Q: I reviewed a sample of 95 appellate New York State cases involving custody. 57 % of the time, the lower court awarded custody to the father. 93 % of the time, the appellate court affirmed the lower courts decision. Roughly 75 % of the time the courts followed the opinion of the forensic report. Does this comport with your general experience?
A: David's Answer: Preliminarily, are you doing research for an article you're writing, or are you involved in an actual court case? If the former, getting anecdotal evidence from a few attorneys may be a bad way to do research. That said, your stats do not comport with my experience. I'd probably reverse the percentages & say mothers win roughly 2/3 of the time. I also do not believe the % of affirmance on appeal is quite that high - it's probably around 60-70% or so (one must count not just reversals, but also remittals & modifications on appeal). -- David Bliven, Bronx Child Custody attorney (www.blivenlaw.net)
David Bliven is a former Family Court prosecutor who handles the full range of Divorce and Family Law cases, including child custody and visitation matters. He practices primarily in Westchester (White Plains and vicinity) and the Bronx (Riverdale and vicinity). His website can be found at www.blivenlaw.net.
No comments:
Post a Comment