Current Issues for Florida Family Law Paralegals
Agenda
Webinar instructions will be emailed before the date of the webinar.
Please log into the webinar 15 – 30 minutes before the start time.
Wednesday, January 17, 2024
8:30 am – 5:00 pm EST
Recent Developments in Florida Family Law
Presented by: Angelica Roselló
- Legislative update
- Administrative update
- Case law update
- Current issues in family law
End of Permanent Alimony in Florida: Issues and Application
Presented by: Cynthia Dienstag
- Contents of SB 1416
- Alternatives to permanent alimony
- Rehabilitative alimony
- Seeking modifications
SB 254: Temporary Emergency Jurisdiction
Presented by: Andrew Nickolaou
- Requirements for exercise of jurisdiction
- Procedure
- Seeking/opposing emergency jurisdiction
Developments in Child Custody: Unwed Father Rights
Presented by: Andrew Nickolaou
- Presumption that shared custody is in the best interest of the child
- Invoking/rebutting the presumption
- Seeking changes in custody schedules
Handling Ethical Issues in Family Law Practice: Unrepresented Pro Se Parties
Presented by: L. Davis
- Can an attorney represent both sides in an uncontested divorce?
- How should an attorney communicate with an unrepresented party in a divorce?
- Can an attorney in a divorce case prepare a marital settlement agreement for an unrepresented party?
- How does an attorney avoid ethical issues when dealing with a pro se party in a divorce/custody case?
Strange Developments in Recent Case Law
Presented by: Michael Shemkus
- Do you still need to plead for partition?
- Is retroactive alimony still available?
- A new take on retroactive attorneys fees
- And even more …
Webinar Instructions
All attendees must log-on through their own email – attendees may not watch together if they wish to earn continuing education credit. HalfMoon Education Inc. must be able to prove attendance if either the attendee or HalfMoon Education Inc. is audited.
Certificates of completion can be downloaded in PDF form upon passing a short quiz. A link to the quiz will be sent to each qualifying attendee immediately after the webinar. The certificate can be downloaded from the Results page of the quiz upon scoring 80% or higher.
Webinars are presented via GoToWebinar, an easy-to-use application that can be run on most systems and tablets. Instructions and login information will be provided in an email sent close to the date of the webinar. It is highly recommended that you download, install and test the application before the webinar begins by clicking on the link in the email.
GoToWebinar App requirements:
Windows 7 – 10 or Mac OSX Mavericks (10.9) – macOS Catalina (10.15)
Web Browser:
The two most recent version of the following browsers:
Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Microsoft Edge
Internet Explorer v11 (or later) with Flash enabled.
Internet connection: Minimum of 1Mbps Hardware: 2GB RAM or more
For more information, visit the Support section at www.gotowebinar.com
Credits
Paralegals
7.5 CLE Hours (Includes 1.0 Ethics Hours)
NFPA - National Federation of Paralegal Associations
7.5 Total CLE Credits (6.5 General CLE Credits, 1.0 Ethics Credit)
NALA - National Association of Legal Assistants
7.5 Total CLE Hours (6.5 Substantive CLE Hours, 1.0 Ethics Hour)
Continuing Education Credit Information
This webinar is open to the public and is designed to offer 7.5 CLE hours to paralegals in Florida. Paralegal certification is not required to participate in this webinar.
The National Association of Legal Assistants has approved this course for 7.5 total CLE hours, which includes 6.5 substantive CLE hours and 1.0 legal ethics CLE hour.
The National Federation of Paralegal Associations (NFPA) has approved this course for 7.5 total CLE credits, including 6.5 general credits and 1.0 ethics credit.
Attendance will be monitored, and attendance certificates will be available after the webinar for those who attend the entire course and score a minimum 80% on the quiz that follows the course (multiple attempts allowed).
On-Demand Credits
The preceding credit information only applies to the live presentation. This course in an on-demand format may not be eligible for the same credits as the live presentation; please consult your licensing board(s) to ensure that a structured, asynchronous learning format is appropriate.
