An article in Wednesday's edition of the New York Law Journal, "Group Rejects OCA Proposals on Reports in Custody Cases," incorrectly stated the position of the Nassau County Bar Association and Lee Rosenberg, chairman of the Nassau County Bar Association Matrimonial Law Committee, with regard to the accessibility of forensic evaluation reports in child custody cases. Rosenberg, of Saltzman Chetkof & Rosenberg in Garden City, and the Nassau bar oppose the dissemination of forensic reports to children, even when the children are represented by counsel, in the course of a custody proceeding.
The Nassau bar has approved a proposal of the Office of Court Administration's Matrimonial Practice Advisory Committee. Under that proposal, counsel for the parties, but not the children, would be able to obtain a copy of the forensic report after executing a non-disclosure agreement. Represented parties would be allowed to review the report in their attorney's office and unrepresented parties would have access to the report in the courthouse or another secure location. The position of the Nassau bar and Rosenberg is that the proposal provides the "best blueprint going forward among the three options presented, although there remain various issues and problems with the proposal which require further discussion and adjustment," according to Rosenberg.
In addition, the New York Chapter of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers has declined to endorse any of three competing proposals under consideration by OCA regarding access to forensic evaluation reports. However, the academy's New York chapter is strongly opposed to another proposal that would permit attorneys to share the contents of psychological test results with the children they represent, according to Michael Stutman, president of the New York chapter and a family law partner at Mishcon de Reya in Manhattan.
