South Carolina Family Law Blog : Spartanburg Divorce Lawyer & Attorney : Stevens-MacPhail Law Firm : South Carolina Family Law Serving Columbia, Charleston, Greenville, Hilton Head Island

Tiger Woods, Sen. John Ensign, the Mayor of Detroit -- all men whose adultery was discovered by text messages to their lovers.  Family law attorneys have seen a rise in the number of situations where a cheating spouse's own text messages tell his/her spouse about the adultery, and that number is expected to continue to grow in the future.

Most people know that email messages remain on their computers even if deleted, but they do not think about text messages in the same way.  A copy of the message remains on the cell phones of both the sender and receiver for at least some period of time, and communications companies retain them for short periods of time.  AT&T says that it keeps its text messages for 72 hours at most, while Verizon claims it saves them for 5 to 10 days.

Of course, younger cell phone users use text messages more than older users, so the number of cases involving this issue is expected to grow. The Nielsen Company reports that text messages now outnumber mobile voice calls three to one.  Monthly text messages sent or received jumped to 584 per person in the quarter ending in September, which is a 60 percent increase from a year earlier.

Source: “Text Messages: Digital Lipstick on the Collar” by Laura M. Holson, published in the New York Times.

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The following article was written to advise attorneys how to keep their data secure, but it also applies to parties in Family Court cases.  Many problems can arise from letting the wrong information fall into the wrong hands, so I thought it would be helpful to share this information here.

Most discussions about security and technology revolve around data security, including topics like virus protection and data backup. Given the importance of electronic data in the modern law office, this focus is not only appropriate, but necessary. Nevertheless, there are other security issues that attorneys must consider, and one such issue is the physical security of their technology.

Lapses in physical security frequently lead to data breaches. Smartphones, thumb drives, and other portable devices are easily--and frequently--lost. Laptops loaded with sensitive information have been stolen or misplaced. Computers that should be secured are accessed by unauthorized individuals. In a range of situations, sensitive data is exposed or put at risk due to a simple lack of physical security.

The following are some tips you can use to keep your technology--and your data--secure:

• Use a computer lock. Most laptops, desktop computers, and larger peripherals (like monitors and printers) sold today have small slots called "K-slots" or "security slots" that allow owners to attach a computer lock. The locks themselves are sold by various vendors, including Kensington and Belkin, and feature a metal cable and either a key or combination lock. The cable should be attached to something solid and immovable; putting it around a desk leg won't help if the desk can be lifted and the cable removed.
• Control access. Know who has access to your technology--co-workers, cleaning staff, outside contractors--and secure it appropriately. Also consider access when you're outside of the office. Don't leave your laptop unattended in a coffee shop while you go for a refill; don't leave unlocked technology sitting around in your hotel room; don't leave your laptop bag sitting in plain view in the back of your car while you run into the mall. Failing to control access to your technology is an invitation to disaster.
• Mark your technology. There are many solutions for marking your technology to indicate ownership, including etching and permanent asset tags/stickers. These markers make your devices less desirable to thieves and can help you recover technology that's simply misplaced.
• Be inconspicuous. Keeping your laptop in an obvious laptop bag makes it an easy target for thieves. Instead, try putting it in a smaller protective laptop sleeve and then carry that around inside a regular backpack or other bag.
• It's not just the computers. Laptops and other big-ticket items tend to get the most attention, but from a security and confidentiality standpoint, losing a $10 thumb drive or a $0.50 burned CD could be just as devastating if it contains sensitive information. Consider the value and importance of stored data when formulating your security strategy.

Source:  "Securing Your Tech: More Than Just Data" by Joshua Poje of the ABA Legal Technology Resource Center, published in the ABA Section of Family Law E-Newsletter.

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You've probably seen the iPhone commercials which claim "there's an App for that."  Now, parents wanting to take extra precautions to keep their children safe can use the Offender Locator app, which provides to access information regarding any sex offenders living within a 10-mile radius of their current location or a specified address.  There are versions of this app for the iPhone, Blackberry, and even Facebook.  You can learn much more about these products and their implications at both CNN.com and Ride the Lightening.

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The issue of privacy, more specifically as it relates to online security, is a hot topic these days. As people use the Internet for more and more of their everyday functions, they want to understand what online security means and how it relates to them. While people fear for the safety of their own information, they can look to some very knowledgeable resources in the blogosphere for help. You can learn most everything within the world of online security by visiting these top blogs:

1. 1 Raindrop – Written by a software architect, there is a unique and extremely relevant point of view presented on the topic of online security. This blog is written by an individual who understands the topic firsthand and therefore can bring insight on current trends as he is considered to be an expert in the field. Not only does he keep up with informative blog posts but talks about his speaking engagements and the reaction they get from the general public.
2. Freedom to Tinker - The nice part about this blog is that it offers many different featured authors as part of the following and for whom the actual blog posts come from. Not only does this mean unique points of view, but it also allows for individuals to contribute and keep followers informed on various areas of online security. This is well worth following to keep up with current trends and to see what the latest news is with online security because that is at the core of every contributing author on here.
3. Exhaustive Research – A very intriguing blog that not only dives into the concept of online security but also how it relates to human behavior and the world in general. If the blog posts weren’t to capture your attention, the comments by those who regularly follow this blog can often keep you on the edge of your seat.
4. Another Set of Teeth – You can tell that this comes from an IT professional who has a distinct point of view and that’s what keeps people coming back. He represents his views thoughtfully but without apology as he tackles the issues of hacking and online security for the general public. It’s a refreshing point of view as it’s not only informative but very honest too.
5. Security Buddha – Though online security is at the center of this blog, there are so many other security issues that this blogger delves into. You can learn about everything from hacking to keeping your information safe—even learn about airport security. He takes his security issues very seriously and therefore brings a much respected point of view.
6. Avi Rubin’s Blog – Sure it’s just one blogger writing about his unique point of view, but it’s rather intriguing. He spells out up front his desire to dive into the specific areas of security evaluators and network security, amidst many other topics that are pertinent. This is one individual who not only knows about the world of online security, but also about how to write in an interesting and relevant manner.
7. Meta Security – There are a variety of different topics and authors that make this an excellent blog to follow. Though online security is just one of the many topics, including money laundering and fraud, you can learn a little bit about a whole lot of topics within the security world.

