The conference convenes family law experts from the UK, the US, Canada and Australia.
Professor Carmen Draghici
Carmen Draghici is Professor of Law at City, University of London, where she joined in 2009, specialising in family law in England and Wales and international human rights law. She is also a member of the practice-oriented Centre for Child and Family Law Reform (since 2010).
She was formerly a Visiting Fellow at the Harvard Law School’s Human Rights Program (2015) and a Visiting Research Scholar at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University (2012). Her recent publications include:
- The Legitimacy of Family Rights in Strasbourg Case Law: ‘Living Instrument’ or Extinguished Sovereignty? (Hart, 2017)
- “Adult Children and Elderly Parents in Strasbourg Proceedings: A Misconstrued Approach to ‘Family Life’” (2018) International Journal of Law, Policy and the Family 42
- “Equal Marriage, Unequal Civil Partnership: A Bizarre Case of Discrimination in Europe” (2017) Child and Family Law Quarterly 313.
Professor Ann Cammett
Prof. Ann Cammett from City University of New York School of Law is a Professor of Law and formerly Senior Associate Dean of Academic Affairs and Director of the School’s Family Law Practice Clinic.
She previously served as Professor of Law at University of Nevada Las Vegas, where she founded and co-directed the Family Justice Clinic.
Professor Cammett’s scholarly work focuses on intersectional legal issues of race, gender, poverty, mass criminalization and the family.
Her work has been cited in two amicus briefs to the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of Turner v. Rogers and excerpted for family law casebooks, articles, and other treatises, and twice cited in the U.S. Federal Register.
Her most recent work is entitled “The Shadow Law of Child Support” and was published in the Boston University Law Journal (Dec. 2022).
Deanne Sowter
Deanne Sowter is a doctoral candidate and Vanier Scholar at Osgoode Hall Law School, York University (Toronto, Canada).
Her research focuses on family law and legal ethics and her work has been supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) and several fellowships.
Her doctoral research titled “Towards a Modified Conception of the Family Lawyer” focuses on the role of the family lawyer, particularly in the context of intimate partner violence.
She is also currently researching the legal framework for setting aside domestic contracts.
Her publications include “Ethical Discretion: The Complexities for a Lawyer Reporting a Child in Need of Protection” (2022) 100:1 Can Bar Rev and “Advocacy in Non-Adversarial Family Law: A Recommendation for Revision to the Model Code” (2018) 35 Windsor YB Access to Just, which was cited by the Supreme Court of Canada in Colucci v Colucci, 2021 SCC 24.
She practiced family law after her call to the bar, has taught family law at the University of Calgary (2017-19) and Western Law (2020-21) and regularly speaks at continuing legal education events.
Professor Lisa Young
Prof. Lisa Young from Murdoch School of Law and Criminology, Murdoch University, in Perth, Western Australia, is an experienced family law academic and practitioner, lead author of a significant book in her field, Family Law in Australia (9th ed., LexisNexis, 2016), former Editor of the Australian Journal of Family Law, Child Support Senior Case Officer and Chair of the State government’s Care Plan Review Panel.
She has published widely on various aspects of family law, such as parenting disputes, property matters, maintenance and child support, family violence. Her work on divorce includes:
- “Separation: Must a spouse or de facto partner communicate their intention to end the consortium vitae?” (with Jenna Hampton) (2019) 32 Australian Journal of Family Law 250
- “Australia: New Frontiers for Family Law”, International Society of Family Lawyers Review (Jordan Publishing, 2013).