Annual Adoption Law Institute Achieved Largest Attendance

August 19, 2008

Capital University Law School and the National Center for Adoption Law & Policy offered an intensive week-long law school course exploring adoption and related child protection issues from both academic and practitioner perspectives. The course ran Aug. 4-8 at Capital University Law School and garnered its largest attendance yet.

“We had 59 participants, 54 of whom were law students. In addition, 26 of these were enrolled from law schools other than Capital Law School,” said Professor Angela Upchurch, Real Living Academic Director of the National Center for Adoption Law & Policy, and the course instructor. “In all, representatives from 15 law schools attended the Summer Adoption Law Institute. I think this speaks to the growing national interest among law students for specialized courses in family law. This year included five CLE participants from across the country, one as far as California.”

This introductory course was designed as a general overview of adoption and was not state specific. However, class exercises provided attorneys and law students with an opportunity to explore the law in the jurisdiction of their choice. The class format included discussion of issues from academic and practitioner perspectives, and guest lecturers on several key topics. Guest lecturers included: Irene Steffas, founder, and Carine Rosalia-Marion, associate attorney, of Steffas & Associates, P.C. (Marietta, GA); Kelly Stoner, Instructor in Law and Director of the Native American Legal Resource Center, Oklahoma City University School of Law; Thomas Taneff, principal of Taneff Law Offices (Columbus, OH); Susan Garner Eisenman, Columbus (OH) attorney and American Academy of Adoption Attorneys member; and Samuel Peppers, former Franklin County Probate Magistrate and current associate at Dinsmore & Shohl (Columbus, OH).

Capital University Law School is the only American law school to regularly offer an entire course dedicated to adoption law. The class covered a wide variety of topics, including the history of American adoption law, parental rights under the U.S. Constitution, assisted reproductive technology, wrongful adoption, race and cultural issues in adoption, and sexual orientation issues in adoption.

For more information, contact the National Center for Adoption Law & Policy at Capital University Law School at (614)236-6730, or visit www.law.capital.edu/adoption.