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How the Medical “Code of Silence” Affects Child Abuse Litigation
By Gregg Woodnick and Isabel Ranney Despite being the fifth-largest city in the United States, Phoenix only has seven board-certified pediatric orthopedic surgeons, five of whom work at Phoenix Children’s Hospital. Because of their specialty, it is safe to presume that the surgeons all know each other from their professional community and any conferences they […]
The Not-So Basics of Third-Party Visitation
By Markus Risinger and Isabel Ranney A person’s right to parent their children is a fundamental right under the 14th Amendment of the Constitution. The only way to completely dissolve a parent’s fundamental right to parent in Arizona is through severance. Visitation, however, permits a third party to be awarded time with the children if […]
When straddle injuries are confused with child abuse
By: Gregg R. Woodnick and Isabel Ranney Injuries with these symptoms are called straddle injuries. Straddle injuries occur when a female hits her vulva or perineum (external female genitalia) on an object, and the force of her weight on the object causes injury [1]. Signs of a straddle injury include tears in the vaginal area, […]
A Podcast That Addresses the inequities of being wrongfully Accused of Child Abuse
By: Gregg R. Woodnick This probably reads more like an Amazon book review, but I wish I could give more than 5 stars to Mike Hixenbaugh’s investigative piece. It provides such a unique perspective and insight into the lives of two families who both had a child injured in their care and who both were […]
Arizona DCS 101
n n n By: Gregg R. Woodnick n n n n n n n n I will do my best to capture that answer in the few paragraphs below. This is far from a comprehensive answer to the question, but after I explained it in the interview, I realized I need to write it out. Having represented parties in […]
Who Represents Children in Arizona Court Proceedings?
By: Deandra Arena In Arizona, there are several types of legal counsel that may be appointed to represent children, each with a slightly different role or purpose in the proceeding. It’s important to be educated on what type of legal representation for the child is most appropriate in your case. Arizona Law provides the following […]
Arizona Parents’ Bill of Rights
By: Markus Risinger and Deborah Lee The Arizona Court of Appeals recently touched upon the Arizona Parents’ Bill of Rights Act in Jessica P. v. Department of Child Safety. In that case, the mother argued that the juvenile court had a statutory duty to apply the Parents’ Bill of Rights Act and the failure to […]
A Fool for a Client: Why Lawyers Should Not Represent Themselves in Divorce
Divorces are common in the United States, and lawyers are no exception. According to one source, the divorce rate in the legal field as a whole is over 35% and for lawyers and judges the divorce rate is around 28%.[1] Now why might that be? Although there are many factors that play into why an […]
Suspected child abuse during a trip to the emergency room
By: Gregg R. Woodnick I have been practicing law for over 20 years. Throughout that time I’ve lectured for Yale on issues of child abuse and neglect and I have also been a guest instructor at medical schools and PA programs where I would teach about mandatory reporting laws. Mandatory reporting requires that certain individuals […]
Revisiting Dentists and Divorce
The chaos of the COVID-19 pandemic has caused legal professionals to revisit some of what we thought were constants in the divorce world, one of those being that medical professionals had “guaranteed” income. For many professionals, their practices came to a halt in the midst of the global pandemic. Radiologists had fewer images to review, […]