Total Credits: 2 CLE, 2 Family Law Specialization
Join the Honorable Randi Burnett, the Honorable Bruce Cohen, the Honorable Greg Sakall, and attorney Keith Berkshire for a deep dive into recent case law as well as rules and legislative updates. It will be jam packed with the latest in analysis, insight, practical tips, and suggestions for innovative approaches. Some of the topics to be discussed include:
Faculty:
Honorable Randi Burnett, Pima County Superior Court
Honorable Bruce R. Cohen, Maricopa County Superior Court
Honorable Greg Sakall, Pima County Superior Court
Keith Berkshire, Berkshire Law Office PLLC
| McCarthy Family Immersion Materials 2024 (7.5 MB) | 179 Pages | Available after Purchase |
was appointed as a Superior Court Judge to the Maricopa County Superior Court in May, 2005. Since joining the bench, he served on a family court assignment for six years (four of which was as Associate Presiding Family Court Judge), followed by a four-year assignment to the Criminal Department of the Court (two years of which he was the Managing Judge of the Post-Conviction Relief Unit), three years assigned to the Juvenile Court and one year on a Civil Court calendar. Since June, 2019, he has been the Presiding Judge of the Family Department of the Maricopa County Superior Court.
In the mid to late 1970s and before entering the legal profession, Judge Cohen worked in the concert industry. He produced shows with many top acts, including Bruce Springsteen, The Eagles, Bob Seger, Journey, Yes, Janis Ian, Melissa Manchester, Billy Joel, Emerson Lake & Palmer, Yvonne Elliman, Black Sabbath (with Ozzy), The Beach Boys, Kenny Loggins, Dicky Betts of the Allman Brothers, Harry Chapin, Elvis Costello, George Carlin, Cheech and Chong, Bob Hope, and the Rolling Stones (featuring Linda Ronstadt). He helped produce a benefit concert held at the U of A Football Stadium in 1977 headlined by Fleetwood Mac and the Marshall Tucker Band, which was attended by 67,000 people and which raised over $400,000 for the American Heart Association. He was given an outstanding service award in 1977 by the Heart Association for those efforts.
After graduating from the University of Arizona with a B.A. in Psychology in 1978, Judge Cohen attended law school and earned his J.D at Arizona State University, now known as the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law. In 2001 and again in 2021, he served as an adjunct family law professor and has been a guest speaker on many other occasions. He and his wife sponsored an annual scholarship project for a number of years through 2012 for first year law students on the issue of professionalism. Further, Judge Cohen was a participating member of the National Forum on the Future of Legal Education held in April, 2010. In the summer of 2010, he helped develop a mentor program for first year law students to be paired with judicial officers.
Prior to his appointment to the Bench, Judge Cohen was in private practice for 24 years. He was a certified specialist in Family Law and served on the Family Law Board of Legal Specialization for the State Bar of Arizona, as well as the Family Law Executive Council for the State Bar of Arizona. He was a Fellow in the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers and was named annually to the Martindale Hubbell Preeminent Lawyers in America. Judge Cohen co-authored legislation on parent information programs and adoption of special needs children.
Judge Cohen served on the Arizona Supreme Court appointed Child Support Guidelines Committee for four quadrennial reviews, commencing in 1996, and served as Chairperson for that committee for the 2008-2010 Review. He was again a member for the 2020-21 review. Judge Cohen also served on the Arizona Supreme Court appointed Family Law Rules Review Committee and on the Arizona Supreme Court Admission on Motion Task Force. He is a past president of the Arizona Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (1992) and served a three-year term as a member of the AzAFCC Board through January, 2011, where he chaired 2010-11 AzAFCC Summit Project, which focused on developing communication skills for parents. He is a past member of the Judicial Appointments Advisory Board for the City of Scottsdale, where he served as Chairperson until January, 2018. Judge Cohen is a founding member of the Maricopa County Superior Court Peer Support program. He currently is a member of the Arizona Supreme Court's Committee on the Impact of Domestic Violence and the Courts, the Family Court Improvement Committee, and the Commission on Access to Justice. Judge Cohen also serves on the Judicial Executive Council for the Maricopa County Superior Court. He is now serving as the national co-chair for the Family Law Workgroup of the National Judicial Task Force on Mental Health and the Courts and is presently the Chairperson of the Arizona State Bar Professionalism Advisory Council.