More and more we find that the issue of online security is one that needs addressing. Follow along with these top security bloggers and get the information you need to surf and work the web confidently and securely.

This Guest Post was written by Mary Ward, who writes about various legal career topics, including how to obtain an online court reporting degree.

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Those looking for updates in family law topics now have everything they need in one convenient spot:  Alltop's Family Law page.  This page includes many popular resources, including Divorce Discourse, Blawg Republic, Google News, and my own South Carolina Family Law Blog.

If you're not familiar with Alltop, you should be.  It's a service that helps tell you "what’s happening?” in “all the topics” that interest you.  It does this by collecting the headlines of the latest stories from the best sites and blogs that cover a particular topic

The Alltop - Family Law page was created as the result of a conversation I had with Guy Kawasaki last week, and I appreciate his recognition of this need and effort to get this page established.  I know that it will be a great resource to attorneys and the general public.  You can check it out by clicking here.

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South Carolina Lawyers Weekly published the following article last month that discussed the types of information that can be found in social networking sites, such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and how that information can be used in Family Court cases.  I was pleased to be featured in it, and I hope that you find it helpful.

Divorce Attorneys Are Missing Evidence on Social Media Sites 

The undeniable popularity of Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and other social networking sites has opened up a potential treasure trove of legal evidence, especially in divorce cases where a person's whereabouts, "friends," and employment status are often relevant.

But most divorce lawyers are missing the boat.  "So few family lawyers even know to look for it," said Melissa Brown, a Charleston domestic relations attorney who has given seminars on the topic.  "Family law attorneys are really lagging behind other lawyers and judges," agreed Lee Rosen, a divorce attorney in Raleigh, N.C., who authors the Divorce Discourse Blog.

Rosen, who routinely finds evidence on Facebook, said "most cases where there is evidence of adultery quickly settle," such as where a straying spouse posts incriminating photos or wall messages on his or her Facebook page.  In another case Rosen recently tried, a judge admitted evidence that one spouse sent a threatening message in a "friend request" to the other spouse.

And it's not just the other side that lawyers have to worry about.  "Divorce lawyers should give a warning to all of their clients about the dangers of social networking during a divorce action," Brown said.  Brown has sometimes encouraged clients to take down sites entirely, such as one client whose Facebook page included a photo of her and her boyfriend in a hot tub.

Loose tweets sink ships

Personal information from social networking sites runs the gamut.  "In divorce or child custody cases, what we look for is confessions - things they've done, places they've been [and] people they've had their child around," said J. Benjamin Stevens of Spartanburg.

For example, a parent who is restrained from taking a child out-of-state might post photos of visiting Disney World or other vacation destinations with the child.  Or, in a custody case that Stevens handled, a father denied drug use but the background of his MySpace page featured marijuana leaves.

A person's Linkedln profile can contain evidence of earning capacity or job prospects that can be useful in disputes over support payments.  In one case, Rosen cornered a spouse in a deposition who was trying not to pay alimony by claiming he had no real job prospects after being laid off, while his Twitter messages clearly showed he was about to be hired.

Twitter, arguably the most spontaneous of the social networking tools, can be rife with accidental leaks.  "It's so easy. If I'm tweeting from my iPhone I could easily do something I could regret later," Brown said.

Take, for example, the soon-to-be ex-wife of singer Usher who recently tweeted in the middle of her divorce trial that her lawyer was "horrible" and asked where she could find a new one, apparently unaware that she was tweeting to all of her friends and beyond.

"People assume it's all private and they are less cautious about Twitter and Facebook because it's all new and different," said Rosen, who noted that some Facebook users don't pay attention to the privacy settings available and end up posting wall messages that they don't realize are public.

Continue Reading...

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As you probably know from reading my blogs, my law practice leverages technology both to help our current and potential clients and also to market our services.  Along those lines, I want to thank the ABA Section of Family Law for mentioning me in its May 2009 E-Newsletter, as follows:

During a recent interview family lawyer and Mac user Ben Stevens of South Carolina advocates "three C's (commitment, content, and consistency) for the blog to be a success."

If your firm doesn't currently use a blog, it may be missing a great opportunity to distinguish itself from its competitors.  I have been blogging for over four years, and my blogs have led to me being asked for interviews, articles, and presentations on both the state and national level. 

Two of the leading blog providers are LexBlog and G2 Web Media.  I know the owners of both companies personally, and I have no hesitation in recommending either of them to attorneys that are interested in blogging.

