2007 Mid-Year Meeting

Workshop on Family Law :
Bridging the Gap Between Social Science and Law

June 20-22, 2007
Vancouver, British Columbia

Why Attend?
Family law scholars have increasingly turned to the empirical sciences in their teaching and scholarship to help define problems worthy of exploration, provide the data necessary to develop and test hypotheses, and deepen their understanding of the interaction between law, human behavior, and families. Few problems in family law do not have an empirical dimension or a set of issues that cannot be enhanced through interdisciplinary connections. This conference addresses the growing interest in social science and family law by drawing together prominent family law scholars and some of today’s leading social scientists of the family.

Among the specific topics covered by the conference that have engaged both empirical scientists and legal scholars are child custody, the family dimensions of race and poverty, assisted reproduction, domestic violence, and the role of courts in resolving family disputes, and dispute resolution alternatives to the judicial process. How important is it for a child to maintain a relationship (an equal relationship?) with both parents after a divorce? What custody rules should apply when one parent relocates to another state? What is parental alienation and how should courts respond to charges of it? What determines the stability, or fragility, of families, and what role can and should the law play in making families more stable? What problems do physicians encounter in their assisted reproduction practices to which the law should have better answers? What does the empirical data that might help the law solve issues of defining parenthood outside the conventional reproductive context? Do domestic protection orders work? Are children, and battered parents, adequately protected by current law? When does mediation work, and when should it be mandatory? Are parenting plans the answer? What role can special family courts play? As to each of these and other questions, social scientist researchers will join with legal scholars to discuss the most recent empirical research in the area and its implications for family law. The panel on assisted reproduction is co-sponsored by the Joint AALS and American Society for Reproductive Medicine Workshop on Reproductive Medicine and Law.

In addition to providing empirical data and insight about its relevance to family law, the workshop will provide sessions to help family law professors develop greater empirical sophistication in their own research. One panel of family law professors who have done empirical research will discuss how they developed and supported their empirical projects. In addition, a law professor/social scientist with experience in the grant-making world will discuss how to define manageable, fundable topics and approach potential funders.

Finally, the workshop will set aside time to discuss innovative ways of teaching family law.

~Planning Committee for Workshop on Family Law: Bridging the Gap Between Social Science and Law
Katharine T. Bartlett (Duke) Chair
Margaret Friedlander Brinig (Notre Dame)
Ira Mark Ellman (Arizona State)
Blake D. Morant (Washington and Lee)
Carl E. Schneider (Michigan)

Who Should Attend?
This workshop is intended for family law teachers and scholars who wish to be more intelligent consumers of the empirical research relevant to their own scholarly agendas and teaching interests, as well as those who may wish to integrate some empirical methods into their research. Scholars and teachers of all experience levels should benefit from the conference.