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At the Law Firm of Victoria T. Ferrara, PC, we are preparing for a strong and productive 2010. A new decade. The economy is turning around and our firm is poised to provide its clients with dedicated, intelligent and focused legal services.
Attorney Ferrara is handling complex family matters including dissolutions of marriage and civil unions, custody and family relocation matters, parental rights cases, and post-judgment alimony and support issues. Most recently, Attorney Ferrara researched and obtained jurisdiction in the CT courts for the dissolution of a California Domestic Partnership.
Attorney Jeremy Hayden is managing the firm's real estate practice and is handling numerous foreclosure issues and other commercial litigation matters. He has been successful in pursuing a European corporation through complex service of process issues in order to successfully commence litigation against the company in U.S. courts.
Recently, Attorney Ferrara presented a speech to the Connecticut Probate Assembly of Probate Court Clerks on Adoptions and Surrogacy in the 21st century. The focus of the talk was on applications for waivers of home studies in second-parent or co-parent adoptions, especially in surrogacy matters where Intended Parents are essentially adopting their own children.
In 2010, Attorney Hayden has several speaking engagements scheduled on topics including real estate transactions and commercial collection litigation. In addition, Attorney Ferrara is schedule to participate as a faculty member on an NBI seminar concerning alternative families, same-sex marriage and adoption.
Both Attorney Ferrara and Attorney Hayden are marshalling the firm's extensive personal injury practice with cases involving serious and traumatic injuries such as carbon monoxide poisoning, broken jaw, disc herniations, wrongful death, and other negligence cases.
The firm is handling a State of Connecticut Supreme Court case which is scheduled for argument in February, 2010. The lower court ruled that two parents may be named on the birth certificate of their child who was born to a surrogate mother even though one of the parents was not genetically related to the baby. The State of Connecticut objected and brought this appeal to allegedly protect the accuracy of the state's birth records. However, our position is that this makes no sense since so many children are born to mothers who use egg donors or sperm donors and the State cannot possibly be aware of these facts. The issue of intended parentage is at stake here when couples need to use a surrogate to give birh to their children.
Attorney Ferrara continues to focus her efforts on proposed legislation to amend the law relating to birth certificates in Connecticut. The new legislation would allow parties to a gestational carrier agreement, ie, Intended Parents, whether genetic or non- genetic, to be named on replacement birth certificates for their children. This could be done by way of pre-birth court order from the Superior Court as opposed to the non-genetic parent having to go through an adoption proceeding to gain their parental rights. Lawyers from the firm testified before the State of Connecticut's Judiciary Committee for the State Legislature and the new law is now making its way through the legislative channels. We would like to thank State Representative Tom Drew who proposed the bill in the legislature.
We are pleased to welcome to the firm's staff Kim Goodrich who has taken over real estate paralegal responsibilities, and Geri Hollyday, who is Attorney Ferrara's assistant. As always, our law firm manager, Beth Anne Ferraro, is keeping a watchful and dedicated eye on law firm operations and management.