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Time.com recently published a list of Five Facebook No-No's for Divorcing Couples.  I have seen all of these in my practice at one time or another.  If you are divorcing, please consider not doing the following (before it's too late):

1. Showing Off :: Pictures or discussions of new purchases or vacations are fun, but they might color the court's view of your finances and affect your settlement.
2. Letting It All Hang Out :: If you're in a custody battle, your ex's lawyers would love to present you as the nonnurturing type. Delete all the crazy party photos.
3. Getting Tagged :: It's not just your page you have to worry about. Make sure your friends' photos of you can't be used against you either.
4. Venting :: Don't talk smack about the lawyers, the judge and especially your spouse — on your page or anybody else's. (You think your kids never use a computer?)
5. Cutting Off Everyone at Once :: Don't "defriend" in-laws or your ex's friends right away. People need time to adjust. Unless it's really high-conflict. Then go for it.

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Family law attorneys have to have thick skins.  Think about it – in virtually every case, one of the parties doesn't like you very much.  In contested cases, it can sometimes reach the level of hatred.  Recall that I was called "the devil" by a party in open court several years ago.  However, in light of what has happened to Randall Kessler, I don't feel too bad.

In case you aren't familiar with Mr. Kessler, he is a very well-known family law attorney in Atlanta, Georgia, and he is generally regarded as an outstanding lawyer.  Unfortunately, one of his celebrity divorce clients recently posted the following to her 19,305 followers on Twitter:  "My lawyer = horrible. Need the name/number of a good one in Atlanta."

What makes this even worse is that the tweet was sent just days after Mr. Kessler publicly praised his client as a "faithful wife and loving mother.  The client claims that she did not intend for the tweet to be read by all of her followers, and she later posted a comment on her page with an apology.  When asked whether he still represents this particular client, Mr. Kessler (to his credit) responded "we represent her, and will not comment on attorney-client relationship beyond that,"

The moral to this story is that you should not write (or especially post online) anything that you would not feel comfortable being read in open Court in front of the trial judge.  Folliwing this "common sense" rule should minimize the chances of embarrassing yourself or even damaging your case.

Sources:  "Client Trashes Her Celebrity Lawyer on Twitter" by Molly McDonough, published at  ABA Journal.comLaw News Now; and "Client Dumps Divorce Lawyer on Twitter" by Carolyn Elefant, published at the Law.comLegal Blog Watch.

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Lawyers USA featured an article late last week about the types of information that can be found in social networking sites, such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn.  The article correctly states that these sites have opened up a potential treasure trove of legal evidence, especially in divorce cases where a person’s whereabouts, “friends” and employment status are often relevant.

Lee Rosen, Melissa Brown, and I were all quoted in this article about the ways that family law attorneys are effectively using these sources of information on their client's behalf – and also the ways that other attorneys are not.  If you are facing a divorce or child custody case, or if you are an attorney who handles these types of cases, you should read this article. 

My quotes are listed below:

“In divorce or child custody cases, what we look for is confessions - things they’ve done, places they’ve been [and] people they’ve had their child around,” said J. Benjamin Stevens of Stevens - MacPhail in Spartanburg, S.C.

For example, a parent who is restrained from taking a child out-of-state might post photos of visiting Disney World or other vacation destinations with the child.

Or, in a custody case that Stevens handled, a father denied drug use but the background of his MySpace page featured marijuana leaves.

A person’s LinkedIn profile can contain evidence of earning capacity or job prospects that can be useful in disputes over support payments.

Source: "Divorce Attorneys Are Missing Evidence on Social Media Sites" by Sylvia Hsieh, published at Lawyers USA.

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The impact of social media on the area of family law has been a hot topic recently.  I have recently posted several articles about this subject, and this week's Time magazine features an article discussing the impact of Facebook on divorce cases in America.

Social media sites such as MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and many others make it very easy to connect (or reconnect) with other people.  Finding someone can often be done in a few clicks.  However, this ease of use can cause problems for those looking to disconnect from a relationship.  For instance, this article discusses the "semipublic laundry-airing that can turn aggrieved spouses into enraged ones and friends into embarrassed spectators."

Of course, savvy divorce attorneys know that social media sites can be great sources of helpful and often "game-changing" information in divorce or child custody cases.  Consider the following examples given in the article: 

• Did your husband's new girlfriend Twitter about getting a piece of jewelry? The court might regard that as marital assets being disbursed to a third party.
• Did your wife tell the court she's incapable of getting a job? Then your lawyer should ask why she's pursuing job interviews through LinkedIn.
• What about the mother who assure the Court that she hadn't been drinking, only to have dated photos of herself drinking (and smoking) on her MySpace page?
• What about the mother who listed herself on a dating site as single with no kids?  How much doubt does this cast on her truthfulness?

What other problems / benefits can arise from social media sites and how do they impact family law cases?  Click HERE to read the Time article and also feel free to submit your Comments below to let me know your thoughts.

Source:  "Facebook and Divorce" by Belinda Lunscombe, published at Time.com.

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Last week, I posted an article addressing what types of information attorneys can obtain using social media.  The following article from the ABA Journal online addresses the types of problems that can arise for judges too:

A North Carolina judge has been reprimanded for “friending” a lawyer in a pending case, posting and reading messages about the litigation, and accessing the website of the opposing party.

Judge B. Carlton Terry Jr. and lawyer Charles Shieck both posted messages about the child custody and support case heard last September, the Lexington Dispatch reports. Terry also accessed the website of the opposing litigant and cited a poem she had posted there, according to the April 1 public reprimand (PDF) by the North Carolina Judicial Standards Commission.

