When the future of your family or your rights comes down to the technical details of a statute, you want an adoption attorney who knows the law inside and out. Schmidt & Long, PLLC’s adoption attorney Lisa J. Schmidt has been invited to present on just that at an upcoming seminar by the Institute of Continuing Legal Education.
What is ICLE?
The Institute of Continuing Legal Education (ICLE) is Michigan’s top provider of training and tools for lawyers across the state. It provides in-person seminars, on-demand videos, books, and guides for lawyers to improve the quality of their work and serve their clients better.
ICLE is sponsored by the State Bar of Michigan and all of the state’s major law schools. When ICLE puts on an event, lawyers from all across the state flock to sign up.
The organization’s close connections with the state licencing organization (the State Bar of Michigan) means that it has connections to some of the top lawyers throughout the state. Their speakers are some of the biggest experts in their field, and their topics range from the basics of family law to emerging technical issues within the courts.
Adoption Attorney Lisa J. Schmidt to Speak at ICLE Seminar
Because of this, it was a great honor when Schmidt & Long Partner Lisa J. Schmidt was asked to speak at an upcoming Adoption, ART, and Paternity seminar. Schmidt will be providing an overview of adoption law to family lawyers from across the state. She will join with fellow attorneys J. Matthew Catchick, Jr. of Catchick Law, PC, Dion E. Roddy, of The Law Office of Dion E. Roddy, PLLC, and Melissa Neckers, of Miller Johnson, to put together a half-day training on some of the more technical aspects of family law: adoption, assisted reproduction and surrogacy, and paternity law.
“I am so looking forward to being able to present with this excellent team of adoption attorneys. I know most of my fellow presenters well. This event promises to be fun, informative, and hopeful teach everyone a thing or two about adoption law in Michigan.
Lisa J. Schmidt, Partner, Schmidt & Long, PLLC
This isn’t the first time Lisa has worked with ICLE. She has been published several times by the organization, including:
- Michigan Rules of Evidence and Trial Objections at a Glance, 2018 Edition
- Michigan Courtroom Evidence Annotated, Fifth Edition
- Introducing Evidence at Trial, Third Edition
- Establish Paternity for Alleged Father (Revocation of PaternityAct) How-To Kit
She was also previously asked to present “Proving Paternity” at the ICLE’s 14th Annual Family Law Institute.
Turning the Focus to Adoption
While Lisa has presented on a variety of family law topics before (at ICLE and elsewhere), this time, she will be turning the focus to adoption. Over the years, Lisa’s practice has come to mirror that focus, taking on mostly adoption, paternity, and revocation of paternity cases in recent years.
This was partially due to the 2015 U.S. Supreme Court decision, Obergefell v Hodges, which legalized same-sex marriage across the country. Lisa had already developed a practice of helping LGBT families address custody issues and create domestic agreements and known-donor agreements to protect their rights. Once Michigan was forced to recognize these couples’ marriage, it opened the door for these couples to use step-parent adoption proceedings to protect the parental rights of non-biological parents.
“As more LGBT couples are able to marry before starting a family through in-vitro fertilization or adoption, the need for this specific type of step-parent adoption will go down. But there will always be non-traditional families who need help protecting their children and their rights, and I want to be there for them when they do.”
Lisa J. Schmidt, Partner, Schmidt & Long, PLLC
The ICLE’s seminar Adoption, ART and Paternity is available to lawyers and law firm staff. Registration is available on the organization’s website. The event is scheduled for April 16, 2019 from 1:30-5:00 p.m. at the Inn at St. John’s in Plymouth, Michigan.
Lisa J. Schmidt is an adoption attorney at Schmidt & Long, PLLC, in Ferndale, Michigan. She helps families with direct placement, relative, and step-parent adoption cases in the Metro Detroit area. If you need help protecting your family, contact Schmidt & Long today to schedule a consultation.