Recap and Upcoming Meetings

The Family Law Section April 2011 meeting was hit with a snafu! Our scheduled speaker, Josh Foreman, was scheduled to take the train from King County to Clark County in order to join us. Unfortunately, I learned two hours in advance that the train Josh was scheduled to take was delayed and he could not make it. I was forced to find some content for our members at the last minute but thanks to the camaraderie and overall interest our members have in lively discussion, I had two members, Jolene Sell and Steve Bogdon lead discussion. Both were quite interesting and informative. One discussion was about a potential requirement for parents going through divorces in Clark County to take a parenting class. This is currently a requirement in Idaho and Oregon. I have received a lot of feedback from our members on this topic.

During the April meeting we learned that Michael Langsdorf is retiring so congratulations to Michael! Also, the FLS voted to sponsor the annual Clark County Bar Association BBQ as we did last year.

Our next meeting will be May 12 in the lounge at Tommy O’s in downtown Vancouver from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. per usual. The topic is “Building Bridges, Managing Conflict: What we can Learn from Neuroscience” with Lydia Byhardt Bollinger, a licensed clinical social worker with certificates in both marriage and family therapy and trauma counseling, and Erin Ruff, a conflict resolution specialist, mediator, trainer, and public policy advocate. They will discuss what happens in the brain when a person experiences conflict; when you try to help others solve conflicts; what neuroscience can teach us about how to facilitate conflict resolution; and, how to prevent future conflicts.

Our last meeting for the year will be June 9, same time, same place. The topic: “When Your Client Needs Financial Planning: how an investment firm, a bank, and an independent financial planner can help.” Helping family law attorneys offer options to our clients will be guest speakers: Andy Nygard with Edward Jones , Jennifer Rhoads, Director of Wealth Management with First Independent Bank, and Mark Martel with Martel Wealth Advisors Inc.

Remember that we need new officers for next year so please consider volunteering! We have three positions, President, Secretary, and Treasurer. Serving as an officer is a great way to connect with your colleagues. Please let me know if you are interested in serving the FLS.

If you would like to attend a CCBA FLS meeting and do not currently receive the email updates, please email me at Elizabeth@elizabethchristy.com.