The opinion says Terry and Shieck first discussed Facebook in chambers in the presence of the opposing lawyer in the case, Jessie Conley, who said she didn’t know what Facebook was and didn’t have time for it. After the discussion, Terry and Shieck friended each other. Shieck later posted a Facebook reference to the issue of whether his client had had an affair, saying “How do I prove a negative?” according to the opinion. Shieck also wrote, “I have a wise judge.”

Terry told Conley about Shieck’s posts the day after he read them. The same day during court proceedings he referenced the poem he found and posted a Facebook message that the case was in its last day of trial. After the hearing concluded, Terry disclosed to both parties that he had visited the website of Conley’s client, where he found the poem, and then disqualified himself at the request of Conley.

Terry told investigators the poem had suggested that Conley’s client was not as bitter as he first thought and had given him hope for the litigants’ children. He also cooperated in the investigation, the opinion says.

The opinion says the ex parte communications and the independent gathering of information indicated a disregard of the principles of judicial conduct. 

Source:  "Judge Reprimanded for Friending Lawyer and Googling Litigant" by Debra Cassens Weiss, published at ABA Journal online.

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When divorced parents live close to each other, it's usually easy to determine where to meet to exchange the children. What happens when the parents live far apart, perhaps hours away from each other? If the parents can agree on an area in which to exchange the child, what type of place should they actually meet?

Fortunately, there is MeetWays, an online resource that helps people easily find a halfway point between two locations. You simply enter the addresses and a point of interest, and MeetWays does the rest, providing both the halfway point and places of interest in that vicinity. This site can help resolve countless headaches for parents when trying to decide where to meet for visitation exchanges.

Source: "Parents Meeting at the Halfway Point" by Lee Rosen, published at his Divorce Discourse blog.

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The increased use of social media has brought with it some interesting ethical questions for attorneys.  For instance, consider the question of whether a lawyer can use a third party to obtain information from or about a witness on a site like Facebook or MySpace?  The Philadelphia Bar Association’s Professional Guidance Committee issued an opinion in March that says the answer is "no."

While the information on someone’s Facebook profile is discoverable, a lawyer cannot try to access that information through deception.  If the attorney wants to see what a potential witness says to personal contacts on his Facebook or MySpace page, he has one good option -- just ask for access.  You can download and/or read the full text of Opinion 2009-02 of the Philadelphia Bar Association’s Professional Guidance Committee by clicking HERE.

Source:  "Attorney Can’t Ask 3rd Party to ‘Friend’ Witness on Facebook, Opinion Says" by Martha Neil, published at ABA Journal online; and "Ethics and Facebook" by Doug Cornelius, published at his Compliance Building blog.

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Did you know that it's possible for someone to know vir everything that you do on your computer?  As I posted last week at The Mac Lawyer blog, keystroke logging software allows you to secretly record all the keystrokes on a computer and surreptitiously send those keystrokes via e-mail to another one.  Once installed, it loads and runs invisibly in the background.  When activated, it can monitor and provide reports on a wide range of computer activity, including instant messages sent, Web sites visited, e-mails sent, keystrokes typed, online searches made, and applications used.  

One of the more popular programs is eBlaster from SpectorSoft. It is available in both Mac and Windows versions.  You can read a full review of eBlaster | Mac here, and the PC version works substantially the same way.  You should be aware of these types of programs and keep them in mind if you suspect your spouse (or anyone else) is monitoring your computer usage.  You can also consult a computer forensics expert to help locate such programs in certain situations. 

Note:  Before using any program of this type, you should first determine whether obtaining such information if legal under state and federal law.  This article does not provide any opinion on the legality of same, and it should not be construed as such.  You should also consider that these types of programs are capable of capturing user IDs and passwords typed into banking or other secure sites, and thus make it easy to expose very sensitive information.

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In Family Court cases, it is often necessary to locate or get information about someone, whether a spouse, boyfriend/girlfriend, witness, expert, employer, etc. The internet has made this task much easier, but there are so many different search engines, where should you begin?

Lee Rosen recommends the people search engine Pipl. This resource enables you to do lookups by name, email address, username, or phone number, and it can be incredibly helpful when doing research about someone. What's nice is that it pulls all of the information together into a nice report, and the best part is that it's free!

Source: "Pipl.com - The Most Comprehensive People Search on the Web" by Lee Rosen, published at his Divorce Discourse blog.

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As most of my readers know, I also publish a blog (The Mac Lawyer) about legal technology issues. The national legal newspaper, Lawyers USA, published an article yesterday which features an interview with me about the advantages Macs offer over PCs.  You can read much more about this interview in my post at The Mac Lawyer or the article, "Should you switch to a Mac?" published at Lawyers USA's website.

 

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As mentioned today at my The Mac Lawyer blog, Google announced earlier this week that it added video and voice chat capability to Gmail, making a great product that much better.  Now, anyone with a Gmail account can chat with virtually anyone else -- for free.  Of course, Mac users have had the benefit of iChat for quite some time, but Google has really opened the floodgates with this technology to bring it to the masses.

From a family law perspective, this technology can make it easier for parents to communicate with their children.  More tech-savvy clients can also utilize this technology to have face-to-face meetings with their attorneys from their homes or offices.  The process is literally as simple as setting up a (free) Gmail account, clicking on the Chat drop-down list, and then selecting who you want to talk to.

