Product Description

Family Law emphasizes the issues and skills most relevant to domestic relations practice. The text employs a novel and dramatic organization with three substantive units that compare the legal treatment of the parent-child relationship vs. adult intimate relationships at stages of formation, regulation, and dissolution. In keeping with the modern reorientation of the field, Family Law reflects the transition "From Partners to Parents" beginning with the creation of parent-child relationship rather than marriage. Its geographical breadth delivers more comparative materials than other texts, using examples from a variety of cultures to provoke "why don't we do this?" considerations. Each student-friendly chapter and section begins with a clear summary of current law that orients the reader before examining legal texts in detail. This structure invites theoretical critique only after a solid foundation is laid. Statutes are core to the text which gives proper emphasis to the vital skill of statutory interpretation in todays practice. Up-to-date material provides more recent cases than any other textbook. With an empirical emphasis, Family Law draws from the significant literature in sociology, psychology, anthropology and other fields so that legal analysis is grounded in real-life application. Focused questions direct students to the heart of the analysis, often using headings before questions to alert readers to the type of analysis required, for example: statutory interpretation, policy, client counseling, and moral theory. Features: Novel organizationReflects modern reorientation of the fieldGeographical breadthStudent-friendly organizationStatutes at the coreUp-to-dateEmpirical emphasisFocused questions