This program is eligible for 6 hours of CLE credit in 60-minute states. In 50-minute states, this program is eligible for 7.2 hours of CLE credit. Credit hours are estimated and are subject to each state’s approval and credit rounding rules.
Overview
Pennsylvania’s newly adopted Uniform Family Law Arbitration Act becomes effective on July 7, 2024. This program will feature experienced family law attorneys and a family court judge explaining best practices and procedures under the Act and will provide basic training on the arbitration process. Topics to be covered include:
• Issues that can and cannot be arbitrated
• Qualifications of an arbitrator
• Applicable law and modifiability of awards
• Arbitrator’s scope of authority
• Arbitrator’s duties of disclosure, impartiality, and timeliness
• Special requirements for child-related issues
• Protections for victims of child abuse and domestic violence
• Steps in the process, including negotiating the arbitration agreement
• Settlement conference and mediation-arbitration options
• Role of the court in confirming, reviewing and enforcing awards
• Ethical considerations and billing
• Forms to be used in the process
Recorded in September 2024.
Faculty
Abbe Fletman
Judge Fletman is a
judge in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas and Mass Torts Team Leader of
the Trial Division—Civil, where she supervises all Philadelphia mass tort
cases. She was appointed to the bench in 2014 and was elected to a 10-year
term in 2015. She has served as both a criminal and civil trial judge. She
earned a BA from the University of Chicago, a JD from the University of
Pennsylvania Law School, and an LLM in trial advocacy from Temple
University’s Beasley School of Law. From 1988 to 2014, Judge Fletman was a
trial lawyer in private practice with a concentration in intellectual
property and technology matters, complex commercial cases, women’s
sports-related litigation, and election law. She is a vice chair of the Women
Trial Lawyers Committee of the American Bar Association’s Tort Trial
& Insurance Practice Section and a former chair of the Woman Advocate
Committee of the ABA’s Litigation Section.
Rochelle B. Grossman, Esq.
Ms. Grossman has devoted her career exclusively to Family Law since graduating from Temple University Law School in 1991. She is a 1988 cum laude graduate from Brandeis University. Having spent the first 15 years of her legal career as an advocate and most recent 15 as a Family Court Master in Chester County, Pennsylvania, Ms. Grossman founded the Family Arbitration and Mediation Center in 2017. In 2020, she merged the Center with the law firm of Potts & Shoemaker, now Potts, Shoemaker & Grossman, LLC whereby she leads the firm’s alternative dispute resolution department and has resumed the representation of individuals in their domestic relations matters. Ms. Grossman is a certified mediator and completed the arbitration certification program of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. She has used her experience as a master and arbitrator to train other arbitrators. She also holds a graduate tax certificate in estate planning, and is a past-chair of the Montgomery Bar Association Family Law Section. Additionally, Ms. Grossman has served on Council to the Pennsylvania Bar Association Family Law Section and has been a frequent author and lecturer for the American Bar Association, Pennsylvania Bar Institute and Pennsylvania Bar Association Continuing Legal Education programs in all areas of family law and alternative dispute resolution. Ms. Grossman is past-president of the Brandywine Valley Chapter of CISV (formerly, Children’s International Summer Villages), an international peace education organization; and sits on the board of the West Chester Area Child Access Center, which provides free supervised visitation for parents and their children.
Randi L. Rubin, Esq.