Speakers
Lara G. Davis
Co-owner and Partner of The Women’s Law Group in Tampa, FLMs. Davis received her Bachelor of Arts, cum laude, from the University of South Florida and her Juris Doctor with Honors from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Law. Ms. Davis is admitted to practice law in both Florida and Virginia, having been admitted to the Virginia Bar in 1996, and the Florida Bar in 2007. Ms. Davis began her career in 1996 in private practice in Charlottesville, Virginia, where she concentrated primarily in the fields of matrimonial and family law and personal injury. She formed The Women’s Law Group in 2009 with her law partner, Deborah Thomson. She is active in the legal community, and is a member of the Family Law Section of the Florida Bar, The Family Law Section of the Hillsborough County Bar Association, and is an elected member of the Executive Council of the Family Law Section of the Hillsborough County Bar Association. Ms. Davis is the co-chair of the HCBA pro bono committee. She also teaches legal studies class as an adjunct professor at The University of Tampa. Ms. Davis is a member of the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals, an organization dedicated to the promotion of collaborative divorces. She firmly believes that Collaborative Divorces promote family harmony both during and long after the divorce is final. Ms. Davis is a member of the Collaborative Divorce Institute of Tampa Bay. Ms. Davis also volunteers her time at the Bay Area Legal Services Family Forms Clinic. She is dedicated to helping her clients navigate through some of the most difficult times of their lives, and to helping them achieve the best possible outcome for themselves and their children.
Cynthia Dienstag
Cynthia Dienstag P.A. in Miami, FLMs. Dienstag has focused her practice on marital and family law since 1989, and has expanded her specialization to include domestic partnership matters. Ms. Dienstag is a Florida Supreme Court-certified family mediator, and Martindale-Hubbell AV preeminent rated attorney. She has been chosen by Florida Trend Magazine as one of the Florida Legal Elite since 2006, and she has been named a Florida Super Lawyer since 2007. She was named Nation’s Top One Percent 2015 by the National Association of Distinguished Counsel. Ms. Dienstag is a frequent lecturer on complex areas of family law. She received her J.D. degree from University of Miami School of Law.
Andrew Nickolaou
Founding Partner at Bernal-Mora & Nickolaou, P.A. in Maitland.Mr. Nickolaou practices almost exclusively in divorce, marital and family law. Mr. Nickolaou also handles record expungements and sealings. He and his partner, Ophelia Bernal-Mora Nickolaou, joined forces in March 2016 to form the unique and boutique husband and wife family law team at Bernal-Mora & Nickolaou, P.A. Together, they take a practical and team- based approach to all of their cases and clients to deliver the highest quality experience and representation. Mr. Nickolaou was born in Chicago, Illinois, and relocated to Florida as a teenager, where he has lived since. He graduated from the University of Florida, with honors, acquiring a bachelor of arts degree. He then proceeded to law school, where he earned his doctorate of jurisprudence degree from Barry University – Dwayne O. Andreas School of Law in Orlando with high honors in the top five percent of his class.
Angelica D. Roselló
Attorney at Cortes Hodz Family Law & Mediation, P.A. in Tampa, FLMs. Roselló works exclusively in the area of marital and family law. She is admitted to practice law in both Florida and Pennsylvania and has received training and certification in both mediation and collaborative practice. Ms. Roselló received her B.A. in International Relations from Florida International University in 2006, and her J.D. from The Pennsylvania State University, Dickinson School of Law in 2010. Upon graduating law school. She was the Clinical Fellow at the Penn State Law, Family Law Clinic. After completing her fellowship, she accepted a position as a family law associate with the firm Engle & Engle, P.C. Ms. Roselló then served as the judicial law clerk to the Honorable Thomas K. Kistler of the Centre County Court of Common Pleas for nearly two years. In 2014, she moved to Tampa with her family where she began practicing marital and family law in Hillsborough County. In addition to practicing law, she has taught legal writing as an adjunct professor at the University of South Florida and has been a guest lecturer at the University of Tampa in the area of family law. Ms. Roselló is a past-president and board member for the North Tampa Bar Association, a board member of Enterprising Latinas, a non-profit organization dedicated to economic empowerment of low-income Hispanic women in Tampa Bay, a member of the Executive Council of the Hillsborough County Bar Association’s Marital & Family Law Section, and a member of the Executive Council of the Stann W. Givens Family Law Inn of Court.
Michael M. Shemkus
Partner at Long, Murphy & Shemkus, P.A., in Naples, FLMr. Shemkus exclusively practices family law. As a Florida Supreme Court Board Certified Specialist in Marital & Family Law, he is committed to helping clients navigate family law proceedings with confidence and dignity, applying his knowledge in this field to seek the best possible result based on each client’s individual goals, needs, and concerns. Mr. Shemkus received his B.A. degree from Lewis & Clark College and his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Illinois College of Law. He joined Long, Murphy & Shemkus, P.A. in 2016 after working as an associate at a firm in Illinois. Mr. Shemkus’s practice includes all areas of family law and divorce, such as custody, support, domestic violence, and complex property allocation.