If you want to learn more about Google's video and voice chats, you can read more in the following articles:

• "Say Hello to Gmail Voice and Video Chat" published at The Official Gmail Blog
• "Google Adds Voice and Video Chat to Gmail" published at TechCrunch
• "Gmail Launching Voice and Video Chat!" published at ZDNet

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The following is a Guest Post from Ruth Folit, President of Chronicles Software, which explains how their program LifeJournal can be utilized to help you in your Family Court case:

Do you want to your win your divorce or custody case? Divorce lawyers tell us that keeping good notes is key to winning your case. When you tell your story in court—and the other side denies your allegations—your detailed, dated notes about your spouse’s or ex-spouse’s behavior will offer solid evidence that strengthens your case.

LifeJournal, journal software, is an easy and effective way to safely keep your notes.
LifeJournal, which runs on your Windows computer’s hard drive, lets you securely record and organize your notes. You can password protect your journals, making the journal private. Additionally, the files are encrypted, so that your can feel even more secure that others won’t be able to read your journal.

LifeJournal automatically enter the time and date of each new entry. LifeJournal lets you assign topics to entries, so you can quickly search for particular entries—by date, by topic, and more. You can print out a set of journal entries and give them to your lawyer.

You may also want to keep a journal for working out the emotional issues that often emerge during a divorce. However, divorce lawyers warn that it’s best not to include your personal writings with your notes that you’ll bring to court. LifeJournal has a solution. You can create two different journal writers, so that the two journals—the journal for court documentation and the journal for personal use—are separate.

You can start right now by downloading the program at www.lifejournal.com/download. Visit www.lifejournal.com to learn more about the program.

Ruth Folit
www.lifejournal.com
rfolit@lifejournal.com

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From the "Tech Corner" of last month's ABA Family Law Section's eNewsletter:

Parenting Plan Technology

When you hear the term "timeshare," you might first think of real estate or condos in Las Vegas. But in the realm of family law, timeshare often refers to the time a child spends with each parent. In his "Tools of the Trade" column in Family Advocate (Vol. 20, No. 3), Stephen J. Harhai wrote, "The fundamental problem in working out time-sharing issues is that it is hard to visualize or calculate the effect of a given plan without a lot of grunt work. We have spent untold hours marking calendars, counting days, writing explanations, and generally driving ourselves crazy getting a handle on complicated time-sharing arrangements." Though written in 1998, Harhai's words still ring true today; however, now there are more technological advances at your disposal to assist with managing the schedules of separate households.

This category of software creates parenting plans based on agreed-upon or court-ordered visitation schedules, and also calculates percentage splits. Central to these programs is a calendar that displays visitation schedules as well as activity, holiday and vacation schedules on a daily, weekly or monthly basis with annual and monthly reporting features. This is essential because in many states, support is calculated based on the amount of time that each parent spends with a child. These programs make it possible to record and consequently measure parental time as well as scheduling changes.

While these tools can help family lawyers create compliant parenting plans for their clients, they may also be used by parents and mediators. Several have been developed specifically for collaboration between parents and caregivers and can serve as a means of record keeping for changing or gaining custody.

Following are some options available to navigate the complexities of custody and visitation agreements.

Parenting Plan Software for Attorneys

Custody Keeper, formerly ChildShare, offers a collaborative option for parents and caregivers as well as benefits to attorneys. Custody Keeper helps present a clear schedule that everyone will understand to facilitate joint or shared custody. It enables you to track or plan time spent with children, as well as track expenses, events, incidents, support payments, and allows you to keep daily comments. The multi-year calendar includes U.S., Canadian, and custom holidays; you also have the ability to print calendars and reports (for yourself, your clients, or the court) and export your schedules and reports in PDF format.

Custody X Change is a software package for managing child custody and maximizing timeshare for one party (or the other). Initially designed for family lawyers who wanted a tool to win more time for their clients without having to manually re-compute every option, it is now also available to parents. The software includes the ability to print out calendars and reports; you can also download a free trial version from the website.

Kidmate, created in 1996 to meet the need for creating visitation schedules and calculating percentage splits, was one of the first computer programs for negotiating custody between separating parents. Kidmate's Timesharing Organizer creates timesharing and visitation schedules. In the event of an adversarial custodial matter, the Record Keeper module can help you document the history of the timesharing/visitation schedule. Kidmate's patented Percentages and Day Counter feature analyzes schedules four different ways (Overnights, Total Time, Quality Time, and Day Counter) and displays all results on the screen for comparison. The Day Counter is used in many states for calculating child support and shows the cumulative number of days that children spend with each parent per year. (Note: Kidmate was reviewed by Stephen Harhai in Family Advocate, Vol. 20, No. 3.)

OurFamilyWizard is an online tool that enables parents to coordinate schedules, share information, make adjustments to the parenting plan and track shared expenses. Features include a detailed calendar where activities, events and other scheduled items can be viewed generally or in detail, including drop-offs and pick-ups. Journals can be set as shared or private and are color-coded for each family member. The OurFamilyWizard professional account has case management features that allow family law practitioners to create parent accounts, manage client databases, store important client documents online (judgment and decree, court orders, etc.), enable communication with clients, create client to-do lists, and more. An OurFamilyWizard account provides the ability to review case status by linking information to parent accounts.

Parenting Time Calendar by PCGreeting was written by a programmer and a family law legal assistant specifically for lawyers to generate parenting time schedules. It includes holidays for Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States. Three versions of the Parenting Time Calendar are available: Single Year Standard, Single Year Deluxe, and 2 Year Deluxe. The Single Year Deluxe performs quality time calculations based on user-defined pickup and dropoff, and the 2 Year Deluxe allows the creation of two-year parenting plans.

