This program is eligible for 3 hours of CLE credit in 60-minute states. In 50-minute states, this program is eligible for 3.6 hours of CLE credit. Credit hours are estimated and are subject to each state’s approval and credit rounding rules.
Overview
This course will examine third parties in custody from the perspective of attorneys, a judge and a therapist/evaluator. We will look at the law and trends that have emerged in third party custody as well recent cases, potential legislation and how the practice continues to change.
Topics include:
• Standing
• Presumptions and Factors
• Case law
• Trends and Opioid Epidemic
• Same Sex Parents
• Court Perspective
• Therapist/Evaluator Perspective
• Attorney Perspective
• Tools
• Potential Legislation
All attendees will receive the course book as a digital download.
Recorded in August 2024.
Faculty
Helen Casale Esq.
Ms. Casale is a shareholder with Hangley Aronchick Segal Pudlin & Schiller in Plymouth Meeting. She concentrates her practice in the area of domestic relations law, including child custody, divorce, support, adoption, property distribution, and abuse actions. She is a fellow of the Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers and former Chair of the Pennsylvania Bar Association Family Law Section. She is also a leader in the ABA Section of Litigation and currently serves as the ABA Delegate for the Philadelphia Bar Association. She has spoken at several seminars regarding custody disputes, property division, marriage, and support issues. Ms. Casale is admitted to practice in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. She received her B.A., cum laude, from Lynchburg College in 1990. Ms. Casale received her J.D. from Rutgers University School of Law-Camden in 1994.
Hon. Alita A. Rovito
Judge Rovito joined the Chester County Court of Common Pleas in January 2022. She is currently hearing family and criminal cases. She obtained her bachelor’s degree in philosophy, with distinction from the Pennsylvania State University as a member of The Scheyers Honor College in 1984 and Juris Doctor from the Dickinson School of Law of the Pennsylvania State University in 1987.
In 2009, after serving as a family court hearing officer, she opened Rovito Law LLC as sole practitioner in West Chester. Her practice concentratedon all aspects of family law. Judge Rovito also acted as a mediator, arbitrator and a parenting coordinator, both prior to the new rules and after.
Prior to opening her own practice, Judge Rovito served as a Family Court master in Chester County for almost 15 years. She presided over thousands of custody conciliations and record support, divorce, and complex equitable distribution hearings. Judge Rovito has also acted as the juvenile master in both dependency and delinquency matters.
Judge Rovito started her career in Chester County as an Assistant District Attorney in 1988, where she assisted with the establishment of the Child Abuse Unit and was the managing attorney of the unit until she left in 1994 to join the Masters’ Unit.
Judge Rovito is a frequent speaker for the PBA. She is a member of the Chester County and Pennsylvania bar associations and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. She is a member of the Supreme Court Domestic Relations Rules Committee, the PCSTJ Education Committee and, along with Judge Tarah Toohill of Luzerne County, is the co-chair of the Family Law Section of the State Trial Judge’s Conference.
Adam Tanker Esq.
Since 2013, Mr.
Tanker has practiced exclusively in the area of family law. He has litigated
many complex cases involving business assets and trusts, and he has extensive
experience taking custody cases to trial. Mr. Tanker is a former Deputy
District Attorney for the Bucks County, Pennsylvania, District Attorney’s
office, where he served as Chief of the Asset Forfeiture Unit and was
assigned to the office’s gangs, guns, and drug unit. He also acted as the
office’s community liaison for gang violence. In this role, he helped crime
victims find their voice and ensured those who committed crimes were held
accountable. He continues to use these skills to solve problems, assertively
addressing the difficult issues his clients face. Mr. Tanker has conducted
presentations across the Commonwealth concerning family law matters and has
presented several legal education seminars in affiliation with the Bucks
County Bar Association, the Pennsylvania Bar Association, the Pennsylvania
Bar Institute, The Doris Jonas Freed American Inn of Court and the Bucks
County Inn of Court. He is a member of the Bucks County Bar
Association, the Pennsylvania Bar Association, the Bucks County American Inn
of Court, the Doris Jonas Freed American Inn of Court, and the Pennsylvania
Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.
Jeffrey Liebmann Esq.
Mr. Liebmann has concentrated his practice on Divorce, Custody, Grandparents’ Rights, Child and Spousal Support and other Family Law-related matters. Mr. Liebmann has extensive courtroom experience litigating, when necessary, complex property division issues, Custody disputes and Support and Alimony issues. Mr. Liebmann has represented a broad cross-section of the community, including small business owners to CEOs of large corporations, from labor union members to high-net-worth individuals in all aspects of their Family Law issues, either inside the courtroom or working to negotiate settlements outside the courtroom.
Diana Rosenstein PhD
Dr. Rosenstein is a psychologist and psychoanalyst in private practice in Jenkintown. She treats adults in psychoanalysis and intensive psychotherapy, as well as children and adolescents in intensive psychotherapy. She specializes in forensic assessments, including custody evaluations and mental health evaluations. For 20 years, she was a consulting evaluator with the Court Conciliation and Evaluation Service, performing custody evaluations in Bucks County. Dr. Rosenstein teaches widely and is on the faculty of the Psychoanalytic Center of Philadelphia and the Psychoanalytic Association of New York, where she is also actively involved in advocating for psychoanalysis. She is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychology in Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania, and on the clinical faculty in psychiatry at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and Albert Einstein Medical Center. Dr. Rosenstein has published empirical research in attachment theory and on the psychological effects of custody disputes on children. Dr. Rosenstein received her PhD in clinical and developmental psychology from the University of Pennsylvania in 1992 and her psychoanalytic training at the Psychoanalytic Center of Philadelphia in 2006. She has been a licensed psychologist in Pennsylvania since 1986, and has been certified by PSYPACT in 2021 to perform telehealth in the states involved in that compact.
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