Randi Lynne Rubin is a partner at Royer Cooper Cohen Braunfeld, a mid-size law firm with offices in Pennsylvania and New York. Randi leads the Family Law practice with the primary objective of achieving her clients’ goals with compassion and zealous advocacy. Randi focuses her practice on a wide range of family law matters representing clients in complex custody matters and complicated divorce and support matters. As a seasoned trial lawyer for over 24 years, Randi litigates in courts in Bucks County, Chester County, Delaware County, Montgomery County, Philadelphia County in Pennsylvania, and Southern New Jersey. Her clients include business owners, entrepreneurs, and high-net-worth individuals requiring sophisticated advice. Prior to starting a family law practice at her former law firm, she worked in the firm’s commercial litigation and real estate and finance departments, with a 2-year hiatus from the firm, to serve as general counsel for a sports construction company. Randi was formerly a managing member of medical marijuana dispensary that was one of Pennsylvania’s first Dispensary license-holders, which had three locations in South Central Pennsylvania and is now a partner in a medical marijuana dispensary in New Jersey. Randi has been a panelist for numerous CLEs involving Family Law and the intersection of Medical Marijuana and Family Law, including the City of Philadelphia Law Department at Law Day, the Pennsylvania Bar Association Family Law Section, the Montgomery County Bar Association and the Montgomery County Legal Expo and the Toby Dickman Seminar. Randi also has authored numerous articles in family law and authored, “Marijuana’s Role in Child-Custody Case,” which was published in the Legal Intelligencer. Randi is a former Chair of the Family Law Section of the Philadelphia Bar Association and a member of its Executive Committee. Randi is also an active member of the Montgomery County Bar Association. In 2023, she was appointed to the Montgomery Bar Association Board of Directors. She is the Chair of the Unauthorized Practice of Law Committee and a member of the Executive Committee of the Bench Bar Liaison Committee. She previously chaired the custody committee from 2014-2017; chaired the Toby Dickman Seminar in 2012 and presented in 2022; and has been a member of the Bench Bar Committee (2013-present). Randi serves as subcommittee chair of the family law section of the Medical Marijuana and Hemp Committee for both the Pennsylvania Bar Association and the Philadelphia Bar Association and is a member of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee and the Medical Marijuana and Hemp Committee of the Pennsylvania Bar Association. Licensed to practice in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, Randi earned her bachelor’s degree at Penn State University and a juris doctorate at the Beasley School of Law at Temple University.
Lee A. Schwartz, Esq.
Mr. Schwartz is the Founding Member of Schwartz, Fox & Saltzman, LLC in Philadelphia. He practices in the area of Family Law in the five-county Philadelphia area, with over forty years of experience. In addition to representing clients in all aspects of Family Law in the courtroom, Mr. Schwartz also mediates divorce, custody, support, alimony and division of property concerns and has been mediating these issues for over twenty-five years. As part of his practice, Mr. Schwartz has been engaged by attorneys to arbitrate Custody and Equitable Distribution related disputes for their clients. Mr. Schwartz is also trained in and practices in the area of Collaborative Law, with the Collaborative Law Professionals of Southeastern Pennsylvania. He has also been appointed as a Guardian Ad Litem by Judges in the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County. Mr. Schwartz has taught continuing legal education courses for the Pennsylvania Bar Institute (“PBI”), the teaching arm of the Pennsylvania Bar Association, the Philadelphia Bar Association, as well as privately for continuing education credits for Accountants, Financial Planner, and to Professional Groups. Mr. Schwartz served as Chair of the Family Law Section of the Philadelphia Bar Association in 2015 and presently serves on its Executive Committee. He also serves as Co-chair of the Equitable Distribution subcommittee of the Family Law Section. His first term as President of the Nicholas Cipriani Family Law American Inn of Court, for a two-year term ended, in 2013. His Second term as President began in 2019, and ended in May 2021. Mr. Schwartz is also a member of the Family Law Section of the Pennsylvania Bar Association and active in the ADR subcommittee. He is a graduate of the University of Bridgeport, with Honors, and received his J.D. from the Delaware Law School in 1981. Pro bono involvement and representation has always been and continues to be an important part of his practice, and that of his Firm. In addition to representing clients in Family Law matters, Mr. Schwartz mentors young attorneys through Philadelphia Volunteers for the Indigent, the Family Law Section of the Philadelphia Bar Association and the Cipriani American Inn of Court. Mr. Schwartz also coordinates the attorney volunteers for Help Center at Philadelphia Family Court, for the days each week that the Family Law Section has responsibility to provide attorney coverage. In 2019, he was honored to receive the Herbert R. Weiman, Jr. and Sr. Award from the Family Law Section of the Philadelphia Bar Association. This Award recognizes a person for his or her commitment to the Citizens of Philadelphia in the furtherance of the art of Family Law representation and for service to the Bar of Philadelphia.