Shared Ground is shared parenting calendar software that distributes time equitably between two primary caregivers. Defaults may be used or a custom-designed parenting plan may be created. The calendar can be synchronized with a Palm™-compatible PDA or exported to Microsoft Outlook. Shared Ground's Percentage Calculator displays how much time children are with each parent and can be viewed monthly or examined as an annual distribution report. Shared Ground also includes sample parenting plans and defaults that can be customized. The Shared Ground Enterprise License was designed for divorce and family law attorneys and others involved in developing parenting plans for clients.

To encourage collaborative parenting and promote parental communication and cooperation, several vendors offer tools that enable the parents to develop their own parenting plans and visitation schedules. The plans can be presented to the court and stand a better chance of being approved when created by the parents.

Parental Collaboration Tools

KidsFirst! is a web-based parenting time tracker that can be used to develop parenting plans and visitation schedules. Parents have the option to share one account and answer the questions together, or create separate accounts and provide separate answers, which can be kept private from the other parent. If both parents have agreed to share answers, KidsFirst! compares the answers of both parents to show where the parents are in agreement or need to agree.

Shared Ground provides a Co-Parenting License or two-user single license designed to accommodate two primary Residential Parents (co-parents) or caregivers. This license entitles you to a single software key and two copies of the software program available for downloading from the website. It allows one single Parenting Plan to be created, edited and managed on two separate computers. It can be shared with extended family members, if they have a View-Only License.

The OurFamilyWizard® Parent Account provides access to private and shared family calendars with notifications and reminders, an expense log, journal, and message board along with online access to important documents (My Files).

Additional Parenting Time Trackers

OPTIMAL™, the Online Parenting Time Information Manager and Access Log, is an online tool that tracks parenting time and monitors custody compliance. OPTIMAL is designed primarily for parental record keeping; it enables parents to keep detailed records for scheduled parenting time and actual time, visit type (regular, denied, late, missed) denied and partial visitation, mileage and expenses. It also counts and displays overnights and provides time-stamps for use in court. A host of other features are also included.

Source:  " Parenting Plan Technology" by Tonya Johnson, published in the ABA Family Law Section's May 2008 eNewsletter.

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MyFox Chicago aired a report last week on the ways that new technology has worked its way into divorce cases.  The description for their report is listed below

Going through a divorce has rarely been easy. But these days, high-tech tracking devices are making it easier than ever for things to get ugly. Cell phones, text messages, and GPS devices are getting more spouses in trouble than ever before. Larry Yellen tells us how more people are deciding that all's fair in love and divorce.

This story was both interesting and well done.  You can view the story by clicking HERE. 

Source:  "High Tech Devices Leading More Couples to Divorce" published at MyFox Chicago.

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The news media is abuzz this morning about former actress and playwright Tricia Walsh-Smith's YouTube video in which she rants about her divorce case.  Apparently, she is upset that she signed a pre-nuptial agreement, and she has chosen to air all of her husband's dirty laundry in public via YouTube.

Is this a good idea?  Not in a million years!  All she is doing is putting information out there that at best will irritate or anger the judge and at worst will be give her husband additional ammunition to use against her in the divorce case.  I can only imagine how upset Ms. Walsh-Smith's attorney is this morning at the mess his client has created for herself.

This is a perfect example of a divorce party having a half-baked idea and then acting on it without thinking through all of the ramifications.  I had a case years ago where my client's wife had cut off one sleeve on all of his business suits.  It probably made her feel better at the time, but she certainly was not laughing once the judge had his say on her actions.

You can view the video below, and you can also read more about this situation in the Chicago Tribune, London Daily-Mail, CNN, Washington Post, People magazine, and the Los Angeles Times.

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Technology is changing the way that people divorce.  In the old days, if you suspected your spouse of being unfaithful, you would hire a private investigator, who would follow your spouse to see exactly what he/she was up to. 

Today, there are many options available to those who suspect their spouse may be cheating.  For instance, The New York Times published an article that looked at digital evidence, such as email messages, history of Web site visits, and cellular telephone records.  Better private investigators now frequently use GPS tracking systems to gain information to aid in their surveillance.

Parties sometimes even use somewhat "questionable" methods of obtaining information about their spouses' activities, such as hacking into email accounts, loading spy software onto computers, and/or placing recording devices on phone lines.  I should point out that these types of methods could result in liability for criminal prosecution and should therefore be avoided.

In my practice, I have noticed that cheating spouses will often take steps to attempt to cover their tracks.  For instance, they may clear their call histories on their cellular phones, delete their internet history, delete emails from both their inbox and trash folders, and/or change their passwords on various accounts.

Resourceful attorneys can issue subpoenas to obtain the opposing party's cellular telephone records, credit card records, and even bank account records to help uncover an unfaithful spouse's activities.  I regularly discuss these types of issues with my clients in certain types of cases, and these methods can yield fruitful results.

If you want more information on this topic, you should read "Tell-All PCs and Phones Transforming Divorce" by Brad Stone, published in The New York Times.  As mentioned above, this article gives several real world examples of how parties and attorneys are dealing with these evolving technology issues in divorce cases.

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I previously posted how online resources can help parents better work together, which will benefit their children.  Online calendars, like Google Calendar, can help parents (whether living together or apart) keep track of their children's activity schedule, which can be hectic and change frequently.

