Princeton’s Misty Avallone on Rising Star List at NJ SuperLawyers in 2022

New Jersey attorney Misty Avallone is on the 2022 Rising Stars list announced by the Super Lawyers group. To see Ms. Avallone’s and other 2022 Rising Stars click the link provided https://bit.ly/3wI7FKt

The Rising Stars is a group of upcoming lawyers who are expected to make major contributions to their respective fields of law in the coming years. Rising Stars often wind up on the Super Lawyers list after a few years.

Super Lawyers selects each year's list, "via a patented multiphase selection process involving peer nomination, independent research and peer evaluation."

Ms. Avallone's work is primarily in family law. She does some work in employment and labor and general practice.

"Family law is more than just helping people with divorce. It is child custody, spouse support and a variety of legal issues," she said. "Sometimes it is also about domestic violence and getting restraining orders. If you are a victim of domestic violence, you do not surrender your rights. You need someone who knows the law and will fight for you."

In employment law, Ms. Avallone works with employees who are having issues on the job. This can include discrimination cases and hostile work environment issues. She believes people have the right to work in a safe environment and if employers will not provide that, they should be held accountable.

In general practice, Ms. Avallone works with clients with mediation, arbitration, hearing and court trial if necessary.

Ms. Avallone works with Hanan Isaacs, a veteran of the Super Lawyers listing. He was first on the list in 2010 and has been once each year since then.

"I am delighted to see that Misty is a Rising Star. I believe the Super Lawyers group made the right selection and I know she will accomplish great things moving forward," he said.

Ms. Avallone has practice law in New Jersey for nine years. She practices at the at the Kingston Law Group. She is licensed in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Ms. Avallone's work is primarily in family law. She does some work in employment and labor and general practice. For more information visit <a href= "https://www.avvo.com/attorneys/08528-nj-misty-avallone-4181039.html#client_reviews">Misty Avallone</a> at the Avvo lawyer directory.

 

About Kingston Law Group

In 1981, Hanan M. Isaacs created a Central Jersey law partnership with Robert A. Felmeister. The firm was known as Felmeister & Isaacs. From their newly minted law offices In East Windsor, Mercer County, these two young lawyers were hellbent on creating an immediate commercial following. They took an aggressive stance on their first amendment right to advertise their legal services, including on the radio, a right the New Jersey Supreme Court was slow to recognize and support. Their stance produced a 4-year tussle with the Supreme Court, resulting in multiple hearings in state and federal court and two changes to the Rules of Professional Conduct, including the current Rule permitting most forms of advertising.

In 1988, Felmeister departed the firm to start a different career, and Isaacs constructed a sole practice focusing on family and divorce (in which he is a Certified Family Law Practitioner), employment law for workers, personal injury, insurance bad faith, and general civil and criminal defense practice. He also is an expert in negotiations, mediation, and arbitration of cases, whether as a neutral or a lawyer representing a party in those venues.

From 1998 to 2018, Mr. Isaacs hired paralegals and law associates to handle the firm’s work. He taught dispute resolution at Seton Hall Law School and Rider University, taught lawyers and judges the art and craft of negotiations and mediation, served as a Mediation Trainer and lecturer for the NJ Institute of Continuing Legal Education and NJ Association of Professional Mediators (NJAPM), published many articles on divorce, family law, and Alternative Dispute Resolution, and served in leadership roles at the State Bar Association, on Supreme Court Committees, and at NJAPM. He also served for many years on successive Zoning Boards of Adjustment (in Montgomery Township and Princeton), and on his Homeowners Association Board.

In 2018, Mr. Isaacs formed a law partnership with Misty V. Avallone, Esq., a long-time associate of the firm, who focuses on matrimonial law practice, along with Tabitha Y. Clark, Esq., who focuses on trusts and estates, Elderlaw, and support for Ms. Avallone’s and Mr. Isaacs’s divorce and employment law cases. Ms. Clark also serves as the law firm’s Chief Technical Officer.

 

What is Reasonable Parenting Time in NJ?

 Parenting time is an all-purpose label for when divorced or separate parents spend time with their kids. Whether it’s reasonable depends on the facts, yet it’s the best interests of children that reign supreme.

