Karen Levitt & Emily Weber have completed training and are now certified to handle Limited Assistance Representation (LAR) cases in Massachusetts Probate and Family Court. In Limited Assistance Representation, an attorney agrees to help a client with part, but not all, of a legal matter, and the client agrees to perform all the other parts of the legal matter.

Andrea Wells has been practicing Limited Assistance Representation since March of 2010. The Levitt Law Group is thrilled to expand this area of our practice, allowing us to provide additional family law services to our clients.

The IACP has accepted a workshop proposal from Karen J. Levitt and two other professionals for the IACP annual forum in San Francisco in October 2011. The workshop, entitled Who "Leads" in the Collaborative Practice Team Meetings: When, Why and How?, has been accepted as an Advanced, 90-minute workshop. Co-presenting with Karen will be Lynda Robbins, President-Elect of the IACP, and psychologist Sanford M. Portnoy, Ph.D., the Director of The Center for the Study of Psychology and Divorce at the Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology. For more information about the forum, go to www.collaborativepractice.com.

In 2009, 2010 and 2011 Karen Levitt was selected by her colleagues for inclusion in the print publication, The Best Lawyers in America, in the area of Collaborative Law: Family Law. Best Lawyers is the oldest peer-review publication in the legal profession and Karen is honored to have been chosen again as a leading attorney in her field.

Karen J. Levitt, Andrea M. Wells, and Emily A. Weber have contracted with Elder Services of Merrimack Valley, Inc. to provide legal services in elder abuse cases on an as needed basis. The Levitt Law Group is excited to be part of such an important part of what ESMV does for the protection of elders.

Karen Levitt was invited to speak at an upcoming conference entitled "Understanding and Preventing Bullying at Home, at School, and at Work" to be held at the Massachusetts School of Law in Andover, MA. Karen will be a co-leader of a workshop on how to deal with bullying at home. She will be joined by Patricia Fox, Ph.D., Business Consultant, Executive Coach, and Director of the Compass Anti-Bullying Program for K-12+, and Dr. Arlene Reed-Delaney, a psychiatrist with years of experience dealing with bullying issues. In Karen’s work with families, she has observed that abusive and bullying behaviors can lead the breakdown of relationships culminating in divorce or other family law conflict. This will be a fascinating conference and of interest to lawyers, school providers, mental health professionals, law enforcement, and others who deal with families in distress.

Karen Levitt published an article in the March 18, 2011 edition of the New Hampshire Bar News. Co-authored with Jeanmarie Papelian, the article is entitled "How to Comply with the Mandatory Disclosure Rule in Family Division" and provides advice for practitioners on complying with the new mandatory self-disclosure rule in New Hampshire. Click on the title to view the article in the online edition of the Bar News.

Karen Levitt has been reelected to the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Collaborative Law Council for another year, and has also been elected as their new Vice President of Education and Training for 2011-2012. Karen also co-chairs the Advanced Training Committee of MCLC, and will be helping coordinate the basic and advanced training programs for collaborative practitioners in Massachusetts.

Karen J. Levitt and Sean O’Leary co-presented to the Collaborative Law Alliance of New Hampshire (CLANH) members, at the Southern NH Practice Group meeting on Wednesday, February 9th, 2011 in Derry, NH. Karen and Sean gave a presentation on how to tell clients about Collaborative Law. Learning how to talk about Collaborative Law to clients increases opportunities for collaborative cases and educates the client about the collaborative law process.

Karen J. Levitt was invited along with Lynda Robbins on February 7, 2011 to facilitate the strategic planning meeting for the Vermont Bar Association Section of Collaborative Law. The many New England states such as Vermont are working toward generating and sustaining a greater presence and demand for Collaborative Law their areas. The meeting facilitated by Lynda and Karen was held at the offices of the Vermont Bar Association in Montpelier, Vermont.