Representing Children in Dependency and Family Court

Rebecca M. Stahl is a lawyer for children who is currently working at the Children’s Law Center of California in Los Angeles County, representing children in dependency cases. She previously represented children in both family and dependency cases in Tucson, Arizona, at the Pima County Office of Children’s Counsel. Rebecca was a Fulbright Scholar in New Zealand and during her Fulbright year earned a Master of Law degree from the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand, where she studied the role of lawyers for children in family court cases. Rebecca attended the University of Arizona College of Law and has presented at a variety of international conferences focused on children’s rights and family law on topics ranging from yoga and stress management to the role of lawyers for children in both family and juvenile court and has published articles on the role of children’s representation. She is also a yoga instructor and currently a somatic experiencing student. Contact Information: Rebecca Stahl Email address: rmstahl@gmail.com Philip M. Stahl, PhD, ABPP (Forensic), is a board-certified forensic psychologist in private practice living in Maricopa County, Arizona, who conducts child custody evaluations and provides consultation and expert witness testimony throughout the United States. He has conducted trainings both nationally and internationally for attorneys, child custody evaluators, and others working with high-conflict families of divorce. He has presented workshops for judges throughout the country and is on the faculty of the National Judicial College and the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges. He has cowritten and taught a program with the National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA) titled “Modern Divorce Advocacy.” As a former Board member of AFCC, he was on the task force that drafted AFCC’s original “Model Standards of Practice for Child Custody Evaluation,” as well as their revision in 2006. He was a member of the American Bar Association Wingspread Task Force on High Conflict Families in 2000. He testified by invitation to the Ohio Task Force for Family Law Reform and a New York State Commission regarding child custody evaluations and was appointed by the Arizona Supreme Court to participate in the revisions to Planning for Parenting Time: A Guide for Separating Parents (2009). Dr. Stahl is on the Editorial Review Board of AFCC’s journal, Family Court Review. Along with his teaching, Dr. Stahl has written extensively on various issues in high-conflict divorce and custody evaluations. He is the author of several books and articles associated with custody evaluations and high-conflict parents, including Forensic Psychology Consultation in Child Custody Litigation: A Handbook for Work Product Review, Case Preparation, and Expert Testimony (coauthor with Dr. Robert Simon—Family Law Section of the American Bar Association, 2013), Conducting Child Custody Evaluations: From Basic to Advanced Issues (Sage Publications, 2010), Parenting After Divorce, 2nd Edition (Impact Publishers, 2008), Relocation Issues in Child Custody Cases (coeditor with Dr. Leslie Drozd—Haworth Press, 2006), and “Emerging Issues in Relocation Cases,” published by the Journal of American Academy of Matrimonial Law. His child custody evaluation was cited by the California Supreme Court in its recent landmark decision modifying eight years of relocation case law following Burgess (In re Marriage of LaMusga (2004) 32 Cal.4th 1072, 12 Cal.Rptr.3d 356, 88 P.3d 81). Contact Information: Philip M. Stahl, Ph.D., ABPP (Forensic) 18521 E. Queen Creek Road Suite 105-448 Queen Creek, AZ 85142 Voicemail 925-394-4062 / 602-235-0946 Philipstahlphd@gmail.com www.parentingafterdivorce.com