From the Times of London
Pre-nups now cover social media revenge
by Will Pavia
For years young people from genteel parts of Massachusetts have gone to see a lawyer before they embark on marriage.
“The kinds of people who come into the office probably came into offices 50 years ago,” Jonathan Fields, a family
lawyer in Wellesley, outside Boston, said of those who want prenuptial agreements. “They are 25, their parents have huge estates.” Lately, however, clients of Fields and Dennis have arrived with new concerns, beyond those of protecting a family fortune. They want, for example, to protect their reputations on social media should matrimony end in acrimony. Other requests include whether frozen embryos can be used after divorce, binding statements on who owes what to which university, and who gets the dog.
“They don’t want the one person to say nasty things about the other person,” Mr Fields said of a generation weaned on social media. He tells his clients that this may be impossible to enforce, because of the free speech protections of the First Amendment.
But the request reflects one of a broad range of new concerns being written into prenuptial agreements. Some have attributed the greater use of prenuptials to a broader cohort of young people whose parents divorced. Jessica Marshall, a family lawyer in Chicago, has suggested that student debts and a tendency to marry later in life may also have caused couples to consider financial arrangements before tying the knot. In an article for The National Law Review, she said: “They would also like to ensure that debt is properly accounted for in a divorce.”
“Five hours of time for a five-minute hearing has never seemed so wasteful. With the experience of remote hearings, will the courts realize that, in 2021 and beyond, we cannot go back to the old way of doing things?”
“In 2021, the COVID-19 vaccine’s impact on the workforce will dominate the legal landscape. Employers will grapple with vaccine resistance, some due to disability, some due to religious beliefs, some due to fear, and some due to deep-seated distrust of governmental vaccination programs ( i.e., the Tuskegee Study). Health officials and employers alike must establish trust through compliance with federal and state public health initiatives and anti-discrimination guidelines.”
“Race and criminal justice. Will the police reform legislation emerging on Beacon Hill actually deliver on the promise to make police officers and departments accountable to the public — especially in communities of color? And will the Legislature, the courts and the legal profession step up to meet the challenge presented by the Harvard Law School study, commissioned by Chief Justice Gants, that so vividly documented profound racial inequality in our criminal justice system?”
“How the legal system conducts jury trials and deals with the overall backlog are going to be the most pressing legal questions in the coming year. There are hundreds of pending cases, and figuring out how we are going to safely and constitutionally handle them in a post-COVID society is something we are all focused on. We need to make sure that those who have the least are not left behind as we try to rebuild our legal system.”
“Evictions and foreclosures, unless there is an extended moratorium. In anticipation, I’m rewriting §10:2 ‘Foreclosure Defense’ with a subsection on eviction defense, for 28 Mass. Practice: Real Estate Law, of which I’m the current author. As in the 1930s’ Great Depression, we may see mass civil disobedience to block foreclosure auctions and evictions, bankruptcies of residential and commercial landlords, and bank failures. Hunger and desperation may lead to increased crime, especially theft of food.”
“Employers will likely face complex and vexing issues on whether to require employees to take the COVID vaccines. So far there are not government requirements, but that may change as the vaccines prove effective. Presently, the issue of mandatory vaccinations raises the issue of ADA strictures as well as Title VII religious issues. The EEOC just issued guidelines yesterday, but not requirements. Stay tuned!”
“Immigration law dominates the legal landscape in 2021. The incoming administration will be under significant pressure to undo the most harmful policies of the Trump administration. Changes in the immigration courts, asylum laws, green card applications, as well as restoration of DACA and Temporary Protected Status will occupy much of the administration’s first days. The Biden administration faces a gargantuan task, and because of that immigration law will be a continuing hot topic in 2021.”
Fields and Dennis LLP is proud to announce that we have been ranked as one of Boston’s Top Tier Family Law Firms in US News & World Report’s Best Lawyers Best Law Firms 2021 Edition. The US News & World Report rankings are based on a rigorous evaluation process and is one of the most trusted and relied upon guides to legal excellence. We are honored to receive this ranking.