Robb D. Bunde, Esq.
Robb D. Bunde is a founding shareholder of the Pittsburgh law firm of Bunde & Roberts, P.C. He has concentrated his entire legal career in areas of family law such as divorce, equitable distribution, alimony, child support, paternity, custody and pre-nuptial agreements. Robb is a fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers and has been certified by the AAML in Family Law Arbitration. Robb recently served as co-chair of the Arbitration Committee of the Family Law Section of the Pennsylvania Bar Association. Robb is one of a few individuals in Western Pennsylvania who is certified by the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers in Family Law Arbitration. Robb has experience as an Arbitrator as well as representing people in Arbitration. Robb has been active in the Family Law Sections of both the Allegheny County and Pennsylvania Bar Associations. He has been a Council Member of the Allegheny County Bar Association Family Law Section for three separate three-year terms. He has been co-chair of the Rules Committee as well as a member of the Court Relations; Guidelines; Legislation; and Membership committees. Robb also served on the Finance Committee of the ACBA. He has been a member of council of the Pennsylvania Bar Association Family Law Section as well as a member of the Executive Committee. Robb served on the PBA Family Law Section Paternity Task Force and testified on behalf of the Pennsylvania Bar Association before the Pennsylvania legislature on issues relating to paternity. He has been a frequent lecturer on family law matters. Robb was admitted to the Pennsylvania bar in 1990. Robb received his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science in 1987 and his Juris Doctor in 1990, both from the University of Nebraska.
Carolyn M. Zack, Esq.
Ms. Zack is a partner with the law firm of Momjian Anderer, LLC, practicing family law in Philadelphia and the surrounding counties. Ms. Zack is a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, co-chair of the Pennsylvania Chapter’s Programming Committee, and a member of the national Legislative, Arbitration, and Test Committees. She serves as the Chair of the Domestic Relations Procedural Rules Committee of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and the Secretary of the Pennsylvania Bar Association Family Law Section, and is a past-Chair of the Family Law Section of the Philadelphia Bar Association. Ms. Zack is an active member of the Philadelphia Bar Association, Montgomery County Bar Association, and Chester County Bar Association Family Law Sections, the Doris Jonas Freed American Inn of Court, and an Interdisciplinary Group of judges, psychologists and lawyers who meet to discuss ways to improve the resolution of custody issues. She is certified as an arbitrator, mediator, and parenting coordinator. Ms. Zack served for eight years (2009-2016) as a Family Court Hearing Officer in Chester County, as well as as Chief Law Clerk for the Honorable Berle M. Schiller in the Pennsylvania Superior Court (1998-1999). She received her B.A., magna cum laude, from Douglass College (Rutgers University) in 1984, and her J.D. from Villanova University School of Law in 1987.
Cheryl L. Young, Esq.
Ms. Young is a shareholder in the Plymouth Meeting family law practice group of Hangley Aronchick Segal Pudlin & Schiller. She is past president of the Montgomery Bar Association and past chair of the Pennsylvania Bar Association Family Law Section. Ms. Young is a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers and served two terms on the Board of Governors of the Pennsylvania Bar Association. She is a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association House of Delegates, past chairperson of the PBA Membership Committee and chairperson to the Outreach to Children Committee. Ms. Young is on the Board of Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association and is Vice President of the Montgomery Child Advocacy Project. Ms. Young received a Bachelor of Arts in Sciences in 1982 from Michigan State University. Thereafter, she attended American University, Washington College of Law, and graduated with her J.D. in 1985. Ms. Young is a frequent speaker for the Pennsylvania Bar Institute, American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers and other professional organizations.
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