Director of the Center for Children, Families and the Law and Professor of Law Andrew Schepard will be giving the keynote address on May 8, 2009 to the Montgomery County, Maryland Divorce Roundtable Conference called "Parenting Together After Separation: How to Keep It Out of Court." The Conference will be held at the Universities at Shady Grove in Rockville, Maryland.

Schepard's topic is "The Ortiz Family Meets the Family Court: Past Present and Future?" He will discuss how dispute resolution for divorcing and separating families has evolved from an adversarial based system to now emphasizing alternative dispute resolution and parental self-determination. He will also discuss key issues for the dispute resolution system in the future - including the role of lawyers in collaborative dispute resolution.