Program Chair and Presenter

Teresa (Tess) Meuer
End Domestic Abuse WI
Madison

Presenters

Meghan E. Healy
Di Renzo & Bomier LLC
Neenah

Christine R. H. Olsen
Olsen Law Office
Wausau

Gricel Santiago-Rivera
RISE Law Center
Madison

Elizabeth F. Schuster
Schuster Family Law LLC
Madison

8:00 a.m. : Registration

8:30 a.m. : Overview of National Project and Research

• Role of evaluator’s beliefs, assumptions, biases in making recommendations
• Role of mother’s demeanor in informing present-day recommendations
• Role of evaluator’s knowledge about domestic violence

Tess Meuer

9:00 a.m. : Is Abuse an Issue? Identifying Domestic Abuse

• Brief history of Wisconsin Domestic Violence Law
• Potential consequences for victims disclosing abuse
• Screening protocols – what makes for a good protocol?
• The initial screening – looking for red flags
• Use of the interview to reveal signs of physical, sexual, emotional, economic, or coercive controlling abuse

Meghan E. Healy, Tess Meuer, Christine R. H. Olsen

9:50 a.m. : Break

10:05 a.m. : What’s actually going on? Defining the Nature and Context of Abuse

• Not all domestic abuse is the same
• Importance of asking the right questions to flush out abuse
• Documenting and reviewing red flags
• Examining ALL forms of abuse, per law
• Overview of coercive control
• Understanding potency, pattern, primary perpetrator, parenting problems, and perspectives of the child
• Impact of abuse on parenting

Tess Meuer, Gricel Santiago-Rivera, Elizabeth F. Schuster

11:00 a.m. : What does it mean? Evaluating the Implications of Abuse

• Determining how an abusive person parents
• How do the children experience and react to the abuse
• What is the impact of the abuse on the children
• Can co-parenting be achieved? How?

Tess Meuer

12:05 p.m. : Lunch (on your own)

1:05 p.m. : Accounting for Abuse in Recommendations to the Court

• Distinction between ‘divvying things up” and “making things work”
• Priorities of recommendations in accounting for abuse
• Recommending safety for the children

All faculty

1:55 p.m. : Ethical Issues in Obtaining or Presenting the Best Interest of the Child

• Obligation and responsibility when the GAL does not believe parent(s)’ desires are in best interest of child
• Duty to control the process
• Confidentiality concerns when a victim does not wish information such as health or medical records to be revealed to court
• Does duty to protect best interest of child extend to duty to protect parent who is a victim?
• Addressing nonspecific orders such as “reasonable notice” when there is known domestic abuse

All faculty

2:45 p.m. : Break

3:00 p.m. : Ethical Considerations when GAL Recommendations are at Odds with Parties or the Court

• Obligation when the best interest of child is in conflict with the agreement parents wish to present to court
• Is there an ethical obligation to interview the child? At what age? How might evidence of impact on children be obtained without an interview?
• How does a GAL get evidence of impact on child(ren) if not interviewing them?
• Duty to litigate or force a deal when Court does not agree with GAL recommendations
• Responsibility to address safety concerns for both child(ren) and nonabusive parent
• Issues with interim authority

All faculty

3:50 p.m. : Program Concludes

• Discover how to detect, understand, and account for domestic violence in final recommendations
• Review up-to-date research regarding the role of beliefs, assumptions, and biases in custody recommendations
• Learn a systematic, behaviorally-specific method of screening and assessing for abuse
• Know how to apply best interest factors if abuse is present
• Develop parenting recommendations that account for the context and implications of abuse
• Identify and avoid ethical pitfalls while investigating and making recommendations

• Guardians ad litem for minors
• Family Law Section members
• Children and the Law Section members
• Any attorney interested in learning more about domestic violence