The American Bar Association
GUIDE TO FAMILY LAW
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AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION
Robert A. Stein, Executive Director Sarina A. Butler, Associate Executive Director, Communications Group Mabel C. McKinney-Browning, Director, Division for Public Education Charles White, Series Editor
Standing Committee on Public Education
Hilarie F. Bass, Chair Miami, Florida Al Ellis Dallas, Texas Vanne Owens Hayes Minneapolis, Minnesota Brian T. Hermanson Ponca City, Oklahoma Kay H. Hodge Boston, Massachusetts T. Richard Kennedy New York, New York James A. Noe Seattle, Washington Pamela J. Roberts Columbia, South Carolina Howard H. Vogel Knoxville, Tennessee
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Author Jeff Atkinson Adjunct Professor of Law DePaul University College of Law Chicago, Illinois
Reviewers
Howard Davidson ABA Center for Children and the Law Washington, D.C. Linda Elrod Washburn University School of Law Topeka, Kansas Diane Geraghty Loyola University School of Law, Chicago Chicago, Illinois Lynne Z. Gold-Bikin Past Chair, ABA Family Law Section Norristown, Pennsylvania Lowell K. Halverson Attorney at Law Mercer Island, Washington Victoria Ho Asbell, Coleman & Ho Naples, Florida Burton S. Hochberg Schiller, DuCanto, and Fleck Chicago, Illinois Antoinette Sedillo Lopez University of New Mexico School of Law Albuquerque, New Mexico
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Robert Nye John Marshall Law School Chicago, Illinois Marcia O'Kelly University of North Dakota School of Law Grand Folks, North Dakota Peggy L. Podell Podell & Podell Milwaukee, Wisconsin Norman N. Robbins Robbins & Robbins Bingham Farms, Michigan Arnold H. Rutkin Rutkin & Effron, P.C. Westport, Connecticut Dee M. Samuels Samuels, Shawn & Marx San Francisco, California Phillip Schwartz Schwartz, Ellis, and Moore Arlington, Virginia Patricia Garity Smits Attorney at Law Morristown, New Jersey Jesse C. Trentadue Suitter, Axland, Armstrong & Hanson Salt Lake City, Utah
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About the Author Jeff Atkinson is an Adjunct Professor at DePaul University College of Law in Chicago, Illinois. Professor Atkinson has taught a variety of subjects, including family law. He also serves as a professor-reporter for the Illinois Judicial Conference, responsible for training Illinois judges in family law and legal ethics. He is author of a two-volume treatise entitled "Modern Child Custody Practice," published by Lexis Law Publishing of Charlottesville, Virginia. He is former chair of the ABA's Child Custody Committee, and has served as a member of the editorial board of the ABA's Family Advocate and Family Law Quarterly, both of which are quarterly magazines for lawyers and judges. Professor Atkinson also is a member of the ABA’s Family Law Section Council and serves as an ABA Advisor to the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws, an organization that drafts law for the states on family law issues and other topics.
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