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Ruth was referred
to Connolly by an attorney who thought she would be just what the firm needed
to round out the staff. Ruth has been an attorney for 21 years. Most of this
time she and her husband (also an attorney) practiced civil litigation and
raised three children, until the couple divorced. Managing this life
transition with three teenage children taught Ruth exactly how "emotionally
wrenching divorce can be" she said. Ruth joined a firm
specializing in family law and discovered how much she enjoyed the field.
"Fueled by my own experience, I found it invigorating and motivating to
work with people to find creative alternatives for dividing property without
destroying what had been worked for, and to problem-solve with regard to
child custody and visitation issues". Now that she's
joined Oyler & Woldman, Ruth considers her empathy for her divorce
clients as one of her greatest assets. "Until it's happened to you, you don't
know what its like on the other side of the attorney's desk", she said. Refreshingly
"Pro Child" What a great honor
it has been for me to have been appointed recently by various bench officers,
who have come to know me from my cases in their courtrooms, to represent
minors in particularly contentious custody cases! For me to be an advocate
solely for a child as opposed to either "Mom" or "Dad" is
unbelievably refreshing and rewarding. It is not unknown in family law
circles that a particular judge is thought to be "pro-mom" or a
particular custody evaluator is thought to be "pro-dad." Minor's
counsel is refreshingly "pro-child!" Family Code Section
3151 defines the role of Minor's counsel as a gatherer of facts that bear on
the best interests of the child and present those facts to the court. Section
3151 confers upon Minor's counsel the authority to interview the child, to
review court files and to review all records pertaining to the child and
essentially to conduct any further investigation deemed to be appropriate so
as to enable counsel to ascertain all of the facts relevant to the pending
custody proceedings. In my own role as
Minor's counsel, I typically first review the entire court file so as to
understand the history of the parties' marriage and the custody orders in
place in both the past and the present. I then read each of the parties'
pleadings pertaining to custody and move on to interview each parent, and the
child or children. At this point I generally get a feel for what people
outside of the family are necessary to interview, such as grandparents, aunts
and uncles, teachers, pediatricians, therapists, neighbors, childcare
providers, and just about any-one who is a part of the child's life. Equipped
with the information provided through extensive interviews, it becomes
possible to advocate for the child. Although the
parents always say that they want what's best for the child, it has become
increasingly evident to me that in every case at least one of the parties
really wants what is best for him or her. Looking back at my
own divorce, I recognize that what I truly thought was in my children's best
interest really was what I wanted. Divorce is such an agonizing experience
that judgment is impaired and clouded by the daily and unrelenting trauma of
being involved in litigation against your formerly beloved spouse of many
years. Each party's lawyer is that party's advocate. It is unreasonable to
expect that the party's lawyer will be able to be an unbiased advocate for
the child at the same time. At the conclusion
of investigations and interviews, Minor's counsel may make recommendations as
to what the custody orders should be. A good bench officer will not
"rubber-stamp" recommendations of Minor's counsel, rather, a good
bench officer will only adopt recommendations that Minor's counsel has fully
supported by a detailed statement of facts gathered from having thoroughly
investigated all critical witnesses. My
experience as Minor's counsel has been a tremendous asset to me in
representing either "Mom" or "Dad" in my own private
cases. I am far better attuned to the best interests of the children and this
directly benefits my clients, and in turn, the entire family. |
Attorneys at Law: |
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