On Demand
Audio
A New Practitioner’s Guide to Handling a Custody Case: From Client Meeting to Preparing for Trial
Produced on October 06, 2016
Course Information
Course Description
This course is intended for attorneys new to the practice of Family Law. Learn how to navigate a custody case from the initial client meeting to getting your case ready for trial. This is a great course for new attorneys, those inexperienced in the field of Family Law or just for the attorneys who need some practical guidance and confidence.
Learning Objectives:
- Learn the questions to ask your client at the initial meeting
- Discover how to evaluate the strength of your case before you take it on
- Examine how to structure your fees
- Learn what to do to prepare for the first court date
- Learn what to say in court and what not to say
- Explore what to expect from the Attorneys for the Child
- Learn how to get reports and evidence you need to support your client
Credit Information
Faculty
Erin Colgan
Erin K. Colgan, P.C.
Ms. Colgan is a 1998 Graduate of the State University of New York at Cortland. She received a B.S. in Economics and Management Science and graduate cum laude. Following her time at Cortland, she enrolled and graduated from Rutgers School of Law-Newark in 2001.
Ms. Colgan’s career began at the Richmond County District Attorney’s Office, located in Staten Island, NY, where she worked as an Assistant District Attorney and prosecuted domestic violence cases. After having two children, she went into private practice as an associate at a local matrimonial firm. In 2007 she began her own practice and is the sole practitioner in the law firm of Erin K. Colgan, P.C., located in Staten Island, NY. Ms. Colgan concentrates her practice on Family Law, Divorce and Mediation. She is active on the 18b panel and serves as an Attorney for the Child in Richmond County.
Ms. Colgan is a member of the Richmond County Bar Association and Staten Island Women's Bar Association and serves as the Matrimonial Committee co-chair of the Richmond County Bar Association. In addition, Ms. Colgan is active on the Collaborative Committee for Richmond County for Child Protective matters through the Office of Court Administration for the State of New York and has lectured for Continuing Legal Education to her colleagues with regard to custody and child protective issues.
Ms. Colgan is also co-founder of a Legal Services/Consulting business in the NYC area. Northstar QDRO, a company that assists attorneys with drafting orders to divide pension benefits following their clients’ divorce began in 2016.
Reviews
great
Great presentation - thank you.
Comprehensive presentation of the law as well as practical advice.
Very thorough .
Great, organized presentation.
Very informative.
Logical presentation. Kept my interest. Good practice pointers.
This was a very good overview of custody. One can see the differences in practicing upstate and downstate. Also, I very much agree with the presenter's perspective that the more the parties to a custody proceeding can do together to resolve the issues, the better off they and the child(ren) are. I have also found courts to share that viewpoint, which is why they appear to encourage mediation lately.
She was very comprehensive in her discussion. I would listen to more lectures from this attorney.
Thank you for the informative presentation.
Nice overview of the practice area. Concrete examples of representations are always helpful; it might even be useful to provide an illustrative list of issues/contexts in which these principles are applied.
Great hands on presentation
Very good.
What a great presentation! I could really tell she was comfortable with her information!
Presenter did a very good job of going through statutory and case requirememnts and issues while providing very useful insights into the practical side of handling a custody case. A great refresher. Thank you.
Extremely helpful.
I liked this and really appreciated personal input re cases.
Speaker was very experimental and knowledgeable and helpful
The presenter has a terrific speaking style - very conversational
Informative presentation.
useful overview and intro to custody issues
she was a great presenter!
Excellent presentation
I will be sharing this powerpoint with younger attorneys in my office, written materials were very helpful!
Ms. Colgan was very knowledge and did much more than just read her slides which is much appreciated.
very practical
Excellent and very effective speaker.
Good presentation
nice cites
I thought this presenter was very knowledgeable and accessible.