Too savage for business school, ignoring he was a huge part of the problem, and yet after a lifetime of allowing attorneys to feast on the bones and bank accounts of anyone in his court; Judge Roderic Duncan now decides he wants a piece of the divorce industry pie. Duncan figures to cash in with PRE-litigants; for dessert.
Duncan's pr person writes;
"Judge Blasts Divorce Court in Nolo Book"
BERKELEY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--“Whatever you do, try to keep your case out of divorce court — the system stinks,” writes Judge Roderic Duncan in A Judge’s Guide to Divorce: Uncommon Advice from the Bench, new from Nolo. “But if your spouse won’t cooperate and you must go, here’s everything you need to know about surviving the ordeal.”
The veteran divorce-court judge reveals court as a clumsy tool for breaking up a family. It’s adversarial, intrusive and costly. When the law and fairness don’t jive, the judge must side with the law. And when the couple has children, the courtroom experience makes long-term enemies of the two people most important to the kids.
So Duncan recommends you and your spouse reach your own agreements..."
****
In the "Is this guy for real?" Department: we sadly respond with a resounding "Yes."
Duncan's utterly real and he wants your money. Don't buy it. Ask your librarian (you remember libraries don't you?) to order a copy if you feel you must read it.
But our email history suggests the author was as depraved a judge as the litigants he now sneers about in his book.
In fact, it was Duncan who wrote a scathing letter to attacking litigants after his friend, Judge Michael, "You-Scratch-My-Back-I'll-Scratch-Yours" Dufficy (we're not kidding. Dufficy presented attorneys invited to his ranch/camp home with T-shirts made with this slogan), after Dufficy was outed in a San Francisco publication in an article titled;
Odor in the Court
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
"Virtual Visitation" - Stop the hype
Today I read a story on cutting edge visitation.
The first article I read on this was Feburary 24, 2002, quoting NY attorney, Barbara Handschu, who trilled it as "cutting edge."
Today, read roughly the same thing on an attorney's blog.
The attorney seemed nice enough, but please. It's not "virtual visitation." It's an email.
Sometimes with pictures. Moving pictures. But it is Not "virtual visitation." There is no such thing.
However, for some reason this struck me as right up there with attorney ads to "Update your prenup," - keep me in the loop!
The first article I read on this was Feburary 24, 2002, quoting NY attorney, Barbara Handschu, who trilled it as "cutting edge."
Today, read roughly the same thing on an attorney's blog.
The attorney seemed nice enough, but please. It's not "virtual visitation." It's an email.
Sometimes with pictures. Moving pictures. But it is Not "virtual visitation." There is no such thing.
However, for some reason this struck me as right up there with attorney ads to "Update your prenup," - keep me in the loop!
Media Almost Gets this Eight year custody case Right!
This is So Exciting! Media inches towards Reality!
I offer the latest from AP wires...and as close as anyone has gotten in years, along with editorial comments, in red.
Feb. 14, 2007
Tenn. custody case dragged on for years (of course it did. That's the point.)
By WOODY BAIRD Associated Press Writer
The Associated Press
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Qin Luo He wailed in broken English that rich Americans were stealing her baby. But it took almost seven years before Tennessee courts agreed to return the child to her.
That delay, say some legal experts, is one of the most scandalous aspects of the whole heartbreaking case. ("Scandalous?" This is routine.)
"That's a disaster. It's an incredibly long time," said Bruce Boyer, director of the Loyola University ChildLaw Center in Chicago. (It is a Diaster, but the point being, this is not news. The courts commit this kind of behavior routinely, without any media casting a critical eye.)
In 1999, Qin Luo and Shaoqiang He, Chinese citizens living in Memphis, put their daughter in foster care with an American couple, Jerry and Louise Baker, when she was a month old. The Bakers later went to court to contend the Hes had abandoned their baby, and a judge stripped the Hes of their parental rights.
Last month, after a remarkably drawn-out case that produced volumes of paperwork, the Tennessee Supreme Court sided with the Hes, saying they had given up Anna Mae only temporarily so she could get medical insurance.
At the time, Shaoqiang He, who had been a graduate student at the University of Memphis, had lost his scholarship and was out of work after being accused of sexually assaulting another student. He was ultimately acquitted.
