Agenda

Registration:                        8:00 – 8:30 am

Morning Session:                8:30 am – 12:00 pm

Lunch (On your own):         12:00 – 1:00 pm

Afternoon Session:             1:00 – 4:30 pm

Assisting with Family Law Case Intake and  
Working with Divorce Clients and Opposing Counsel
A. Bosquez-Porter

    Assisting with initial client interview 
   Preparing engagement letter, opening file
   Collecting information
   Establishing and maintaining good communication with clients
      • Methods of communication and contents of communications
      • Guidelines for responding to client communications
   Working with difficult clients
   Working with the courts and opposing counsel
   Maintaining professionalism

Preparing Marital Settlement Agreements 
A. Bosquez-Porter

   Assisting with different types of agreements
      • Property agreements
      • Child-related agreements
      • Support agreements

Obtaining and Evaluating Financial Information 
W. Gelb

   Identifying relevant information on assets, debts, income and expenses
   Obtaining financial information
      • Using financial information questionnaires
      • Using interrogatories, requests for production,
        deposition testimony, private investigators
      • Valuing assets
   Evaluating the information you have obtained
   Working with accountants and financial experts
   Preparing financial statements

Assisting with Child Custody and Visitation Issues 
D. Griffiths

   Current status of custody law in North Carolina
   Obtaining relevant information
      • Client interview, custody questionnaires, authorizations for disclosure,
        using formal discovery
   Working with guardian-ad-litem
   Working with experts
   Drafting and reviewing parenting plans

Enforcing and Modifying Family Law Orders and Decrees 
R. Tarrant

   Implementing divorce decrees and orders
      • Preparing and filing the decree
      • Preparing other necessary documents
      • Enforcing judgments and orders
      • Enforcing temporary orders
      • Enforcing custody orders
      • Enforcing support orders
   Modifying decrees and orders
      • Determining which parts of a decree or order are subject to modification, deciding when
        to seek modification
   Assisting in modification actions

Handling Ethical Issues in Family Law Practice 
J. Smith

   Complying with rules of professional responsibility
      and ethics guidelines for attorneys and paralegals
   Avoiding conflicts of interest
   Maintaining client confidentiality
   Avoiding the unauthorized practice of law
   Working with the secretive or dishonest client
   Handling allegations of abuse or neglect
   Zealous (vs. over-zealous) representation
   Fee agreements, retainers, and collection of unpaid fees

Credits

North Carolina Certified Paralegals
     6.5 CPE Hours (1.0 Ethics)

NFPA Certified Paralegals
     6.5 CLE Hours (1.0 Ethics)

 Continuing Education Credit Information

This seminar is open to the public. The North Carolina State Bar Board of Paralegal Certification has approved this course for 5.5 general CPE hours and 1.0 Ethics CPE hour.

The National Federation of Paralegal Associations has approved this course for 6.5 CLE hours, which includes 5.5 general CLE hours and one ethics hour.

Attendance will be monitored, and attendance certificates will be available after the seminar for most individuals who complete the entire event. Attendance certificates not available at the seminar will be mailed to participants within fifteen business days.

Speakers

Andrea Bosquez-Porter

Smith Debnam Narron Drake Saintsing & Myers, LLP

Partner at Smith Debnam Narron Drake Saintsing & Myers, LLP
Ms. Bosquez-Porter brings a warmth and compassion to her family law practice that helps to lessen the worry and stress of individuals facing separation, divorce, or complex child custody issues. With a caring and responsive approach, she helps clients identify and express their personal goals and concerns to aid in their decision-making. Ms. Bosquez-Porter is a board certified family law specialist by the North Carolina State Bar Board of Legal Specialization, a certified family financial settlement mediator by the North Carolina Dispute Resolution Commission, and parenting coordinator. An experienced litigator, she represents individuals in matters involving high conflict and complex family law and domestic violence matters. Her practice includes family law (equitable distribution, alimony, custody, child support, contested divorce), domestic violence, civil harassment, and child support enforcement. Ms. Bosquez-Porter is named to the North Carolina Super Lawyers Rising Stars – a list recognizing attorneys (age 40 or under or those in practice for 10 years or less) who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement.

Wesley Gelb

Attorney at Wyrick Robbins Yates & Ponton

Mr. Gelb is a board-certified specialist in family law who has over a decade of experience representing individuals in matters involving custody, support, and property division. He also regularly prepares premarital and postmarital agreements. Mr. Gelb grew up in Raleigh and graduated, cum laude, from North Carolina State. He received his law degree from the Wake Forest University School of Law. After graduating from Wake Forest, he began his legal career in Washington, DC, before returning to Raleigh in 2014. Mr. Gelb is licensed to practice in North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia. He is also licensed to practice before the United States Supreme Court. Mr. Gelb has been listed among The Best Lawyers in America for family law (2018-2019) and Super Lawyers for family law (2014, 2018-2019).

Debbie Griffiths

Griffiths Family Law

Attorney at Griffiths Family Law
Ms. Griffiths limits her practice to the area of family law including adoptions, pre-marital and separation agreements, spousal and child support, custody and property division as well as representation of parents who are involved with a CPS investigation/filed petition alleging abuse, neglect or dependency. She assists families at all stages of the legal process from pre-litigation to mediation, trial and appeal. She serves as a guardian ad litem for children or parties involved in the litigation process, and she is approved to serve as a parenting coordinator. Ms. Griffiths has been certified as a specialist by the North Carolina State Bar Board of Legal Specialization in the area of family law since 2008. She is also a NCDRC certified superior court mediator and a certified family financial mediator. Ms. Griffiths received her J.D. degree from North Carolina Central Law School in 2003 where she attended the evening program and graduated from East Carolina University in 1990 with a B.A. degree in Psychology and a minor in Business Administration. She is an active member of the Wake County Bar Association (membership committee), the 10th Judicial District Bar Association (fee grievance committee) and the Family Law (adoption committee) and Military and Veterans Law (pro bono committee) Sections of the North Carolina Bar Association.

Jennifer Smith

The Doyle Law Group, P.A.

Attorney at The Doyle Law Group, P.A.
Ms. Smith was certified by the North Carolina State Bar as a family law specialist in 2009 and re-certified as a specialist in 2015. While attending North Carolina Central University School of Law, she was a member of the senior editorial staff at the North Carolina Central Law Journal. Ms. Smith was awarded the Outstanding Family Student Award from the North Carolina Chapter of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers in 2003.

Ryan Tarrant

Tarrant Family Law

Owner of Tarrant Family Law
Mr. Tarrant is a North Carolina board certified specialist in family law. His primary areas of practice are postseparation support, alimony, equitable distribution, separation agreements, premarital and post-nuptial agreements, child custody, child support, contempt, termination of parental rights and domestic violence. Mr. Tarrant received his bachelor of arts degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and his juris doctorate degree from Campbell University’s Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law. He is a member of the North Carolina Bar Association’s Family Law Section and the Wake County Bar Association. Mr. Tarrant has served on the Wake County Bar Association/Tenth Judicial District’s Strategic Planning Committee and the Membership Services Committee and currently serves on the NCBA Young Lawyers Division Wellness Committee. He has previously presented at the NCBA’s Basics of Family Law CLE (2014), the NCBA’s Family Law Annual Conference (2016) and the NCBA’s 2017 Annual Update.

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