Attorney wellness and respect will be themes for 2021/22 year
PHILADELPHIA, PA – July 19, 2021 – Hangley Aronchick Segal Pudlin & Schiller is proud to announce that Family Law Shareholder Helen Casale has officially assumed the position of Chair of the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s Family Law Section. The Chairmanship was voted on at the Section’s summer meeting on July 18.
As Chair, Casale will focus on two main initiatives: attorney mental and physical wellness, and parent communication in custody cases. The two initiatives contribute to her overall theme of attorney wellness and respect. A taskforce for each initiative has already been created.
“How we, as attorneys and parents, communicate has changed dramatically over the last decade. The proliferation of smart technology has made it harder to have a meaningful and productive relationship with each other,” said Casale. “This has added an additional layer of stress to an already stressful situation. Be it a parent who is in custody litigation, or an attorney who needs to work collaboratively with other attorneys. That is why my focus is on wellness and respect, for colleagues, the judiciary, clients, and ourselves.”
The mental and physical wellness taskforce will focus on the mindfulness of the family lawyer and the unique stresses that they go through. Casale has planned for a yoga activity during the winter meeting in January 2022 in Philadelphia, and a 5K run during the summer meeting in July 2022 in Newport, RI. In addition, there will be programming focused on the mental health of family law attorneys.
The parent communication taskforce will focus on communication specifically in custody cases and will produce a video for parents who are going through custody litigation. The video will focus on talking to the other parent about their child, how to communicate changes in the schedule, and how to be with the other parent when the child is around. The video will be used in custody cases across the state.
Casale will serve her one-year term from July 2021 to July 2022. She previously served as Treasurer, Secretary, Vice Chair and Chair-Elect for the Family Law Section. She concentrates her practice on all aspects of family law and is also known as an expert on issues that same-sex couples face including legal dissolution of civil unions, second parent adoption, custody, and support issues.
The Section on Family Law focuses on the development and practical working of the law relating to marriage, divorce, support, custody, property and economic matters, and domestic relations generally, as well as the law relating to adoption and to juvenile dependency. Hangley Aronchick Family Law practice Chair Cheryl Young previously served as Chair of the Family Law section and Family Law shareholder Jerry Shoemaker will take over as Chair of the Section in the summer of 2025.