The high court said the Chinese couple had been penalized because they did not understand the American legal system. It found no evidence the Hes had harmed their daughter.
"The only evidence of substantial harm arises from the delay caused by the protracted litigation and the failure of the court system to protect the parent-child relationship throughout the proceedings," the court said in its 5-0 decision.
Now, 8-year-old Anna Mae must leave the family she has lived with nearly her entire life and return to parents she barely knows. (A family court judge, thus be the cause of the problem, could now rule it wasn't in her best interests to break the bond). The second-grader has a younger brother and sister she must get to know, too. No timetable has been set for reuniting the little girl with her parents.
State law urges judges to move quickly on parental rights petitions, (yes, but there are so many lawyer and theraputic mouthes to feed that wouldn't be feed if these cases were adjudicated as the law urges. Common sense in feeding the legal industry dictates they will Not be resolved without as many comers as possible) but the fight raged on for years, fueled by arguments over where Anna Mae would have a better life — in middle-class, suburban America with the Bakers, or in China with her biological family.
"It should go to trial in six months and have a decision 30 days afterward," said Christina Zawisza, a law instructor with the University of Memphis Child Advocacy Clinic. "It's unusual for a case to blow up this dramatically. They just didn't focus it. It was every issue imaginable and pages and pages of discussions." (Them that can do, them that don't know what's going on, teachdo.)
Sue Allison, a spokeswoman for Tennessee's Administrative Office of the Courts, said the Supreme Court's ruling showed its displeasure with lower-court delays in settling the custody dispute.
"The court has and will continue to take steps to ensure that it doesn't happen in the future," she said. (We've got Arizona swampland to sell. Please contact us immediately.)
The Bakers, who have four biological children, argued in court that Anna Mae would be devastated emotionally by taking her from them after so many years.
"But if the Bakers were allowed to profit by delays," said David Siegel, the Hes' lawyer, "you're saying all you have to do is prolong the proceedings and show that the child is now fully attached to you." (This makes perfect sense. The lawyers profit, the therapist's profit; all under the "best interests of the child." Kinda like, "We had to destroy this village to save it.")
Each side blames the other for dragging out the dispute, but university lawyers Zawisza and Boyer said the greatest fault lies with the courts. (And that's Exactly right!)
"That is ultimately the responsibility of trial judges," Boyer said. "When you've got a case that involves the welfare of a child, you need to put that at the top of the pile."
Sue Allison, a spokeswoman for the Administrative Office of the Courts in Tennessee, said the Supreme Court would have no comment beyond its ruling.
The Memphis Juvenile Court is under orders to draw up a plan for reuniting Anna Mae with her parents in such a way as to limit the emotional trauma and slowly loosen her ties to the Bakers. The transition is expected to take several months.
"You want to make sure she has contact with both families for a period of time. They're going to have to put aside their differences," John Ciocca, a psychologist who expects to work with the court on the transition.
****
Never mind the "He said, she said," We're waiting for mainstream press to do a story on the economics of "family law."
I offer the latest from AP wires...and as close as anyone has gotten in years, along with editorial comments, in red.
Feb. 14, 2007
Tenn. custody case dragged on for years (of course it did. That's the point.)
By WOODY BAIRD Associated Press Writer
The Associated Press
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Qin Luo He wailed in broken English that rich Americans were stealing her baby. But it took almost seven years before Tennessee courts agreed to return the child to her.
That delay, say some legal experts, is one of the most scandalous aspects of the whole heartbreaking case. ("Scandalous?" This is routine.)
"That's a disaster. It's an incredibly long time," said Bruce Boyer, director of the Loyola University ChildLaw Center in Chicago. (It is a Diaster, but the point being, this is not news. The courts commit this kind of behavior routinely, without any media casting a critical eye.)
In 1999, Qin Luo and Shaoqiang He, Chinese citizens living in Memphis, put their daughter in foster care with an American couple, Jerry and Louise Baker, when she was a month old. The Bakers later went to court to contend the Hes had abandoned their baby, and a judge stripped the Hes of their parental rights.
Last month, after a remarkably drawn-out case that produced volumes of paperwork, the Tennessee Supreme Court sided with the Hes, saying they had given up Anna Mae only temporarily so she could get medical insurance.
