(Editor’s note: This is an edited excerpt from a column written by Frank A. Louis that appeared in the May 2023 edition of New Jersey Family Lawyer. NJSBA Family Law Section members can read the full column and issue here.)
The Family Law Symposium is the premier educational event presented by the NJSBA Family Law Section. The Symposium, as we now know it, is dramatically different than it was when it began. At first, it was just another ICLE seminar which simply added the word “Symposium.” There was nothing unique or special about the “Symposium” in its early days except it had a title. Now it has become an essential event that not only brings family lawyers from across the state together, but also provides a platform for the exploration of new legal concepts and helps develop our law.
More family lawyers attend the Symposium than any other family law event. Before COVID-19 reduced attendance, the Symposium had reached the point where approximately 700 lawyers attended each year. It was not simply a seminar; it was an event not to be missed.
Looking at what the Symposium has become, one might be surprised at its modest beginnings. Initially, the Symposium was not even conducted annually. The first Bi-annual Family Law Symposium took place in 1980. The topics reflected what was happening in the practice. While important, they did not present issues designed to change the law; they simply discussed the law. There were articles about Lepis v. Lepis, which had just been decided; an analysis of how to deal with the legal issues associated with Tevis v. Tevis; and general issues concerning motion practice. None of the topics were particularly unique. It was a seminar with an ambitious name that was not even presented each year.
In 1998 the Symposium became an annual event that has continued through the present. One of staples added to the Symposium in the late ’90s was the presentation of the 10 most important family law cases each year, a session led annually by John P. Paone, Jr. Paone has ably opened the Symposium with this topic now for approximately 25 years. As attendance increased, the Symposium moved to the New Jersey Law Center, then the Sheraton on Route 1 in Iselin and, ultimately, to its present location at the Hyatt Regency in New Brunswick.
At some point, Judge Lawrence M. Maron, who then was head of ICLE, expressed concern as to what would happen if there was a snowstorm (noting that the annual Symposium was regularly held at the end of January). Fortunately, over the years, the weather never presented a serious problem, although there were some close calls. Judge Maron suggested that if we started a Friday night program, there would always be a core of people who could attend Saturday in the event of a weather complication. John DeBartolo has done an excellent job running the Friday night program, presenting a different approach and having a single theme for the evening.
As the Symposium developed, the nature of the presentations changed. It was the goal to identify a mix of cutting-edge topics with practical presentations. Around 1994, the Symposium panel addressed and questioned the validity of fair market value as the proper legal standard to value assets – an issue which remains unresolved. The Grange rule was criticized in 1998, which helped to end the rigid approach to the sale of assets pendente lite and which ultimately led to R.5:3-5(c) allowing assets to be used to fund ongoing litigation.
The Symposium has also given birth to many ideas that have been engrained or statutorily adopted in our practice. In 1988, the idea of term alimony was advanced, a concept which ultimately led to the adoption of limited duration alimony. How theoretical tax consequences should be treated was clarified when the Appellate Division ultimately adopted the principles advanced at the Symposium. Madeline Marzano-Leznevich’s comprehensive article on college has also been cited frequently by courts. In Fattore v. Fattore, the Appellate Division referenced spousal duty as a part of our law – a concept first advanced at the Symposium.