On April 15, a Statute Note written by David Welsh, a 2L at the S.J. Quinney College of Law, and published in the College’s Journal of Law and Family Studies, was mentioned in a blog by New York Times writer Lisa Belkin.
Welsh’s Note, “Virtual Parents: How Virtual Visitation Legislation Is Shaping the Future of Custody Law” deals with the effect Internet tools, including webcams and email, are having on long-distance visitation. Welsh, who interned in the Guardian Ad Litem’s office last summer, wrote the Note after learning that Utah was the first state to enact legislation authorizing the use of virtual visitation. While conducting research, he met Michael Gough, an expert on virtual visitation.
“It was Michael who in 2004 showed up to his custody hearing in a Utah court with a set of laptops and web cameras,” Welsh recounted. “He was the driving force behind Utah’s virtual visitation legislation and has since established a website and written several articles and books. His experience made this article more personal to me as I realized the challenges that millions of geographically separated non-custodial parents and their children face.”
Welsh said he was unaware that his article had been mentioned in a New York Times blog until Associate Dean Robert Adler emailed him to give him the good news. “One of the reasons I’m particularly excited is that I’m planning to pursue a Ph.D. in organizational behavior and a career in academia following law school (where I’m hoping to do lots of research and publication). I’m taking several Ph.D. level courses outside of law school where my writing is focused on bringing legal principles into the organizational context.”
To read the New York Times blog, click here:
http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/15/visitation-via-skype/?emc=eta1
You can find Welsh’s article here.