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Event Information
Adoption Law
February 23, 2023
Credits
N/A
MCLE: 6.00
Ethics: 1.00
Pricing
Dates
Thursday, February 23, 2023Time
8:55 AM - 4:45 PMRegistration Deadline
Thursday, February 23, 2023Live in person hours at SC Bar Conference Center, 1501 Park St, Columbia, SC 29201
South Carolina Adoption Law and Practice - A Guide for Attorneys, Certified Investigators, and Families was first published by the South Carolina Bar in 2010. The long-awaited second edition of this adoption law treatise will serve as the course materials for this six-hour CLE. The program will focus on changes in adoption law over the past decade and look to the future, including a discussion of new frontiers in family formation. For the first time, a chapter on termination of parental rights is included in the second edition. The appendix of the book contains forms and sample pleadings. Also, included in this seminar is a discussion of ethical practice in adoption law led by Justice John Kittredge.
The seminar is geared toward private attorneys interested in beginning or expanding their adoption law practice; DSS attorneys, indigent defense attorneys, guardians ad litem and their attorneys, certified adoption investigators and DSS caseworkers.
This seminar is a basic to intermediate level program.
This program qualifies for 6.0 MCLE credit hours, including 1.0 LEPR credit hour
SC Supreme Commission on CLE Course #: 234311
About the Book
South Carolina Adoption Law and Practice - A Guide for Attorneys, Certified Investigators and Families, Second Edition
Whether you are an attorney who is interested in expanding your practice to include termination of parental rights and adoption, or you are an experienced adoption attorney looking to hone your skills, South Carolina Adoption Law and Practice is a valuable resource. The book addresses many topics, including,
1. choosing the right legal theory: custody, TPR or adoption
2. the Responsible Father Registry
3. the presumption of legitimacy
4. the law and art of witnessing a consent
5. attacking finalized adoptions
6. the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children
7. the Indian Child Welfare Act
8. Foster parent rights
9. Grounds for termination of parental rights
10. Defending birth parents in a TPR proceeding
11. Exploring adoption options for various family formations, such as step-parent, second parent, and joint adoption
12. The role of attachment in defining a child's best interest
13. the attorney's responsibility to provide medical/social information on the child and birth family
14. Proposing a ethical paradigm for adoption attorneys
Summary of Contents:
Chapter 1: A Prologue
Chapter 2: The Intersection of Adoption Law and Related Legal Concepts
Chapter 3: Ethical Challenges in Adoption Practice
Chapter 4: Consent
Chapter 5: Birth Father Rights and Responsibilities
Chapter 6: The Best Interest of the Child
Chapter 7: Termination of Parental Rights
Chapter 8: New Frontiers in Family Formation
Chapter 9: Confidentiality in Adoptions: Degrees of Openness and Access to Adoption Records
Chapter 10: Counseling, Investigations and Reports
Chapter 11: Financial Considerations
Chapter 12: Interstate Adoptions
Chapter 13: Indian Child Welfare Act
Chapter 14: Attacks on Finalized Adoptions
Appendices of Forms (includes forms, practice tips, website references)
This book can serve as a desktop reference for attorneys and certified investigators, as it provides sample pleadings, orders and practice forms. [Each purchase will include the hardcopy, as well as a PDF download of the book text and forms.]
Registration Fees:
$335 - (includes publication - South Carolina Adoption Law and Practice - A Guide for Attorneys, Certified Investigators and Families, Second Edition by James Fletcher Thompson
$125 - Paralegals (book sold separately, $120)
Big Ticket Holder: $0 (subscribers pay book retail cost of $120 - after the seminar, price will be $140)
*Certified Adoption Investigators (CAI) and employees of adoption agencies are free to register for the adoption seminar at the paralegal rate, whether they wish to attend in person or by live webcast.
NON-SC BAR MEMBER REGISTRATION INFORMATION: A
non-SC Bar Member will need to create an account. To create a
new account click here and
follow the instructions carefully. Once you have created your account it is
advised that you close all browers and go back to the registration page at https://cle.scbar.org/Seminars/Info/sessionaltcd/S2023_026 (for live in-person)
or https://cle.scbar.org/Seminars/Info/sessionaltcd/W2023_026
(for live webcast) and log in . PLEASE NOTE: DO
NOT create a new account if you are a current South Carolina Bar member or
a past South Carolina Bar member returning to practice. If you have taken a
past program with us and not sure of your login, please contact registrar@scbar.org or
803-576-3822.
