Attorneys Margaret Hickey, Emily Hall, and Lauren Otte attended the 37th Annual Family Law Workshop in Door County at the beginning of August. The three day Workshop in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin included both educational and networking events.
Attorney Margaret Hickey assisted in planning the Workshop this year, and she currently is a member of the Family Law Section Board of Directors. Margaret and Attorney Erica Gittings presented for two hours on “Evidence: Trial Preparation and Presentation for the Family Lawyer (Yes, Rules of Evidence do Apply!)” as part of the Family Law 101 Track. Their speech focused on the use of the evidentiary rules, discovery and civil procedure to prepare for trial and on the need for preparation to succeed in court.
Attorney Lauren Otte joined Becker, Hickey & Poster, S.C. as an associate attorney in July and is a 2017 graduate of Marquette University Law School, where she participated in mock trial.
This was Attorney Emily Hall’s second Family Law Workshop, but her first ever trolley tour of Door County. Emily celebrated her one-year anniversary with Becker, Hickey & Poster earlier this summer.
Programming for the Workshop ranged from advanced training on creative ways to negotiate maintenance, with a presentation by Professor Judith McMullen from Marquette University Law School, to a half-day session on insights related to implicit bias, racial anxiety and stereotype threat. That presentation by Rachel Godsit, Co-Founder and director of the New York Research Perception Institute, and William Snowden, a Diversity consultant from New Orleans, was particularly enlightening on the ways to identify and deal with implicit bias in our daily practice with clients, other attorneys and decision makers.
The Workshop concluded with an update on new court decisions and Sara’s Law, which implements new protections for family law attorneys, including Guardians ad Litem, who can be the target of violence. This law creates stiffer penalties for such crimes. The last sessions also covered limited scope representation, which allows family law attorneys to assist in portions of a case rather than taking on the full action, and a focus on the special legal issues as they relate to first responders such as fire fighters and police.
The Workshop was very well attended, and we look forward to next year!
