JD Certificate - Family and Juvenile Law

With the very definition of “family” in flux, the practice of family law and children’s law in the 21st century is more challenging and rewarding than ever.

The Family and Juvenile Law JD certificate program provides you with foundational knowledge, practical skills, and ethical training. The award of the certificate means that not only have you demonstrated proficiency in the basic academic work but have also engaged in interdisciplinary study, interacted with clients through clinical courses or internships, and learned from leading practitioners in the field. 

Certificate Benefits

  • Flexible interdisciplinary curriculum
  • Monthly presentations during the academic year by judges, practitioners and researchers from relevant disciplines
  • A mentoring program that matches students with local attorneys and mediators
  • Networking opportunities with family law attorneys, mediators, mental health professionals, and court personnel
  • Access to information about relevant conferences, seminars and other events of interest. 

Courses and Requirements

Current students can verify each semester’s available courses and record their progress in fulfilling the requirements on the certificate program’s D2L website.  Students can contact Matthew Olmut at molmut@email.arizona.edu to request to be added to the D2L site.

Must achieve a B-minus or better in:

Family Law – LAW 612

and a B-minus or better in either:

Community Property Law - LAW 369 or Juvenile Law – LAW 676

Certificate Directors are willing to make exceptions in years that these courses are not offered in either semester.

Complete at least 6 units with a grade of B-minus or better:

  • Bankruptcy & Related Issues - LAW 662A
  • Child, Tribe and State – LAW 612C
  • Civil Commitment and Guardianship Law – LAW 643L
  • Criminal Law – LAW 650
  • Disability Law - LAW 614
  • Domestic Violence Seminar - LAW 696B
  • Education Law - LAW 656D
  • Employment Law – LAW 611B
  • ERISA and Employee Benefits – LAW 695
  • Estate Planning - LAW 696A
  • Estates and Trusts – LAW 619
  • Federal Income Tax – LAW 646
  • Gender and the Law – LAW 695B
  • Immigration Law – LAW 620
  • Law and the Elderly - LAW 684
  • Legal Approaches to Children and Domestic Violence – LAW 612B
  • Poverty, Health, and Law – LAW 641B
  • Regulation of the Modern Family – Law 612A
  • Rights of Children and Adolescents - LAW 696P

Additional courses may be approved in advance by Program Directors.

 

Complete at least 3 units with a grade of B-minus or better:

  • Accounting for Lawyers  – LAW 644A
  • Advanced Family Law Practice/Drafting Seminar  – LAW 613B
  • Advanced Legal Writing and Intro. to Appellate Advocacy –  LAW 653A
  • Alternative Dispute Resolution  – LAW 696N
  • Basic Trial Advocacy –  LAW 645A
  • Contract Drafting – LAW 654D
  • Interviewing LAW –  LAW 665C
  • Mediation LAW  – LAW 680A
  • Mediation Advocacy  – LAW 680C
  • Interviewing, Counseling & Negotiation – LAW 645D
  • Pre-Trial Litigation LAW  – 668
  • Transactional Practice LAW  – LAW 698G

Additional courses may be approved in advance by Program Directors.

Course offerings outside the law school may also count toward the elective requirement if they are relevant to the practice of family or juvenile law. Here is a sampling of courses that may be of interest.

 

Possible interdisciplinary courses include:

Educational Psychology

  • Problems in Child and Adolescent Development (FCSC 527C)
  • Working with Children (FCSC 523)

Family Studies and Human Development

  • Topics in Family, Interpersonal Relationships and Well-Being (FSHD 602)
  • Topics in Social and Psychobiological Development in Childhood (FSHD 603)

Gender and Women’s Studies

  • Gender and Social Identity (GWS 406) (graduate level option required)
  • Gender, Sexuality, and International Migration (GWS 696M)

Law – cross listed

  • Law and Culture (LAW 631F)
  • Leading through Negotiation (LAW 564)

Psychology

  • Psychology of Divorce (PSY 370) (graduate level option required)
  • Primate Sexuality (PSY 431) (graduate level option required)

Public Administration

  • Aging and Public Policy (PA 527)

Sociology

  • Gender and Society (SOC 555)
  • Special Education Rehabilitation School Psychology

 

Additional courses may be approved in advance by Program Directors.

