November 2021 / 13 posts found

How to Get What You Want in Divorce Mediation

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Divorcing spouses often wonder how to get what you want in divorce mediation. Divorce mediation can feel scary and threatening, and defenses can go way up. But one thing I’ve learned in the 20+ years of being a divorce mediator is, what a party thinks they want when they start the mediation process may not be what they end up wanting after working through the process.   Divorce Mediation is an opportunity for both parties to collect all of the necessary financial documents verses having to have these documents subpoenaed through a court order. Through the mediation process the parties […]

Analysis: Significant procedural changes in civil litigation in the High Court

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Kevin Healy, solicitor at Comyn Kelleher Tobin, provides an overview of coming changes to the practice and procedure of civil litigation in the High Court. A variety of reforms to the practice and procedure of civil litigation in the Superior Courts is due to commence on 13 November 2021 through the introduction of the Statutory Instrument 490 of 2021 (SI 490/2021). These reforms will be implemented through the amended Rules of the Superior Courts and will have potentially adverse effects on the parties to litigation, in particular defendants. The intention of these amendments is to improve the procedure in applications to the […]

I Feel Broken: Dumped, Angry And In Pain

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I’ve been corresponding with a reader who has been divorced for several years, and was recently in a relationship for well over a year, which she thought was happy, healthy, and loving. Until her boyfriend broke up with her via text, causing to write to me: “I feel broken…” The advice I am offering is not only for those who feel broken after a relationship ends, but for those going through a divorce, as well. Here are some things this reader wrote:   I feel broken…completely broken. I never saw it coming. He instantly and completely shut me out.   […]

Will SPAC Restatements Trigger Shareholder Litigation?

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On April 12, 2021, the SEC’s Acting Director of the Division of Corporation Finance, John Coates, and Acting Chief Accountant, Paul Munter, issued a joint statement (“Statement”) highlighting concerns about the accounting treatment of warrants issued in conjunction with special purpose acquisition companies (“SPACs”).[1]  Initial funding for a SPAC often includes warrants that have typically been classified as equity in the SPAC’s financial statements.  However, in their Statement, Mr. Coates and Mr. Munter described certain common features of those warrants that would require them to be classified as liabilities rather than equity.  They explained that if, after considering the Statement, […]

Divorced With Kids? 20 Co-Parenting Tips

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Isn’t the concept of being divorced with kids kind of ironic? Think about it. You and your spouse decide you don’t want to live together any longer, you want to get divorced, you don’t want to be a couple, and chances are the amount of resentment, anger and animosity you have towards each other is off the charts.   Yet you have these people you created together and have raised thus far, who each of you loves with all of your hearts. So now, regardless of how hard you try to avoid each other, how much you cringe at the […]

The Guardian view on the family courts: secrecy isn’t working | Editorial

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On average around 4,300 cases a week are heard in the family courts in England and Wales – adding up to a total of 224,902 last year. It is estimated that 62% of cases involve allegations of domestic abuse. Almost a quarter are disputes between separating or separated couples, usually over their children. For the past three years, the number of applications for children to be taken into council care has been around 13,000; the number in care now stands at a record 80,000, up from 65,000 a decade ago. Yet despite such startling figures, and the strong public interest in understanding the societal […]

Covid lawsuits and inquiries are looming – but blame won’t prevent future pandemics | Laura Spinney

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Earlier this month, proceedings opened in Austria in a civil suit brought against the authorities by the widow and son of a man who died of Covid-19 after staying in Ischgl, the ski resort widely regarded as having hosted a super-spreader event early in the pandemic. The week before, former French health minister Agnès Buzyn was ordered by a court to answer, essentially, for the government’s lack of anticipation of the pandemic. In the UK, meanwhile, the government has promised a public inquiry into the handling of the crisis. It’s due to start next spring. Those pushing for it to […]

Why group litigation?

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Improvements in technology and access to flexible funding arrangements are making group actions more popular routes to justice for UK consumers and corporates alike.   Bringing a claim as part of a group with the same cause of action is gaining popularity in the UK. Often confused with US “class action” law suits, where very large claims are commoditised and claimants ultimately walk away with very small amounts of compensation, the UK is developing its own approach to group claims that deliver meaningful outcomes for claimants. Until recently, UK group claims over issues such as equal pay were dealt with […]

Tackling Incivility in Intellectual Property Litigation

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Julie Katz, a highly experienced intellectual property litigator, remarks on how she has witnessed this shift in attorney attitudes first-hand and offers her insights as to how and why it should be reversed.  How have you observed incivility manifesting in intellectual property litigation? I have observed and experienced a high level of incivility first hand in IP litigation, and I can only say that it makes an attorney’s job more difficult than it already is. We are engaged to advocate for our clients, which may require advocating zealously. What some attorneys seem to forget is that it is our client’s […]

Going Through A Divorce? A Word That Will Keep You Out of The Garbage Chute

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“Daddy, I want it now!” whined Veruca Salt throughout the 1971 classic film, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. I often wondered why Salt couldn’t wait a day and just ask her dad to give Mr. Wonka a call to talk about the golden goose. If she’d have just had some PATIENCE and enjoyed the day, she wouldn’t have ended up in the garbage chute. Salt should be a lesson to men and women going through a divorce. Why? Because when going through a divorce, patience is the biggest key to an easier time in coping with divorce; a time […]