The term “visitation” was used in the old NJ statutes. It described a parent’s status when they didn’t have legal custody (the ability to make important medical, legal, and education decisions for the child) yet still had a right to spend time with their child. The State statute was changed, and the phrase is now “parental time”, but the modifying word is “appropriate,” not “reasonable”. In common parlance, lawyers, judges, mediators, arbitrators, mental health professionals, and forensic experts speak of “parenting time”.

What is Parenting Time?

“Parenting time” is the time a parent spends with their kids. It’s typically the result of a schedule where each parent fairly enjoys time with their children, benefiting both the child and their parents. Custody covers rights the parent or parents have to make child-rearing decisions and exercise overnights with children. Parents could share this “legal” custody, but one may have much less time with the child than the other. Parenting time is considered time with a child, no matter what legal rights of influence and decision-making they may or may not have.

In NJ, parenting time issues are unique to each case, yet generally cover:

● Regular parenting time: The daily and weekly “ordinary” time the parents spend with their children
● Special occasion parenting time: This may be Mother’s and Father’s Days as well as each child’s and each parent’s birthdays
● Holiday parenting time: This is the time spent during holidays like Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s Day, Labor Day, July 4, Memorial Day, and Labor Day weekend
● Vacation parenting time: This allows parents, when and if they vacation, to spend extra time with their kids during the school year and summers

It’s great to have an agreed-upon schedule, but parenting time is also affected by parents who don’t drop off or pick up kids on time, insist on swapping holidays at the last minute, or generally disrespect the other parent and the value of their time. These incidents throw sand in what could be a well-oiled parenting time machine.

The Elephant in the Room: Your Child’s Best Interests

When you think about parenting time, you may focus on what’s reasonable for you. Maybe you take a back seat when a mediator recommends a plan, or a judge or arbitrator decides or approves a plan. They’ll only approve a schedule that’s in your child’s best interests, not yours. You may dislike this idea, yet to some extent, you could say you’re just along for the ride.

Think about how your needs and those of your child blend. When do both of your interests point in the same direction? When we discuss a possible schedule with opposing counsel or a judge, mediator, or arbitrator, though we talk about what’s workable and realistic, we also put the primary focus on how your proposed schedule is in your child’s best interests. That’s what carries the day.

And, it should be obvious: a schedule that works for a 5-year-old will radically shift and look nothing like a schedule that works for a 16-year-old. The former will do what the parents want, for the most part. The latter will direct much of what happens with parenting time, with academics, lessons, sports practice, social life, and the like.

Though your child’s best interests are paramount, parents aren’t entirely left on the sidelines. New Jersey Statute 2A:34-23, et seq., states in pertinent part:

It is in the public policy of this State to assure minor children of frequent and continuing contact with both parents after the parents have separated or dissolved their marriage and . . . it is in the public interest to encourage parents to share the rights and responsibilities of child-rearing to effect this policy.

We need to weave a parenting schedule that fits your needs, your child’s best interests, and reasonably accommodates the other parent.

What Makes Parenting Time Reasonable?

As you can tell, this is not a one-dimensional inquiry. It looks at facts and circumstances that change over time, and no two kids or adults are exactly alike. When organizing parenting time schedules, think about your immediate, practical circumstances and future events that may affect the children and the parents. For an agreement to be reasonable and effective in the short and long run, it must have equal parts structured yet flexible. Parents and children change schedules, have last-minute problems, and couldn’t meet a “carved in stone” schedule for any length of time, even if they want to.

Just like a child does, a parenting time schedule needs to grow and change over time. Kids’ involvement in activities may shrink or grow. Over time they’ll need to spend more time on schoolwork. They may prefer to vacation with friends, not parents or siblings. A parent’s work schedule, need for time with an elderly or disabled parent, or a move away from the area by a parent and children can throw an established parenting schedule into chaos.

Just remember this adage: Humans made it, humans broke it, and humans can fix it. That applies to parenting time agreements and custody as well.

Kingston Law Group: Get the Help You Need from the Lawyers You Trust

If you have any questions about parenting time or child custody, call the Central Jersey law offices of Kingston Law Group at 609-683-7400, or contact us online, for a near-term reduced fee initial consultation. We will listen to your facts, explain the laws, and advise you on how best to obtain legal, economic, and social justice. We will present optimal choices to protect your legal rights and interests and those of your child(ren). Call or write us today. You will be glad you did.