NITA Publications

Allen v. Allen, Petitioner Edition

These materials tell the story of the Allen family--David, Lynne, and their children- Jane, age thirteen, and Joey, age eleven. It describes the legal and emotional challenges they face as a consequence of David and Lynne's pending divorce. The parents are each seeking decision-making authority and primary residence of the children, and are disputing the valuation and division of marital assets.

The complexities that accompany family reorganization necessitated by divorce and the unique nature of family law litigation require interdisciplinary knowledge and the understanding and cooperation of lawyers, mediators, mental health experts, and financial experts. This case file takes place in an interdisciplinary setting to allow professionals to work together to protect the needs and interests of their clients.

• >> TABLE OF CONTENTS
  Contents
  
  About the Authors
  
  Acknowledgments
  
  Preface
  
  Time Line
  
  Summary of the Facts
  Parenting Dispute
  Business Valuation Dispute
  
  Background Facts Known to Both Sides
  David Allen and Lynne (Grant) Allen's Family History
  The Allen's Marriage and Children
  Lynne Allen's Return to School and Entrance into the Work Force
  The Deterioration of the Allen's Marriage
  The Effect of Marital Problems on the Allen Children
  Lynne and David Allen's Career History and Advancements
  David's Interest in Power Diagnostics
  Letter from School Psychologist
  
  Confidential Information for David Allen's Attorneys
  David's Relationship with Norma Starks
  David's View on Parenting and Residence of the Children
  David's Concerns Regarding the Well-Being of the Children
  David's Concerns about Lynne
  David's Position on the NITA Radiological Association Job Offer
  David's Position on the Valuation of Power Diagnostics
  
  Program Stipulations
  
  Problems
  Parenting Dispute
  Valuation Dispute
  
  Legal Research File
  Family Code of the State of NITA
  Section 61.052 Dissolution of marriage
  Section 61.058 Parenting of children following dissolution of marriage
  Section 61.059 Disposition of property upon dissolution of marriage
  Section 61.061 Mediation of disputes arising from dissolution of marriage
  Excerpts from the NITA Uniform Mediation Act
  NITA Evidence Code Section 730: Appointment of Expert
  
  Memoranda of Law
  Admissibility of Testing Data Under Daubert
  Valuation of Commercial and Personal Goodwill
  Attribution of Income after a Voluntary Reduction of Earnings
  
  Court File
  Petition for Dissolution of Marriage
  Answer and Counterclaim
  Order of Reference to Mediation
  
  Preface to Parenting Evaluation
  
  Order for Parenting Evaluation
  
  Curriculum Vitae of Pat Nolan, Parenting Evaluator
  
  Parenting Evaluator's Report
  
  Appendix A to Parenting Evaluation
  Cooperative Parenting or Parallel Parenting
  
  Excerpts from Material In Files of Counsel
  Evaluation of Parenting Evaluator's Report
  Father's Expert
  Agreement to Mediate
  Parenting Evaluation Contract and Informed Consent
  Confidential Pre-Mediation Memos on Parenting Issues
  For David Allen
  
  Excerpts from Learned Treatises
  Jonathan Swift, Child Custody Evaluations for Divorcing Families
  Jane Adams, The Child and Divorce: A Guide for Clinicians
  
  Preface to financial information
  
  Financial Information
  David Allen
  Financial Affidavit
  Child Support Guidelines
  Summary of 2005 Taxes
  Lynne Allen
  Financial Affidavit
  Child Support Guidelines
  
  Pre-Mediation Briefs on Finances
  For David Allen
  
  Stipulation to Appraise Defendant's Interest in Medical Practice
  
  Curriculum Vitae of Business Appraiser Chris Ernst
  
  Power Diagnostics, PA Valuation Reports
  Business Appraiser's Report
  Analysis by David Allen's expert Stephen Tondreault
  