In 1990, he was named Volunteer Lawyer of the Year by the Maricopa County Bar Association. Other awards include the Arizona Family Support Council's 2010 Judicial Officer of the Year, the 2011 AzAFCC Outstanding Service Award, the 2011 "Improving Public Trust and Confidence in the Arizona Court System" award from the Arizona Supreme Court, the 2013 Maricopa County Superior Court Pendleton Gaines Collegiality Award, and he was a nominee for the US Justice Department 2014 National Crime Victims' Service Award. While serving as the managing judge for the Criminal Department Post-Conviction Relief Unit, the National Association of Counties awarded the Unit its 2015 National Achievement Award for innovation. He is a 2016 recipient of a "Lifetime Achievement Award" from the State Bar of Arizona- Family Law Section and, in December of 2019, the Phoenix Chapter of the American Board of Trial Attorneys named Judge Cohen "Judge of the Year." He was a co-recipient of the 2021 Excellence in Judicial Education Award from the Arizona Judicial College.
Judge Cohen worked in collaboration with others in 2013 to return to Arizona the program known as "Anytown." The organization brings together high-school aged young men and women for a weeklong camp focused on stamping out bias, prejudice and bigotry and celebrating diversity. He served as a co-director for the 2014 and 2016 camps.
In 2013, Judge Cohen and his family appeared and were champions on the Steve Harvey hosted game show, Family Feud, which allowed Judge Cohen to destroy in 17 minutes a favorable reputation that had taken decades to develop.
Honorable Greg Sakall was appointed to the Pima County Superior Court in 2017. He is currently assigned to the Civil Bench. After law school, Judge Sakall clerked for U.S. District Judges William D. Browning and Cindy K. Jorgenson. From 2004 to 2017, he was in private practice. He has also been an adjunct associate professor and is a guest lecturer at the James E. Rogers College of Law.
Education: Hillsdale College (B.A., summa cum laude, double major in Spanish & History); University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law (J.D., summa cum laude).
Keith Berkshire is a certified specialist in Family Law, and a Fellow in the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, at the Berkshire Law Office, PLLC. Keith practices in all areas of family law, with a focus on complex litigation. Keith has a significant appellate practice with more published Family Law Opinions than another other attorney in Arizona, including 33 Opinions at the Arizona Court of Appeals and Arizona Supreme Court. Keith is the author of the Family Law section of the Arizona Appellate Handbook, and his Opinions include major cases such as Saba v. Khoury, Volk v. Brame, McLaughlin v. Jones, Woyton v. Ward, Gonzalez-Gunter v. Gunter, and Barron v. Barron. Keith also successfully litigated the case Howell v. Howell, 137 S. Ct. 1400 (2017) at the Supreme Court of the United States. Keith was a member of the Arizona Supreme Court Task Force on the Arizona Rules of Family Law Procedure, which restyled and rewrote the Family Law Rules in 2018; he previously served on the Family Law Practice and Procedure Committee of the State Bar of Arizona, the Civil Rules Committee, as well as the State Bar of Arizona’s Family Law Section Executive Committee. Keith was also a member of the Court Procedures Workgroup for the Domestic Relations Committee of the State Legislature as part of the 2013 changes to the custody statutes, and has authored numerous other family law rules and statutes. Keith is AV rated by Martindale Hubbell since 2012, is listed in Best Lawyers in America, and has been in the Super Lawyers Listing since 2012, including a selection as one of the Top 50 Lawyers in Arizona in all areas of practice, in 2017, 2018 and 2019. Keith was also named Family Law Lawyer of the Year in Phoenix by Best Lawyers for 2022. Keith is a frequent lecturer at CLEs on all areas of family law and appellate practice, and has served as an expert witness on variously family law issues.
Honorable Randi Burnett has served as a commissioner of the Superior Court in Pima County since April 2021 and is currently assigned to the family law bench. Prior to joining the bench, Randi was a partner at Waterfall, Economidis, Caldwell, Hanshaw & Villamana, P.C. for several years and then spent her last two years of practice at The McCarthy Law Firm. Her family law practice included a broad range of family law matters including divorce, legal separation, same-sex issues, multi-state jurisdictional issues, high conflict custody issues, grandparent visitation, minor child guardianships, child support, spousal maintenance, paternity, and appellate matters. Randi has presented at multiple legal seminars on numerous topics, including complex financial issues, ethical issues, high conflict custody concerns, and the unique concerns involving autistic children in custody matters. Outside of work, Randi enjoys traveling and spending time outdoors with her husband and two children.
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