Complete a substantial research paper on a subject related to family or juvenile law, with the prior approval of a program director, with a grade of B-minus or better.  This requirement can be fulfilled either as the student’s Note for a law review or other journal at the College of Law, or by writing a paper of sufficient quality and scope (either in a relevant seminar or as a substantial paper).

Complete either of the following:

  • One semester of the Child and Family Law Clinic, Domestic Violence Law Clinic, Immigration Clinic, Workers’ Rights Clinic, Veterans Clinic, Indigenous Peoples Law Clinic, Civil Rights Restoration Clinic, AZ Attorney General Clinic, Criminal Defense Clinic, Criminal Prosecution Clinic, or other law clinic in which students represent or counsel clients; OR
  • An internship of at least 2 units in which the student has regular client contact, is supervised in the field by a lawyer or judicial officer, maintains a journal of activities for review by the supervising faculty member, and submits a reflection paper at the conclusion of the internship.

Attend a minimum of three Family and Juvenile Law Program sessions, to be offered at the College of Law on a monthly basis and submit a reflection paper of at least 200 words about each presentation. 

Affiliated Faculty

Albertina Antognini, J.D.
Professor of Law
Co-Director, Family and Juvenile Law Certificate Program

Barbara Atwood, J.D.
Mary Anne Richey Professor Emerita of Law
Co-Director, Family and Juvenile Law Certificate Program

Paul Bennett, J.D.
Clinical Professor and Director, Child and Family Law Clinic
Director of Clinics

Negar Katirai, J.D.
Clinical Professor of Law & Director, Domestic Violence Law Clinic
Co-Director, Family & Juvenile Law Certificate Program

Lynn Marcus, J.D.
Director, Immigration Law Clinic
Clinical Professor of Law

Shefali Milczarek-Desai, J.D.
Director, Workers Rights Clinic
Assistant Clinical Professor of Law

Diana Newmark, M.S., J.D.
Assistant Clinical Professor of Law

Melissa Tatum, J.D.
Research Professor of Law

Jamie Ratner, M.A., J.D.
Professor Emeritus of Law

Tammi Walker, J.D., Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Law and Psychology
Co-Director, Family and Juvenile Law Certificate Program

Elise Lopez, MPH
Assistant Director,
Relationship Violence Program
Health Promotion Sciences Department
University of Arizona

Patricia MacCorquodale, Ph.D.
Professor, Gender and Women’s Studies
Dean Emerita, Honors College
University of Arizona

Andrew Perkins, Ph.D.
Teaching Faculty
Department of Psychology
University of Arizona

Andrea Romero, Ph.D. 
Professor, Academic Program of Family Studies and Human Development
Mexican American Studies & Research Center
University of Arizona

Louise Roth, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Sociology
Department of Sociology
University of Arizona

Sally J. Stevens, Ph.D.
LSAC Research Professor, Southwest Institute for Research on Women
Distinguished Outreach Professor, Gender and Women’s Studies
University of Arizona

Rebecca Nathanson, Ph.D.
James E. Rogers Professor of Education and Law
UNLV William S. Boyd School of Law
Las Vegas, NV

 

Program Directors

 

Albertina Antognini
Professor of Law
520-621-6039
antognini@email.arizona.edu


Barbara Atwood
Mary Anne Richey Professor Emerita of Law
520-621-1912
batwood@email.arizona.edu


Negar Katirai
Clinical Professor of Law and Director, Domestic Violence Law Clinic
520-626-2256
nkatirai@email.arizona.edu


Tammi Walker
Associate Professor of Law and Psychology
520-621-1801
tdwalker@email.arizona.edu