Family law covers a wide range of legal issues and often involves representing clients during emotional times in their lives. Most family lawyers specialize in divorce, which generally encompasses marital dissolution, spousal and child support, legal and physical custody, and sometimes paternity issues. Family lawyers may also represent clients in drafting co-habitation, pre-nuptial, and marital property agreements. As the definition of "family" continues to evolve in America, family lawyers will be on the cutting edge, facing increasingly complex new issues and challenges.
Family lawyers need a broad set of legal skills. They must be negotiators, client counselors, and litigators. They must have good people skills, and strong oral and written communication skills, including good listening skills. Family lawyers must have a grasp of the many issues involved in family law and must also have a working knowledge of tax, estate planning, business law, and real estate law.
Family law affects many people's lives and the role of the family lawyer is an important one in our society. It can be a stressful area of practice, but it can also be a very rewarding one.
Core/Foundation Courses
These are the entry level courses that -- at a minimum -- employers
expect a student interested in this specialty to have:
- Evidence
- Family Law I
- Family Law II
- Tax I (A or B)
Recommended Courses
Students interested in this practice area should consider including one or more of the following courses as electives.
- Client Interviewing & Counseling
- Lawyering Skills
- Marital Property Law ( for those practicing in Wisconsin)
- Negotiation/Mediation
- Selected Problems in Family Law
- Trial Advocacy
- Trusts & Estates
Enrichment Courses
These courses deepen or broaden the skills and substantive information that a lawyer in this field needs and also provide advanced courses for students interested in a specialty within this area of practice.
- Adoption Law
- Bioethics & the Law
- Children, Law & Society
- Children, Parents & the State
- Comparative Family Law
- Domestic Violence
- Health Law & Administration
- Juvenile Justice Administration
- Law & the Elderly
- Use of Trusts in Estate Planning
(Note that whether a particular course is scheduled depends on faculty availability and student demand.)
Clinics, Internships, and Externships
Wisconsin Coalition Against
Domestic Violence Clinical Program
The UW-Madison Law School offers an externship program (clinical)
for students at the Wisconsin Coalition Against Domestic Violence (WCADV).
Students assist with legal inquiries and research regarding domestic violence
issues.
Family Court Assistance Project
The Family Court Assistance Project is a clinical program designed to
help make the legal system more accessible to low-income, unrepresented
people with divorce, post-divorce, paternity, and restraining order matters.
Students do not serve as advocates, but rather as facilitators/mediators,
working with the parties to prepare cases for decision. Students undergo
in-depth skills training in interviewing, counseling, and negotiations,
and learn the nuts and bolts of family law.
Students in the Family Law Project represent incarcerated clients in family law issues, including divorce, paternity, child support, physical placement, and guardianship. Students gain hands-on experience in all aspects of the practice of family and civil law, including interviewing and counseling clients; examining and analyzing ethical issues; negotiating with an opposing party, opposing counsel, and/or a guardian ad litem; drafting court documents; interviewing witnesses; and preparing for and conducting court hearings. The Family Law Project is a three-semester commitment that may begin in the summer after the student's first or second year.
Student Organizations and Related Activities
The Children's Justice Project brings together people interested in promoting justice for children and juveniles, including the rights of children and juveniles in the legal, educational, health care, and social services systems. The Project does this through interdisciplinary advocacy and study.
Faculty
Tonya
Brito
Room 8110
(608) 265-6475
tlbrito@wisc.edu
Nina
Camic
Room 6230
(608) 263-5623
nlcamic@wisc.edu
Peter
DeWind
Room 4318B
(608) 263-7005
pjdewind@wisc.edu
Marsha
Mansfield
Room 4118A
(608) 262-4192
mmmansfield@wisc.edu
Elizabeth Mertz
Room 3242
(608) 263-7419
eemertz@wisc.edu
Leslie
Shear
Room 4318C
(608) 262-2030
ldshear@wisc.edu
Gretchen
Viney
Room 5224
(608) 262-8048
ggviney@wisc.edu
In addition to our full-time faculty, the Law School's adjunct faculty members -- prominent practicing lawyers and judges -- bring their specialized knowledge and experience to the classroom. Adjunct Faculty List.