Test Kentucky Divorce Law

Posting Selected Trial Court Rulings: What a Great Idea!

In written remarks accepting the Indiana Judges Association Award for reporting on the judiciary, Marcia Oddi gave a hint of things to come at the Indiana Law Blog. "What about the future? I could go on and on, but here is something of particular interest to this audience -- I'd like to post more trial court rulings. I was interested to learn that the State of New York does an official publication of selected trial court opinions each year, based on precedential usefulness and public importance. I'll be writing more about this in the blog. Please keep reading!"

What piqued my interest was the usefulness to practitioners to know how family court judges are ruling on particular issues. There are a number of trial court and jury verdict reports available to other civil law practitioners, but locally none cover family law decisions. These opinions are written and are public record, but not available online. We try to keep up with judges' thinking at seminars and by chatting with other members of the bar so we can better predict results and have more insight in how to craft a different argument if we are on the opposite side of current thinking in an unsettled area of law. Having more information would lead to better advice for clients, and perhaps more settlements. Just as interesting would be to know how particular judges are applying the law to the facts, especially in areas where discretion is huge, such as maintenance awards.

Obviously we, as practitioners, could not post decisions in our cases because of confidentiality issues, and there is no way I would ask a client for consent. However, I see no reason why we could not post decisions in other cases that we learn about, as they are public record. I would be very much interested in looking at decisions involving issues of first impression, maintenance decisions, and even attorney fee awards. Since I only want to set goals once a year, starting the process around the new the new year (hey, it takes the rest of the year to work on the list!) no promises are being made. Thanks, Marcia, for the interesting food for thought.

Also read Kentucky Law Blog's "Marcia Oddi's "Thank You" For Judges Media Award for ILB Was a Breath of Fresh Air"

Here's the entire acceptance speech:

Justice Johnstone Clarifies Remarks About Bloggers

Retired Kentucky Supreme Court Justice Martin E. Johnstone's comments in the Louisville Bar Briefs which cite the challenges blogs pose to the judiciary were directed at political blogs and not legal blogs, I am pleased to report. Further, he is most interested in participating in a forum to air concerns of the bench and the bar.
As retired Judge Stan Billingsly noted on his LawReader blog, announcing the formation of the American Association of Internet Journalists this summer, membership would impose ethical standards, which include:
"Report and interpret honestly, striving for accuracy, fairness and disclosure of all essential facts. Do not suppress relevant available facts, nor give distorting emphasis.
Make efforts to give the subject of any damaging report an opportunity to comment, preferably in that same report.
Urge the fair correction of errors.
Do not allow personal beliefs or commitments to undermine accuracy, fairness and independence. Where a political bias is present it should be identified and disclosed publicly online."
If these principles were followed, some of the perceived harm to the judicial branch of government caused by the political blogs may be mitigated. Although the most ranting of political blogs will not likely join, publicly posting a seal of membership may lend credibility to the rest.
Our July 31, 2006 post announcing the formation of this association provides several other links to articles on the increasing influence of blogs.
Finally, while we're blogging about blogs, the Indiana Law Blog, winner of the Indiana Judges Association media award, posted today Blogs are emerging as a powerful tool for lawyers, judges and law professors.
UPDATE: See Mike Stevens' posting about this post at Kentucky Lw Blog. I am overwhelmed by his kind words.

Bloggers Among Greatest Challenges Facing State Judiciary

Upon his retirement as Deputy Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Kentucky, Hon. Martin E. Johnstone was interviewed by Daniel T. Goyette, Chief Public Defender for Louisville Metro/Jefferson County, KY. Justice Johnstone served over thirty years with distinction in every level of our state's judiciary. The interview is published in the October, 2006 issue of the Louisville Bar Briefs, the newspaper of the Louisville Bar Association, and unfortunately is not available online.
In response to the questions, "What is the greatest challenge facing the state judiciary in Kentucky? What can lawyers do to improve the Court of Justice?" Justice Johnstone replied, "There are many, but perhaps the greatest challenge to Kentucky's judiciary are the attacks on its integrity and independence, and the blind labeling by pundits, bloggers, and other so-called court-watchers of judges being "activists." ... "Recently bloggers have made the judiciary a favorite target with accusations and allegations that are usually without any basis in fact, yet leave the member of the judiciary unable to counter. This barrage of baseless criticism continues a deterioration of the public's opinion about the judiciary and the bar that endangers the constitutional bedrock of our republic. I have suggested over the years that local bar associations and individual lawyers have the ability to help by putting groups together that could respond to these attacks on the judiciary. I hope to see, and be part of, such efforts in the future."
I would suggest that he start a blog as part of that effort! We know to whom his criticism is directed, but most of the dozen or so blawgers in Kentucky, and certainly all listed on this site, are responsible and restrained. Blogs can be an asset to the judicial system, as the Indiana judiciary recognized by its award just this week to the Indiana Law Blog.
And, so long as we require our jurists to be subject to the political process of election, the erosion of the public confidence in our judiciary will continue. That is the issue of constitutional proportions.

