How to Teach Family Law
Family law is different from any other area of law because it deals with families, children and spouses in times of separation. This is a very practical field wherein there must be more cooperation than adversarial proceedings. Of course, this is also something that makes it as a different type of field.
- Start by teaching the general concepts and definitions (i.e. family, visitation, support, abuse) because family law is difficult to define.
- Deal with basic statute law before dealing with case law. Of course, you will eventually want to integrate them all into a full understanding.
- Wait to teach case law until you have completely defined a specific concept. While you will want to separate cases from general descriptions for now, eventually you will need to deal with both in detail.
- Think of law as a hierarchy that is based upon many levels of generality. Organize your syllabus in this manner. Deal with concepts, then statute law and then finally with case law. Maintain these levels of generality whenever you are teaching. Be clear whenever you move from one level to another.
- Maintain a strong moral distance from the subject matter. Remember that you are dealing with people at their worst. Oftentimes you will see parties at their worst, where they will use children as weapons to wring concessions out of their estranged spouses.
- Remember that you also need to deal with abuse cases. It is important to keep a moral distance here too in order to increase your own authority.
- Explain to your students that studying family law can be emotionally jarring.