Parents who are separated or divorced can track the child's physical custody (or visitation) schedule, as seen in this example.  Using the calendar in this manner helps both parents will know when the children will be with them on a given day, which helps them arrange transportation for the children's various activities.  The online calendar can also document which parent had the child on which day in case a dispute arises later.  As an added bonus, the calendars print out nicely (like in this sample).

Another (though less obvious) type of online resource that can assist separated parents are document / spreadsheet applications, such as Google Docs & Spreadsheets.  Parents have an obligation to pay certain expenses for their children, such as medical expenses that are not covered by insurance; day care costs; clothing and supplies; extracurricular activities; school lunches; etc.  It is surprising how often disputes arise because one parent claims that the other hasn't paid his/her share, only to have that parent claim that he/she never received the necessary information. 

By using an online spreadsheet (like this sample) to track this information, the parents can track the cost for any types of items, determine each parent's share, and show whether or not that amount has been paid.  Online documents could even be used as a type of journal to exchange necessary information in situations where the parents have severe communication problems.

By using these online resources, parents should be able to minimize or greatly reduce communication problems in the future.  Less friction between the parents should result in them having a better working relationship, which will certainly yield happier, better adjusted children.  Please share your thoughts on these (and other) online resources in the Comments section below.

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Cheating spouses now have one more way to get caught in their philandering.  Electronic toll collection systems are emerging as a powerful means of proving infidelity.  Attorneys can obtain records from these services and use that information to prove that a spouse was not where he/she claimed to be. 

The Associated Press reports that agencies in seven of the twelve states surveyed indicated that they would provide electronic toll information in response to court orders in criminal and civil cases, including divorces.  Even if the state agency refuses to provide the information, it can frequently be obtained from the other spouse through the normal discovery process.

Source:  "Toll Records Trip Up Philanderers" by Chris Newmarker, published at The Huffington Post.

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Lifehacker.com, the outstanding software and productivity blog, recently published an article describing several free online resources to assist in finding public records information online.  Among the categories discussed in this article are:

• Vital Records
• Phone Books
• Professional Licenses
• Criminal Records
• Obituaries
• Military Records
• Immigration Records
• Other (Google and Zabasearch)

These resources can prove valuable when trying to locate or obtain information about a party or witness in a Family Court action.  In cases where clients have limited financial resources, utilizing these sites can sometimes avoid (or reduce) the need for a private investigator.

Source:  "Where to Find Public Records Online" by Wendy Boswell, published at Lifehacker.com.

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For anyone concerned about their children's online safety, CNET has produced an extensive guide to keeping kids safe online.  Not only is there written information, but the guide also contains video reviews, demonstrations, and parent-driven discussion groups.  Their guide is divided into the following six sections:

1. Developing safe and smart Internet citizens
2. Parental controls that keep tabs on young Web surfers
3. Growing concerns over cyberbullying
4. Parents, tech outdo lawmakers on Internet safety
5. User-generated videos challenge parental controls
6. Readers address online safety for kids

Source:  "Keep Your Kids Safe Online" published at CNET.com.  Thanks to Rick Broida for his post at LifeHacker on this topic.

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A woman in San Antonio, Texas, has been charged with using MySpace to recruit two people to kidnap her son from his father.  The mother and father were not married, but they have two children together. The younger son, 1 year old, lives with his mother, while the older one (age 2) lives with his father and paternal grandparents.

The mother set up a MySpace page with the heading "I want my son back," and she allegedly offered $500 to anyone who would help her kidnap the boy from her estranged boyfriend.  Two people agreed to the scheme, and the mother sent a text-messaged her ex-boyfriend's sister, claiming that she was planning to stop by with something for the boy, to make sure he would be where the kidnappers could get at him.

On Saturday night, the two kidnappers took the screaming 2-year-old boy from his home, with the child's father chasing after them.  Shortly thereafter, they met the mother at a nearby convenience store and exchanged the boy for the money.  Police were able to locate the boy and return him to his father, though the child is reportedly still shaken by this incident.  The mother, her aunt, and both kidnappers have all been charged with felony criminal charges.

Source:  "Mom Is Accused of Hatching Kidnap of Tot on MySpace" by Vianna Davila and Vincent T. Davis, published in the Express-News and "Woman Allegedly Arranged Kidnap on MySpace" published by United Press International.

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The South Carolina Supreme Court issued an Order on January 10, 2007, which sets forth procedures for the use of videoconferencing in certain situations in our Family Courts.  Specifically, this process may be used, with the party's written and oral consent, for the purpose of hearing bench warrants, Department of Social Services cases limited to emergency protective custody, intervention hearings, status review hearings, and permanency planning hearings.  You can read the full text of this Order by clicking HERE.

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"A picture is worth a thousand words."  There are many opportunities for family law attorneys to use graphs in presenting their cases at trial.  For instance, graphs can be used to illustrate the nights that a child has spent with each parent, various asset/debt distributions, or even income earned over a given period of time. 

The National Center for Eduction Statistics offers Create A Graph, a Web 2.0 graph program available for free.  This program allows you to create 2-D, 3-D, or drop-shadow graphs in pie, bar, line, and area formats.  Better yet, you are able to easily export your graphs to *.pdf, *.jpg , or other image formats.  If you are interested in creating helpful demonstrative evidence for free, be sure to visit this NCES site and give it a try.