"Law-related blogging starting to see a coming of age" -- But can a law blogger ever be considered a "journalist"?

Congratulations to The Indiana Law Blog's Marcia Oddi for being selected by the Indiana Judges Association to receive its responsible journalism award. The IJA gives two “Excellence in Public Information and Education” awards each year. One award is presented to a member of the Indiana judiciary for special efforts in community relations. In addition, an award is presented to a member of the news media for efforts in responsible reporting on the Indiana judiciary. Marcia will be presented with the latter award, which is richly deserved.

Kentuckian Hosting Blawg Review

Workplace Prof Blog, by Professor Richard Bales at Northern Kentucky University's Chase School of Law and Paul M. Secunda, Assistant Professor of Law Univ. of Mississippi School of Law host this week's Blawg Review. Kudos on appropriately picking Labor Day week for their tour of the blawgosphere, given their employment law focus and expertise.
We are hosting Blawg Review the Monday after Thanksgiving, and in retrospect that is a pretty sorry time to have picked to be looking at divorce law blogs. So, we'll rethink our theme and look well outside family law for that week's review.
Ben Cowgill at SoloBlawg hosted Blawg review earlier this year. While that site seems to remain dormant, we are very glad he's back to blogging at Ben Cowgill On Legal Ethics.

Another RSS primer

Law Tech Guru Blog provides a good discussion of and link to a RSS primer.
"A lot of legal professionals read blogs. However, except for the tech-savvy, many still don't know how to use RSS feeds and readers to make this task easier and more productive. So if you're relatively new to RSS feeds or would like to pick up more web resources for finding legal content in RSS subscription form, read on. Bonnie Shucha just published a good RSS primer in this month's Wisconsin Lawyer. She's the head of reference at the U.W. Law Library, Madison, and past president of the Law Librarians Association of Wisconsin.
Bonnie does a nice job of explaining RSS and how to use it in plain language, its pros and cons, and more. Some of the legal feeds mentioned have a Wisconsin flavor given its readership, but several others covered will have broader appeal. For instance, while many use Technorati to search the blogosphere, Bonnie tells us how to use Yahoo!'s Advanced Search for limiting its results to RSS feeds, very nice."
To subscribe to this blog's feed, click the orange button at the top right.

Family Law Blogs

The South Carolina Family Law Blog posted an updated directory of North American family law blogs. On our family law blog categories we list those aimed at professionals and do not list those giving advice about the law to potential clients, partly because of Kentucky ethics constraints. We also don't directly link to those blogs with a primary focus of self or firm promotion. Here's the complete list; link to the South Carolina Family Law Blog to link to the others.

