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We have posted on our resource page under COVID-19 Resources, communications from Dakota County, Hennepin County and Ramsey County Courts about how each district is planning on operating in the near future as the courts move to reopen. If you have cases in those courts, it will be helpful to review them. In Ramsey County there is a form which is included, which you may fill out and send to the chambers email of your assigned judicial officer which will permit you to advise the court of what you think your case needs, and the capacity of the parties and counsel to access technology. Also noteworthy, is the Second Judicial District’s plan includes a suspension of any family law trials or evidentiary hearings for six months to give the court time to move through its backlog. This does not include order for protection or harassment restraining order evidentiary hearings which are being addressed separately. It is worth noting that Presiding Judges Daly and Ireland (from the Fourth and Second respectively) will be participating in our community chat scheduled for Friday May 15. Click Here to register. James Street Referee of District Court Second Judicial District

The Battered Women’s Justice Project has produced a short, insightful video discussing the dynamics of coercive control during the Pandemic. This video is important to view if you have or suspect that there are coercive control dynamics occurring in a case you are handling. This is important for mental health providers, ADR providers, lawyers and judicial officers who may be working with families during these times. The link is below. https://www.bwjp.org/news/coercive-control-covid-19.html . This will be placed on our resource page under COVID-19 resources. James Street Referee of District Court Second Judicial District

Chief Justice Gildea has convened a group which has been called the “other side workgroup” which is envisioning a plan for the courts to move through the COVID-19 crisis.  The group of judges and court staff who are part of this group held a stakeholders meeting with a number of bar leaders, and as the chapter president I was invited to participate.  She has disseminated guidance for statewide family case processing through technology.  That document is included in the resource page under COVID-19 resources. James Street Referee of District Court Second Judicial District

Minnesota’s AFCC Chapter gains 9 new members in April and wins the international chapter membership challenge. We entered the last month’5 new members ahead of California. California had a great month of April and added 10 new members. We added 9! Thanks to all of the hard work of our membership committee chaired by Emilee Rodriguez (David Best, Shawn Bulgatz, Patricia Buss and Kyle Wemerskirchen) and the great work of our members, we added 37 new members since July. That is a 15% increase, second only to Louisiana. For our efforts, we receive $2500 from the national chapter, but most importantly bragging rights for a year! I believe this increase in membership reflects the hard work of our members – our Legislative Committee chaired by Carlo Faccini and Deb Link did a tremendous job teaching members skills and giving them opportunities to advocate for positions important to them such as focusing on the needs of children when deciding on custody and opposing the equal parenting time presumption. Our Education Committee chairs Laurel Ferris and Amy Krupinski have led the education committee in providing great programming and piloting remote access to allow greater Minnesota members to participate. Keep your eyes open for a brand new webinar being developed as we speak about the ethical and technical issues for mental health providers, ADR providers and lawyers to meet with patients and clients remotely. Finally, our Annual Conference Planning Committee, chaired by Jordan Hart and the Honorable Charlene Hatcher, pivoted and created the “Community Chats” which have been widely popular and well attended. We are also throwing a tribute to Karen Irvin who has followed her daughter to Arizona. The information is on the website. It is Friday night. Click here to read about it. Click here to register for the zoom event Way to go AFCC-MN! James Street Refereee of District Court Second Judicial District

AFCC Member Tom Tuft started a podcast, aptly named “The Minnesota Family Law Podcast,” featuring a series on “Practicing in a Pandemic.”  He is talking with various members of the family law community about how the pandemic is affecting our work, and how we are responding. Tom has already spoken with a number of AFCC members about a wide range of topics of interest.  Recent podcasts feature Lisa Spencer, Jennifer Joseph, Zak Kretchmer, Kevin McGrath and Mindy Mitnick, as well as AFCC president Referee Jim Street.  Tom is as industrious as ever, somehow posting new casts every day. We’ve added a link to a page where all the podcasts can be found on our resources page so you can check them out.  You can also subscribe to the series through Google Podcasts, Spotify, iTunes, or wherever you typically find your jams. Finally, a quick reminder to if you know someone who is interested in joining AFCC, or even on the fence, please urge them to join BEFORE April 30, 2020.   *** Here is the link to Practicing in a Pandemic: https://www.tuftlaw.com/podcasts/

The State of Minnesota provides up to date data on their website, the link is below and listed on this website’s resource page under COVID-19. This data relates to our capacity to meet hospital and ventilator demand, the number of unemployment claims, and how our social distancing compliance is going. This may be useful for you as you reach out to others, plan for your practice or to answer questions you may have personally about an issue. https://mn.gov/covid19/data/response.jsp.

Day at the Capitol event (previously scheduled for April 20) has been cancelled due to COVID-19.

The Minnesota Disability Law Center has just published a fact sheet sharing recommendations for organizations and facilities to consider when protecting public safety for their organizations while also preserving the rights of disabled individuals. It is helpful as you set up your own procedures for your prospective offices, and also if you have clients or patients who are navigating these issues for themselves or loved ones. The link follows, but we will also post this on our resource tab on the website. Rights of People with Disabilities During COVID-19

Attached is Chief Justice Gildea’s latest order implementing the Governor’s executive order to extend stay at home until May 4, 2020. This order attempts to consolidate her previous order and subsequent amendments, and with the exception of one paragraph which addresses the designation of administrative personnel necessary to continue the court’s operations, supercedes the previous orders. The AFCC-MN will continue to keep links to these orders available on the website. Chief Justice Gildea Order

Ramsey County has consolidated many various Supreme Court and Second Judicial District orders and policy interpretations about how the ocurts are responding to the pandemic in one location available at the following link: http://www.mncourts.gov/Find-Courts/Ramsey/COVID-19-Information.aspx. Also, I remind you our chapter is facilitating community chats about emerging issues in family law during these times held remotely every Friday at noon. This Friday Kevin McGrath and Ben Henschel will be discussing a new model of ADR to help your clients access services while the courts are not available to handle many of the non-emergency family law issues which are important to you. Next Friday, Mindy Mitnick will be discussing how to address parenting time issues during these times. I hope you can join us. James Street Referee of District Court Second Judicial District

Here is a link to a great resource prepared by LawHelpMN for self-represented litigants. It explains things in understandable terms. For all you mental health professionals who have patients with whom you work who have questions, but not attorneys, this is a great resource. Fact Sheet

This is a link to guidelines for separated parents who are co-parenting during the COVID-19 epidemic which were jointly prepared by the AFCC and AAML. They are common sense ideas for people who are afraid for their children’s safety during these times. The current uncertainty creates challenges for parents who are co-parenting and particularly for those who struggle to do so effectively during regular times. We hope this is helpful. Coparenting Guidelines