The South Carolina Bar is an accredited CLE provider in South Carolina only. Attorneys are responsible for seeking their own credit in other jurisdictions.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in CLE programs and publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the South Carolina Bar, its sections, or committees. The South Carolina Bar believes that all Bar members have the right to both meaningful learning and to the exchange of ideas in a civil environment. The Bar reserves the right to remove or exclude any person from a Bar event if that person is causing inappropriate disturbance, behaving in a manner inconsistent with accepted standards of decorum, or in any way preventing fellow Bar members from meaningful participation and learning.
Registration Fees
Price Description | Amount |
---|
Agenda
Printed Publication for Big Ticket holders, Paralegals, CAIs, and Employees of Adoption Agencies |
$120.00 |
Speakers
Name | Organization | Speaking At |
---|---|---|
Christopher Church | University of South Carolina School of Law | - |
James Thompson | Thompson Dove Law Group LLC | - |
John Kittredge | S.C. Supreme Court | - |
Larry Dove | Thompson Dove Law Group LLC | - |
Lauren Dove | Thompson Dove Law Group | - |
Mindy Zimmerman | S.C. Family Court | - |
Policy
Need to cancel or transfer your registration? Simply notify us in writing no later than 24 hours prior to the published start time of the seminar at registrar@scbar.org. You will be eligible to receive a full refund, be transferred to the live webcast or archived on-demand version of the same seminar, if available, or to a live or archived seminar of equal or lesser value. If you need to cancel within 24 hours of the start time of a program, you are eligible to take the program in its archived, on-demand format, if available. Neither transfers to the live webcast, nor refunds will be issued for cancellations made within 24 hours of a seminar start time.
Continuing Education
Agenda
Registration
8:55 a.m.
Welcome, and Opening Remarks
Adoption changes in the last decade.
9:00 a.m.
The Basics of Adoption Law Practice
Lauren Dove and James Fletcher Thompson, Thompson Dove
Law Group, LLC
·
A hybrid of law and social science
·
South Carolina’s Notorious Adoption History
·
Adoption changes in the last decade
·
Using
appropriate terminology
·
The role
of the certified adoption investigator
·
Mechanics
of a voluntary consent
·
Understanding legal definitions and theories
·
Recognizing
an adoption case from a custody case
10:00 a.m.
Defining the “Best Interest of the Child”
L. Dale Dove and James Fletcher Thompson, Thompson Dove Law Group, LLC
The evolution of South Carolina’s best interest doctrine
The legislature responds again . . . and again
Defining best interest as a focus on attachment and permanency
DSS’s evolving role in adoption of foster children
Adoption as first priority if reunification is not appropriate
A choice between kinship or a secure attachment
Foster parent rights
10:45 a.m.
Break
11:00 a.m.
Ethical Challenges in Adoption Practice
The Honorable Justice John W. Kittredge, Supreme Court of
South Carolina
James Fletcher Thompson, Thompson Dove Law Group, LLC
· Competent representation and land
mines for the uninitiated adoption practitioner
· Clear lines of representation
·
Interactions with unrepresented
persons
·
Limits on adversarialism
·
Candor with the court
·
An ethical paradigm for adoption
practice
12:00 p.m.
Weighing the Decision
to Remove Children from their Biological Parents
Christopher E. Church, University of South Carolina
School of Law
·
Reasonable efforts to prevent
removal
·
Unnecessary removal, short stays in foster
care
·
The importance of the probable cause
hearing
12:30– 1:45 p.m.
Lunch On Your Own
1:45 p.m.
New Frontiers in Family Formation
James Fletcher Thompson, Thompson Dove Law Group, LLC
·
America today: a diverse fabric of
family formations
·
Emergence of LGBTQIA+ Rights
·
Obergefell, marriage equality,
and the recognition of family
·
The Adoption Code: flexible to the
contours of today’s family formations
·
Adoption by a Stepparent or Relative
·
Adoption by a Second Parent
·
Joint Adoption
·
Assisted reproductive technologies
(ART): the science and promise
·
ART: legal safeguards and best
practices
·
Prospects for the Future
·
New family formations and a child’s
best interest
·
Three Parents
3:00 p.m.
Break
3:15 p.m.
Termination of Parental Rights
The Honorable Mindy Zimmerman, Judge, South Carolina Family
Court
James Fletcher Thompson, Thompson Dove Law Group, LLC
· A framework for analysis
· Consent required and the TPR statute
· Differences between the TPR statute and the
Adoption Act
· Evidentiary standard of proof
· Notice to identified unmarried
fathers
· When to name fathers as a party to the case
· Practice Pointers for defending a TPR
case
· Trial strategies
· Practice Pointers for final adoption hearing
· Misnomers, incorrect assumptions, and
frequent mistakes by practitioners
4:45 p.m.
Adjourn