The Legal Intelligencer: The Impact of Parental Alienation in Child Custody Litigation

In an article published in The Legal Intelligencer on October 19, 2020, family law partner Michael Bertin discusses “parental alienation,” and how this controversial subject, in the psychological and legal fields, is a prevailing factor in custody cases. Michael discusses the recent divorce case of ALB v. MDL, ___ A.3d ___, 2020 PA Super. 216 (Sept. 4, 2020), where issue of parental alienation and child custody was prominent and resulted in the father losing equally (50/50) shared custody to become a partial physical custodian, every other weekend. According to the opinion, the custody evaluator “concluded that the father was alienating the children from the mother at a moderate level of severity.”

Read the full article here.

Michael is a family law attorney who focuses his practice on child custody, child support, and divorce, including the negotiation and litigation of domestic relations cases, divorce, custody, support, alimony, property distribution, prenuptial agreements and related issues. He is immediate past-Chair of the Family Law Section of the Pennsylvania Bar Association, a member of its Executive Committee and Council (the governing bodies of the Section), and is a former chair and member of its Procedural Rules Committee, Legislative Committee, and Program Committee. Michael is a former Chair of the Family Law Section of the Philadelphia Bar Association and the current co-chair of its Custody Committee. He is a former member of the Board of Managers (the governing body) of the Pennsylvania Chapter of the AAML. Michael also serves as chair of Obermayer’s Pro Bono Committee.