Source: "Create a Graph" by Tom Mighell, posted at his Inter-Alia blog.

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You are certainly aware that many parents worry about their children's online activities.  Typically, they fear the potential threat posed by online predators and/or the viewing of inappropriate material.  However, I would be willing to bet that very few parents have considered the possibility that they may be sued for the online misbehavior of their kids.

In San Antonio, Texas, an assistant high school principal has filed suit against two former students and their parents for defamation, negligence and gross negligence arising from statements posted on the students' MySpace pages.  The assistant principal claims that parents generally owe a duty to supervise the activities of their children on the Internet.  She also alleges that the parents knew that the children were using the Internet and that they provided the computers used by the children.

This case has not yet gone to trial, so it is unknown whether the allegations against the parents (or the children for that matter) will succeed.  You can read much more about this case and analysis of the issues facing the parents by clicking HERE.

Source:  "Parents Legally Liable For Kids' Internet Misconduct?" by Eric Sinrod, published at FindLaw.  Thanks to the Stark County Law Library Blog for its post about this article.

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Marital spying is occurring much more frequently these days.  It can take many forms, from hidden cameras to computer spyware to wiretaps.  However, such conduct can land the snooping spouse in hot water in some states:

• A wife won $7,500 in New Jersey after proving that her husband used a monitoring device to track her transactions and e-mails during divorce proceedings. Garfinkel v. Garfinkel.
• A Florida state court found that a wife violated state wiretapping laws when she installed spyware on her husband's computer to record evidence of an extramarital affair.  The court also held that the chat records could not be introduced as evidence in the couple's divorce proceeding. O'Brien v. O'Brien.

Divorce attorneys are also becoming aware of the ethical landmines that their clients’ conduct can create in such situations.  Atlanta divorce attorney John Mayoue believes that attorneys should be careful when discussing spying tactics with clients, noting that they could be held liable if they review, or even know about, private information which was obtained illegally.

In addition, technology is developing faster than the law can keep up in many cases.  For instance, in the O’Brien computer spyware case mentioned above, the software installed by the wife only took pictures of the screen.  Her attorney, Ryan Thomas Truskoski, has taken the position that despite the court’s ruling, she did nothing illegal because no communications were intercepted.

You can read much more on this subject by clicking HERE.

Source:  "Gadgetry Makes Marital Spying Easier, but Creates Tricky Legal Issues" by Tresa Baldas, published at Law.com. Thanks to the Stark County Law Library Blog for its post finding this article.

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Frequently in Family Court cases, clients will need to use calendars.  The most common use is to chart custody and/or visitation schedules in child custody cases.  I recently discovered PDF Pad, which will can be used to create monthly or yearly calendars for any period from 1583 to the present. 

For instance, clients can use these calendars to monitor the days that a child will be with him/her over the next few months.  It can also be used by attorneys to create exhibits (a) to present to the Court illustrating custody trends over given periods of time and (b) to use in settlement negotiations with opposing counsel or in mediation.

To see the many the available options or to create a calendar, you can visit PDF Pad by clicking HERE.

Source:  "Get Free PDF Calendars, Graph Paper, and More" by Adam Pash published at LifeHacker.

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I recently posted this article last week at my other blog, The Mac Lawyer, and I thought that my readers here might find it helpful as well:

There are many instances where an attorney might want to create a family tree.  Such charts can be useful demonstrative evidence in family court cases and also in probate cases to illustrate the respective relationships within a particular family, and they can include names, pictures, birthdates, and/or any other necessary or relevant facts.

The following three templates can be used to create family trees:

• Family Tree Template (for Microsoft Excel)

• Family History Book (for Microsoft Word)

• Family History Template (for Microsoft Word)

If you just can't bear to use Microsoft software, these templates should work just fine using Zoho Writer, Writely, Zoho Sheet, or even Google Spreadsheet.

Source:  "Create Family Tree Charts inside Microsoft Office" by Amit Agarwal published at the Digital Inspiration blog.  Thanks also to Wendy Boswell of the LifeHacker blog for her post on this article.

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I posted this article last week at my other blog, The Mac Lawyer, and I thought that my readers here might find it helpful as well:

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I was honored to give a presentation last week at the South Carolina Trial Lawyers Association (SCTLA) Annual Convention in Hilton Head, SC. I presented along with noted blogger and technologist Dave Swanner as part of the "Computer Technology" portion of the convention.

My presentation was titled "Using Macs in a Law Office: Creativity Unleashed", and I explained why I believe Macs to be far superior to PCs for attorneys. I touched on many popular software programs that I use, including Daylite, Lawstream, Circus Ponies' Notebook, and others.

You can view a *.pdf version of my Keynote presentation by clicking Using Macs in Law Office.pdf. Thanks again to SCTLA for inviting me to speak.

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Are you familiar with Google Calendar? It's a free, web-based calendar that works great and is very easy to use. Grant Griffiths of the Kansas Family Law Blog recently suggested that divorced parents use this service to share their child's schedule.

Grant stated "with the online service, each parent would now have their child's schedule and why not include the visitation schedule on the same shared calendar. This would also eliminate the problem of one parent complaining about not knowing what is going on with school and summer activities."

You would probably be surprised to learn what a problem parents often have keeping each other informed of their child's activities. In fact, this "failure to communicate" often leads to litigation to correct the problem. With services like Google Calendar making the sharing of information so easy, parents will have a tougher time in the future for not sharing such information.

Source: Kansas Family Law Blog by Grant Griffiths.

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