Recovering After a Hearing or Trial

Here are some things you can do before and after your hearing or trial to minimize and recover from stress.
Shocked by Judges’ Failures to Recuse?

Can judges determine their own impartiality or that of their colleagues? Are we expecting too much from them?
Keeping Your Cool in Litigation: An APSA Member Benefit

Keeping Your Cool in Litigation: An APSA Member Benefit by Sherri L. Renner, J.D. | March 16, 2021 | Updated November 16, 2021 “That the birds of worry and care fly over your head, this you cannot change; but that they build nests in your hair, this you can prevent.” Chinese Proverb An almost universal […]
Family Law Attorney Discusses Legal Abuse

Family Law Attorney Discusses Legal Abuse by Sherri L. Renner, J.D. “The difference is in the intentions and the motives of the party that is perpetrating what we are calling abuse.” In this third video of our four-video series on Legal Abuse as an Extension of Domestic Abuse, veteran family law attorney Victoria Vilchez discusses […]
Writing While Stressed

by Sherri L. Renner, J.D. July 29, 2020 “Do the thing you fear, and the death of fear is certain.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson A member of our Pro Se Support group on Facebook recently took some steps toward achieving greater protection of her children. Those steps included drafting some papers that she will file with […]
Legal Abuse from a Clinical Perspective

“Courtrooms are the perfect platforms for abusers to maintain contact with their victims,” reports Sandra Brown, MA, CEO of the Institute for Relational Harm Reduction and Public Pathology Education. In this video, which is the second in a series of four, Ms. Brown shares her professional insights into how and why legal abuse is an […]
“Legal Abuse” Introduction

by Sherri L. Renner, J.D. October 2014; updated March 2015 Legal abuse can be an unexpected and sometimes tragic extension of domestic or intimate partner abuse. It is important for everyone in the family courts to understand, including litigants, judges, and evaluative professionals. This is the first of a four-video series. In October 2014, we […]
Should I Convince the Judge my Ex is a Narcissist?

Question I just listened to your interview posted from the WNAAD event. Thank you. It seems you suggest that litigants shouldn’t draw attention to the cluster b disorder, but bring up behavior facts. I understand that now, and although I have never called him any names or referred to him in public or even among […]
From Terror to Triumph: How Jenna Overcame Her Anxiety and Won in Family Court

Jenna* had been embroiled in litigation with her ex-husband for years. Every so often he would bring some trivial matter to the court, painting Jenna as a bad parent, and always keeping her on edge. This time, Jenna’s ex had filed a motion, complaining that Jenna was making decisions about their children’s after-school activities without […]
Florida DV Victim Goes to Jail
Update (Sept. 1, 2016): The judge described in this post was charged with violations of Florida’s judicial conduct rules and reprimanded by Justices of the Florida Supreme Court. Read the story in the Orlando Sentinel. Original post (Oct. 7, 2015): A Florida judge found a domestic violence victim and single mother of a year-old child […]