At the time, Shaoqiang He, who had been a graduate student at the University of Memphis, had lost his scholarship and was out of work after being accused of sexually assaulting another student. He was ultimately acquitted.
The high court said the Chinese couple had been penalized because they did not understand the American legal system. It found no evidence the Hes had harmed their daughter.
"The only evidence of substantial harm arises from the delay caused by the protracted litigation and the failure of the court system to protect the parent-child relationship throughout the proceedings," the court said in its 5-0 decision.
Now, 8-year-old Anna Mae must leave the family she has lived with nearly her entire life and return to parents she barely knows. (A family court judge, thus be the cause of the problem, could now rule it wasn't in her best interests to break the bond). The second-grader has a younger brother and sister she must get to know, too. No timetable has been set for reuniting the little girl with her parents.
State law urges judges to move quickly on parental rights petitions, (yes, but there are so many lawyer and theraputic mouthes to feed that wouldn't be feed if these cases were adjudicated as the law urges. Common sense in feeding the legal industry dictates they will Not be resolved without as many comers as possible) but the fight raged on for years, fueled by arguments over where Anna Mae would have a better life — in middle-class, suburban America with the Bakers, or in China with her biological family.
"It should go to trial in six months and have a decision 30 days afterward," said Christina Zawisza, a law instructor with the University of Memphis Child Advocacy Clinic. "It's unusual for a case to blow up this dramatically. They just didn't focus it. It was every issue imaginable and pages and pages of discussions." (Them that can do, them that don't know what's going on, teachdo.)
Sue Allison, a spokeswoman for Tennessee's Administrative Office of the Courts, said the Supreme Court's ruling showed its displeasure with lower-court delays in settling the custody dispute.
"The court has and will continue to take steps to ensure that it doesn't happen in the future," she said. (We've got Arizona swampland to sell. Please contact us immediately.)
The Bakers, who have four biological children, argued in court that Anna Mae would be devastated emotionally by taking her from them after so many years.
"But if the Bakers were allowed to profit by delays," said David Siegel, the Hes' lawyer, "you're saying all you have to do is prolong the proceedings and show that the child is now fully attached to you." (This makes perfect sense. The lawyers profit, the therapist's profit; all under the "best interests of the child." Kinda like, "We had to destroy this village to save it.")
Each side blames the other for dragging out the dispute, but university lawyers Zawisza and Boyer said the greatest fault lies with the courts. (And that's Exactly right!)
"That is ultimately the responsibility of trial judges," Boyer said. "When you've got a case that involves the welfare of a child, you need to put that at the top of the pile."
Sue Allison, a spokeswoman for the Administrative Office of the Courts in Tennessee, said the Supreme Court would have no comment beyond its ruling.
The Memphis Juvenile Court is under orders to draw up a plan for reuniting Anna Mae with her parents in such a way as to limit the emotional trauma and slowly loosen her ties to the Bakers. The transition is expected to take several months.
"You want to make sure she has contact with both families for a period of time. They're going to have to put aside their differences," John Ciocca, a psychologist who expects to work with the court on the transition.
****
Never mind the "He said, she said," We're waiting for mainstream press to do a story on the economics of "family law."
Sunday, February 11, 2007
More Media Misses! Don't be Naming those Judges!
What is it with Media Not identifying the judges in these cases?
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=563691
and
Biagmy as a defense against alimony?
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/business/20070211-9999-lz1b11crabtre.html
While we're at it....why don't women know they're in grave danger when their family suffers from financial wipe-outs, or near wipe outs.
http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=182302
As this is a male dominated media we don't recommend speaking up. We recommend shouting. All reporters not fighting to cover stories locally, such as the ones above, should know this: they are happening in their community. Continued silence puts women and children at Considerable risk.
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=563691
and
Biagmy as a defense against alimony?
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/business/20070211-9999-lz1b11crabtre.html
While we're at it....why don't women know they're in grave danger when their family suffers from financial wipe-outs, or near wipe outs.
http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=182302
As this is a male dominated media we don't recommend speaking up. We recommend shouting. All reporters not fighting to cover stories locally, such as the ones above, should know this: they are happening in their community. Continued silence puts women and children at Considerable risk.
Saturday, February 10, 2007
Donna Hogan's "Trainwreck" version of Anna Nicole Smith's life
Donna Hogan, Anna Nicole's Sister, Pens Train Wreck Expose.
