LexisNexis Practice Guide: Pennsylvania Family Law

Mary Cushing Doherty (original author) is a Partner in the Norristown and Doylestown, PA, law firm High Swartz, LLP. She has a distinguished record of advocacy and teaching in all areas of family law: divorce, equitable distribution, spousal and child support, alimony, tax issues, custody, as well as drafting marital settlement agreements and premarital agreements. She has served as litigator and appellate counsel, arbitrator, and mediator.

Mary served as Chair of the Family Law Section of the Philadelphia Bar Association, Co-Chair of the Family Law Committee of the Montgomery Bar Association, Chair of the Family Law Section of the Pennsylvania Bar Association, a Director of the Pennsylvania Bar Institute, and President of the Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. Currently, she is a legislative advocate for the Pennsylvania Bar Association addressing family law legislation, and she serves as Co-Chair of the Legislation Committee of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. Mary recently completed her service as Pennsylvania Chapter Representative to the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers Board of Governors.

Mary has taught and served as Course Planner for the Pennsylvania Bar Institute, Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, Pennsylvania Bar Association Family Law Section, Montgomery Bar Association, Bar Association as well as the Doris Jonas Freed Family Law Inn of Court. In 1997, Mary, with the Pennsylvania Bar Institute, received the national Award of Professional Excellence in Programming from the Association for Continuing Legal Education for the PBI Course: “Drafting Marital Settlement Agreements”. Mary recently published her article “Romantic Premarital Agreements” in the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers Journal, Volume 29, 2016. She has presented case updates for the Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants (PICPA) annual Family Law Seminar, the “Dollars in Divorce” lecture, from 2003–2015. Since 1995 Mary has been an adjunct instructor on family law for Upper Dublin High School’s Child Development II course.

Mary has been recognized as a Philadelphia Business Journal Woman of Distinction in 2009, among the Women’s Yellow Pages Women of Accomplishment (24th and 25th Editions), Suburban Life Magazine Awesome Attorney in 2011, a Legal Intelligencer 2012 Women of the Year recipient and received the Pennsylvania Bar Association Lynette Norton Award for skills in advocacy and mentoring in 2012. Mary has been listed in Best Lawyers in America® (Philadelphia-Family Law) consistently since 1995. She has been recognized as a Super Lawyer in Family Law in Pennsylvania every year since inception in 2004.

Carla Marino (original author) is a Partner in the West Chester, PA office of Lamb McErlane, PC. She focuses her practice in all areas of domestic/family law including equitable distribution of the marital estate, support for spouses and children, and custody issues. Carla is also active in alternative dispute resolution options to address family issues. She is active in the Collaborative Divorce Process and mediation continuing to seek less litigious methods of handling family law matters. Prior to her practice in family law, she worked at a former Big Five firm followed by her work at Pepper Hamilton, LLP in their State and Local Tax Departments focusing on business transactions in corporate and tax law.

Carla is an adjunct professor at Rosemont College in Philadelphia. She guest lectures and teaches mediation in the Sociology Department of both the undergraduate and graduate programs. She also lectured at Neumann University in Aston, PA. She is actively involved in the Doris Jonas Freed American Inn of Court, which promotes the collegiality and the continuing education of family law practitioners. She also volunteers her time for pro bono custody matters through the county bar associations and is affiliated with the Women’s Resource Center. Additionally, Carla is a member of CLP—the Collaborative Law Professionals of Southeastern Pennsylvania, which is committed to a mediation/goal oriented and non-litigious method for resolving domestic matters.

Carla lectures frequently before professional groups on topics related to domestic relations law, such as mediation, custody issues, the Collaborative Divorce Process, Taxation issues, recent case law, and rule changes. She was the featured speaker on Domestic Law and Mediation at Rosemont College and Neumann University. Carla is also a contributor for the Pennsylvania Bar Association: Family Lawyer Case Notes on topics of current law, and she is a member of the Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and District of Columbia Bar Associations.

Carla graduated from Loyola University Maryland (Sellinger School of Business), Baltimore, MD (1989); The Thomas M. Cooley Law School (1995), receiving her J.D.; and Georgetown University Law Center (1996), receiving her LL.M. in Taxation. During her time at Georgetown, Carla earned a Fellowship with the Committee on State Taxation (COST) located in Washington, D.C. She worked with COST to preserve and promote equitable and nondiscriminatory state taxation of multi-jurisdiction entities.

Carla is licensed to practice law in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and the District of Columbia. She is also admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court and the United States Tax Court.

Carla has been recognized as a Super Lawyer in Family Law 2015–2019. She was also recognized as a Top Lawyer for Main Line Today in 2011, 2013–2019.

Michael R. Chilcot, Jr. is the founder/owner of MRC Law in State College, PA. He practices family law almost exclusively, with experience negotiating and litigating every area of family law. Michael also practices collaborative law divorces, which serve as a break to the ins and outs of litigation. Additionally, he handles prenuptial agreements and real estate transactions and litigation.

Michael is a past member of the ABA Section of Family Law, the PBA Family Law Section and Council, and the Centre County Bar Association. He has been published in The Pennsylvania Family Lawyer and has been a presenter, editor, and course planner for PBI. He has been selected as “Foremost Under 40” by Pennsylvania Business Central for 2020.

Michael is a Graduate of The Pennsylvania State University (’05) and the University of Pittsburgh School of Law (’14) and is a firm believer in community involvement. In law school Michael won the University of Pittsburgh School of Law’s Community Service Award. Since then, he has volunteered at numerous competitions as a Mock Trial Judge and also as an advisor to Central Mountain High School and Bellefonte Area High School’s Mock Trial team. He is a former member of the Board of the Directors for Leadership Centre County. He continues his lifelong love of animals as a dedicated Board Member for Centre County PAWS. He combines his passion for giving and the law by serving as Guardian Ad Litem to children in cases throughout central Pennsylvania.

Aaron D. Weems is a Partner in the Montgomery County office of Fox Rothschild LLP. He focuses his practice primarily on family law, and has extensive experience litigating a wide range of issues related to family law such as custody, support, and equitable distribution. Aaron handles prenuptial and postnuptial agreements and collaborates with attorneys throughout his firm on complex estate and business planning issues involving family law components. He has also handled numerous contested adoptions and unique issues related to real estate litigation and business succession. Prior to joining Fox Rothschild, Aaron was an associate with a boutique litigation firm.

Aaron has served in leadership roles within the Montgomery County Bar Association Family Law Section and presently serves as Chair. Aaron is also active in the Pennsylvania Bar Association Family Law Section Council. He is a frequent speaker on family law topics and regular contributor to Fox Rothschild’s Pennsylvania Family Law Blog, as well as other publications such as The Legal Intelligencer, The Pennsylvania Family Lawyer, The Matrimonial Strategist, and The Family Lawyer Magazine.

Aaron is a graduate of Villanova University (’00) and the Villanova School of Law (’03). Aaron is an active member of his community and Villanova alum serving as an Advisory Board member of former Villanova Football Head Coach Andy Talley’s Bone Marrow Foundation, a charity dedicated to facilitating bone marrow donor registration and saving the lives of those suffering from a variety of diseases treatable through bone marrow donation. Aaron is also a dedicated pro bono attorney through Philadelphia VIP and the Southeastern Pennsylvania Legal Aid Society.