Alabama: Alabama Family Law Blog by Michael Sherman, Esq.
Alabama: Lee's Divorce & Family Law Blog by Lee Borden, Esq.
Arizona: Arizona Family Law Blog by Nirenstein, Ruotolo & Gonzalez, P.L.C.
Arizona: Arizona Divorce & Family Law by Trent Wilcox, Esq.
California: California Divorce and Family Law by Jeffrey Lalloway, Esq.
California: California Divorce Blawg by John E. Harding, Esq.
California: California Family Law Blog by Scott J. Sagaria, Esq.
California: San Diego Divorce Lawyer by Brian D. Bill, Esq.
California: San Francisco Family Law Blog by M. Tilden Moschetti, Esq.
Colorado: Colorado DivorcePoint! by Lawrence F. King, Esq. and Christopher L. Griffith, Esq.
Florida: Florida Divorce Law Blog by Janet Langjahr, Esq.
Florida: Florida Family & Divorce Lawyer by James W. Hart, Esq.
Florida: Florida Family Lawyer by Barry W. Kaufman, Esq.
Florida: Tampa Family and Divorce Lawyer by Nancy McRoberts Parham, Esq.
Florida: The Orsini & Rose Divorce and Family Law Blog by Brent Rose, Esq.
Georgia: Georgia Family Law Blog by Andrea Knight, Esq.
Illinois: Chicago Family Law Blog by Alan Pearlman, Esq.
Indiana: Indiana Family Law Blog by William L. Wilson, Esq.
Iowa: Iowa Family Law by Babich, Goldman, Cashatt & Renzo, P.C.
Kansas: Kansas Family & Divorce Lawyer by Grant D. Griffiths, Esq.
Kentucky: Divorce Law Journal by Diana L. Skaggs, Esq.
Kentucky: Kentucky Law Blog by Michael Stevens and others
Maine: Maine Divorce Law Blog by Alan R. Nye, Esq.
Maryland: Maryland Divorce Legal Crier by James J. Gross, Esq.
Michigan: Updates in Michigan Family Law by Jeanne M. Hannah, Esq.
Michigan: Domestic Diversions by David C. Sarnacki and others
New Jersey: New Jersey Family Law by Charles C. Abut, Esq.
New Jersey: New Jersey Family Law Blog by Pieter Droppert, Esq.
New Jersey: New Jersey Law Blog by Stark & Stark
New York: New York Divorce Report by Daniel E. Clement, Esq.
North Carolina: Kramer vs by Alison Kramer of Rosen Divorce
North Carolina: Ullman & Allen Family Law Forum by Ullman & Allen, PLLC
South Carolina: South Carolina Family Law Blog by J. Benjamin Stevens, Esq.
Tennessee: Tennessee Family and Probate Law by Al Frazier, Esq.
Tennessee: Knight on Family Law by Stephen C. Knight, Esq.
Texas: Family Law > News & Views by Jimmy Verner, Esq.
Texas: Texas Family Law Blog by Chris Schmiedeke, Esq.
Utah: Utah Divorce and Family Law Blog by Gregory W. Stevens, Esq.
Virginia: Virginia Law Blog by Shane L. Jimison, Esq.
Canada:
Vancouver, British Columbia: British Columbia Family Law Blog by MacLean Family Law Group
Ottawa, Ontario: Ottawa Divorce Blog by Jeffrey Behrendt, Esq.
Toronto, Ontario: Blog/Journal of a Toronto Lawyer Specializing in Estate & Family Law by Robert G. Coates, Esq.

A Suggestion For Needed Blawgs

I came across California Supreme Court Pending Civil Cases Blog, and thought what a great idea. It is very helpful for practitioners to know particular issues of law are before a state's highest court, the outcome of which may change the law in other cases at the trial court level. Denise Howell's Bag and Baggage Blog posts about a feature of the site that allows you to request email updates for notification of future events in the case. Any takers to do that in other states, including Kentucky?

American Association of Internet Journalists

LawReader announces the formation of the American Association of Internet Journalists. Members willing to subscribe to its aspirational code of ethics are invited.

After reading Indiana Law Blog,and the journal article to which it links, I better understood some of the rationale inspiring this goundbreaking move to form an association with foundations of good journalism.

Also, Evan Schaeffer's Legal Underground reports
"HOW ARE WEBLOGS AFFECTING THE LEGAL WORLD? . . . Law-related weblogs are the topic of a new issue of Nexus: a Journal of Opinion. The following articles are all available online:
Editor's Note: The Times They Are a Changing, by Hugh Hewitt
The Information Age, Again, by Timothy Sandefur
Legal Blogs: The Search for Legitimacy, by Lyle Denniston
Lessons from the Clash Between Campaign Finance Laws and the Blogosphere, by Richard L.Hasen
Employee Blogs and Trade Secrets: Legal Response to Technological Change, by Vincent Chiappetta
“Or of the [Blog]," by Paul Horwitz
Blog You, by Denise M. Howell
The Impact of Blogging on the Practice of Law: Hit the Snooze Button, by Tom W. Bell
Legal Blogs and the Supreme Court Confirmation Process, by Tung Yin
Humanizing the Profession: Lawyers Find Their Public Voices Through Blogging, by Colin Samuels
The Blogosphere and The New Pamphleteers, by Donald J. Kochan
Late Night Thoughts on Blogging While Reading Duncan Kennedy’s Legal Education and the Reproduction of Hierarchy in an Arkansas Motel Room, by Franklin G. Snyder
Blogs and the First Amendment, by David L. Hudson, Jr"

Kentucky Law Blog, discusses the formation of this association with its post, Raising the Bar on Legal Journalism in the Web.

Since Blawgers are lawyers without journalism education or culture, it seems to me that such an association could not only raise the bar, but give sites some added credibility.

The Code of Ethics for members of the American Association of Internet Journalists follows:

Indiana Law Blog: What Should Judges Do If They Stumble Upon Online Discussion of a Pending Case?

"What should judges do if, while visiting the legal blogosphere, they encounter discussions about how pending cases ought to be decided?" That is the question Howard Bashman of How Appealing addresses today in his weekly commentary on Law.com." Indiana Law Blog links to the answers."The column, says Bashman, is based on a portion of the remarks he delivered earlier this week at the Eighth Circuit Judicial Conference." I agree with Marcia Oddi's high recommendation to read this posting.
UPDATE: From Indiana Law Blog.