  Glossary

• >> AUTHORS
  
  
  • Andrew I. Schepard
    
    
    • Andrew I. Schepard is director of the Center for Children, Families and the Law as well as a professor of law at Hofstra Law School. He founded Hofstra Law School's Child and Family Advocacy Fellowship Program that awards full tuition scholarships and paid externships to students pledged to a career in the field. He is the editor of the Family Court Review, an interdisciplinary journal focusing on constructive resolution of family conflict, sponsored by the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts and published at Hofstra Law School. Schepard writes the Law and Children column for the New York Law Journal. He was the reporter for the Model Standards of Practice for Family and Divorce Mediation approved by the American Bar Association, the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts and the Association for Conflict Resolution and the reporter for the American Bar Association's Leadership Summit on Unified Family Courts. Professor Schepard is a founder of Parent Education and Custody Effectiveness (P.E.A.C.E.), an interdisciplinary, court-affiliated education program for parents to help them reduce the difficulties their children experience during divorce and separation. Professor Schepard also helped design PARTNERS, an educational program for high school students about the legal responsibilities of marriage and communication skills, sponsored by the Family Law Section of the American Bar Association and in use in more than four-hundred schools nationwide. Professor Schepard has written many articles about divorce, child custody law, procedure and mediation of child custody disputes, as well as other aspects of judicial administration.

  
  

  • Gregory Firestone, Ph.D.
    
    
    • Gregory Firestone, Ph.D., director of the University of South Florida's Conflict Resolution Collaborative, is a Florida Supreme Court Certified Mediator in the areas of family, dependency, circuit courts and county courts. He is also an Association for Conflict Resolution Family Mediation advance practitioner, a diplomat member of the Florida Academy of Professional Mediators and an approved appellate mediator for the Fifth District Court of Appeals. He is a clinical psychologist who has been a mediator for over 20 years and mediates family, healthcare, dependency, circuit, civil, ADA, business and other types of disputes. Firestone helps government and businesses develop effective dispute resolution systems that can resolve a wide range of disputes in a timely, efficient, and satisfactory manner. These dispute resolution systems often include multiple options for encouraging collaborative dispute resolution to resolve complaints and disputes with the assistance of a professional dispute resolution coordinator. Attending the University of South Florida, Dr. Firestone holds dual Ph.D.s in clinical and community psychology as well as mediation and counseling.

  
  

  • Louis P. Ortiz
    
    
    • Louis P. Ortiz is a principal and shareholder with Garcia & Ortiz CPA in St. Petersburg, Florida. He has extensive experience advising privately and publically held companies in all phases of business management on all levels. He has worked with many law firms in areas such as accounting; tax and other financial consulting; and as an expert witness in litigation where financials are a principal part of the case, including business, family, estate, real estate, wealth preservation and other areas. He is a past member of the Florida Bar Grievance Committee and has worked as a certified family mediator. Ortiz has a BSBA from the University of Florida, an MBA from the University of South Florida and is a certified public accountant, a certified financial planner, a registered investment advisor, a certified business appraiser, a licensed real estate broker, an associate member of the Florida Bar Family Law, and associate member of the Hillsborough Bar, and a bank board of director and member of their Loan and Chairman of Audit committees.

  
  

  • Arline S. Rotman
    
    
    • Arline S. Rotman, retired, was a probate and family court judge in Massachusetts for twelve years. Before taking the bench, she practiced law, concentrating on family law. Since her retirement, she has become involved in alternative dispute resolution as it pertains to family law, including mediation, arbitration and parenting coordination. She is a former president of the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts, a fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers and is a member of various bar associations.

  
  

  • Philip Stahl, Ph.D.
    
    
    • Philip Stahl, Ph.D., ABPP (Forensic), is a psychologist in private practice but is also one of the nation's leading experts in the field of high-conflict divorces and custody evaluation. A provider of continuing education for psychologists, marriage and family therapists, and family law specialist attorneys, Stahl conducts training seminars for child custody evaluators and others working with high-conflict families of divorce. Stahl has presented workshops for judges throughout the country and is on the faculty of National Judicial College and a frequent presenter at programs of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges. In addition to his teaching efforts, Stahl has written extensively on the issues in high-conflict divorce and custody evaluations. His work on child custody evaluation was cited by the California Supreme Court in its landmark decision modifying eight years of relocation case law in 1994. More recently (2010), Stahl was on the workgroup appointed by the Arizona Supreme Court that re-wrote Arizona's "Planning for Parenting Time."