Expect a long tome of drunken actions to follow. Included in the five thousand live fast, die young, hard-partying celebrity and celebrity wannabe crowd, expect perhaps two or three to recognize there might have been a problem.
Will Howard Stern continue to benefit from his only client?
Ignoring the obvious conflict-of-interest, it's likely Stern will file paperwork necessary for judicial approval appointing him as the executor of the estate, and Guardian Ad Litem for Dannielee. (It's also expected paperwork against Stern's involvement will be filed by Larry Birkhead.)
Stern will also ask for compensation from Judge Robert Schnider, routinely granted from the proceeds of the estate. As such nothing nothing changes. Though dead, Anna Nicole Smith estate will be able to continue employing Stern for years.
Will Dannielee's Daddy Please Sit Down?
Going to school on Prince Frederic von Anhalt's ten minute claim of fame, (so ridiculous we're decided against offering the routine 15), it's expected the pool boy, the mailman, the ex-body guard, and several men who passed Smith on the street will likewise file paternity claims.
Most interesting however is her first true love, the now long dead J. Howard Marshall; whose sperm may have been frozen in time, just like his Will. It hardly seems possible Smith conceived the idea to produce an heir at a later date without that coming out at the trial since Rusty Hardin would have smoked out that particular bombshell.
The Miracle of Anna Nicole Smith's life was that she lived to 39.
Unlike Hazelton or any of the 26 Malibu residential treatment centers fanatically competing for celebrity dollars, AA, CA, NA traditions state they are about attraction not promotion. Though AA has helped millions to attain and keep sobriety with a proven treatment for alcoholism, they employ no sales personnel or publicists. If they did, we suspect a few dollars would have been spent on an Anna Nicole Smith poster to remind people programs helping alcoholics and addicts actually exist....along with a reminder that a basic desire for sobriety is fundamental for success.
Medications Reportedly Found in Anna Nicole Smith's Room:
Anna Nicole's personal prescription pharmacy (in the flurry of frenzied reporting, no mention of the prescribing physisicans themselves), included:
Methadone: A powerful opiate painkiller, it is in the same drug category as morphine and codeine — often used to help heroin addicts beat their habit. Causes severe drowsiness and can potentially interact with hundreds of other drugs.
Provigil: A secret favorite of pilots and hospital doctors working graveyard shifts, this central nervous system stimulant keeps users alert and awake. Side effects include anxiety, nervousness, depression, irregular heartbeat and dozens more.
Xanax: Prescribed for depression, anxiety disorders and panic attacks — and, occasionally, fear of open spaces — this brain-bending benzodiazepine drug is notoriously habit-forming. Fentanyl lollipop: A powerful narcotic painkiller often given to cancer patients, especially children. A berry-flavored one sold under the name Actiq sells for about $25 a "pop" on the street.
Friday, February 9, 2007
Now taking bets: How much in legal fees will Judge Robert Schnider churn?
Whose your Daddy?
Never mind two men and an old goat stepping up to the plate; (and why didn't Howard look happy when he was claiming paternity) to claim paternity of Anna Nicole Smith's daughter, lets get to the meat of the matter:
How long will Judge Robert Schnider allow this case to burn through legal fees like an arsonist near a paper factory?
What Didn't Come Up during any of today's drooling coverage?
Who's minding the baby.
Remember the baby?
Never mind two men and an old goat stepping up to the plate; (and why didn't Howard look happy when he was claiming paternity) to claim paternity of Anna Nicole Smith's daughter, lets get to the meat of the matter:
How long will Judge Robert Schnider allow this case to burn through legal fees like an arsonist near a paper factory?
What Didn't Come Up during any of today's drooling coverage?
Who's minding the baby.
Remember the baby?
DNA and Anna Nicole Smith
The reality of paternity, Family Court, and Anna Nicole Smith can also be found with OC Housewives. Courtesy of Frank Mickadeit's work.
http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/news/columns/article_1574421.php
Everyone contemplating a divorce or custody battle, would do well to remember how it works.
http://www.FamilyLawCourts.com
http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/news/columns/article_1574421.php
Everyone contemplating a divorce or custody battle, would do well to remember how it works.
http://www.FamilyLawCourts.com
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