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From the Bench:
Discovery & Orders for Better Outcomes
February 26, 2025
(12:00 p.m. - 1:15 p.m. PT)
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Family law attorneys and judges can have profound impacts on the individuals and families who seek change through divorce. As a judge, Julie Field’s goal was to get to the heart of the conflict and to create orders that encouraged families to be self-governing after divorce. Attorney Heidi Webb created and now teaches an intersectional process for helping families successfully restructure through divorce. When Judge Field applied Heidi’s process to her cases, in conjunction with the Judge’s mental health problem-solving court approach, her orders were more detailed and effective.
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In this session, Judge Field will share examples of orders that apply this process — and those that don’t — to illustrate the power of proper discovery and language to improve outcomes. Judge Field and Ms. Webb will cover:
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Practical tips on interviewing parties, including children, in domestic relations cases
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Specific language to use when writing orders, and sample rulings that apply this language
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Problem-solving tools family law professionals can apply in every case
Presenters: Hon. Julie Kunce Field (Ret.) & Heidi Webb, Ed.M., J.D
Meet the Presenters:
Hon. Julie Kunce Field (Ret.)
In 2021, Judge Field retired from the trial court bench in the 8th Judicial District for Colorado after almost 11 years, to co-found the Consilium® Institute and J. Field Mediation. Judge Field is recognized throughout Colorado and nationally for her leadership and trainings on issues related to domestic relations, domestic violence, mental health, mediation, trial practice, and judicial and community education.
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Before her appointment to the bench, Judge Field was a law professor and law clinic director at the University of Michigan, Washburn Law School, and the University of Denver. She founded the Confidentiality Institute in 2001, which focused on the law and ethics related to privacy and safety for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. As a trial judge, she presided over a mixed docket of felony, complex civil litigation, domestic relations, appeals, and child abuse and neglect, among other cases. She created and oversaw the award-winning Wellness Court, a unique mental health problem-solving court.
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Judge Field received her B.A. from the University of Nebraska and her J.D. from the University of Chicago. Judge Field’s three passions are (1) helping people figure out things they can’t decide for themselves; (2) teaching; and (3) changing the world for the better. All three of those passions are achievable for Judge Field and for all family law professionals through the innovative Consilium® Institute.
Heidi Webb, Ed.M., J.D
Attorney Heidi Webb is the creator of the innovative Consilium Process, which works with clients, attorneys, judges, and other allied professionals to navigate a better way through divorce. Heidi has been licensed to practice law in Massachusetts and before the Federal District and Appeals Courts since 1986. She joined her family's law firm, Webb, Webb,and Martin, established by her grandfather in 1912. She developed her practice in family law, representing parents and children, as an attorney and Guardian Ad Litem. Heidi is trained as a Mediator and a Collaborative Attorney.
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Prior to becoming a lawyer, Heidi received her Master’s Degree in Education from Harvard University where she concentrated in Counseling and Consulting Psychology. Heidi has also worked for the Department of Social Services (now DCF) investigating cases of child abuse and neglect, the Mental Health Legal Advisors Committee advising psychiatric patients of their legal rights, and the Office of the Middlesex District Attorney.
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Heidi is a member of the Massachusetts Bar Association, and a former member of the Massachusetts Collaborative Law Council, and of the Social Law Library. She has served as an elected member of the Middlesex County Bar Association. Heidi currently serves on the Board of the Webb Innovation Center for Dyslexia (www.dyslexicswanted.org).​​​​
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Sponsored by:
