students conducted actual client interviews at CVLS and drafted case memorandum for CVLS attorneys to review over the remainder of the semester.
Cook County Child Protection Division Information Session (September 21, 2021)
Several students met with the following Assistant State’s Attorneys from the Cook County State's Attorney's Child Protection Division to learn more about their externship program and postgraduate positions: Mary Joly, Robert Rodemeyer, Gina Crumble, and Shawn Eddings Levesque.
Annual Family Law Welcome Reception (September 1, 2021)
Each year, the Schiller DuCanto & Fleck Family Law Center hosts a Family Law Welcome Reception in the beginning of the fall semester to kick off the year. This year, it was well attended by our family law students as well as practitioners in the Chicago legal community. As always, this reception remains a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the start of our academic year, learn more about the Schiller DuCanto & Fleck Family Law Center and the Child & Family Law Association’s annual programs, as well as network.