This blog will be atypically brief so that I can get to the point and purpose of it.

As I have stated (and often repeated), the practice of family law in South Carolina – and, indeed, across this nation – requires that in your representing families and children in crisis at perhaps the most vulnerable times in their lives, you must constantly put into play a dazzling array of personal and professional traits and skills; and because family law attorneys cannot foretell the future nor guarantee perfection in the “results”, the best we can ever hope to achieve is to practice our craft at the highest levels of performance.

We do that by our constant search for the right answers.

There’s a passage in a longer quotation to which I often refer – “make your decisions as wisely as possible and then forget about them, because the moment of absolute certainty never arrives”.  And to this quote I can add: in life, you’ll never learn anything by just asking questions … it’s only when you’ve searched for, and found, your answers will you have truly learned something.

Family law attorneys learn by:

• never being satisfied that you’ve found the “right” answer;
• always researching all available legal references and resources, including frequent visits to the internet;
• attending CLEs where you can actually learn something new, and not just “get your hours”;
• never hesitating to contact your colleagues for advice and information;
• constantly trying to keep abreast of new statutes, appellate court decisions (both published and unpublished), court rules, administrative rules, and the local trial and procedure practices favored by the judges in your judicial circuits; and
• constantly gathering and gleaning information and materials from the work product of your fellow attorneys.

In 2013, I added a “parenting plan format” to the “articles” menu of my website, and over the past several years that form has received a pretty good number of “hits”.  However, several months ago I began working on a revised and much more comprehensive format with an objective of creating something more extensive and detailed, while still trying to keep the format “user friendly”.  And today, January 1, 2015, I’m posting this blog and inviting any of you who might be interested to visit this link and use these materials in any way you believe they will be beneficial to you and your family law practice.

And let me add my standard “disclaimer” that, as with anything written, I always consider these forms a “work in progress”; and, consequently, over time and as the law or circumstances change or warrant, I will always be making modifications to them, and I will always welcome, respect, and benefit from, your comments and criticisms.

Here is the link:  Comprehensive Parenting Plan Format – As Revised – 2015