Actor Jason Patric has been involved in a custody battle with a former girlfriend, to whom

Jason Patric. Photo rights: Jonathan Leibson/GETTY

he donated his sperm in 2009. The dispute is a typical “he said, she said,” because they did not enter into a sperm donor agreement when the actor donated his sperm through a medical procedure. The former girlfriend, Danielle Schreiber, says that the sperm donation was simply that: a donation. It is her position that his donation was conditioned up the fact that he would not be a father to the child, and it would never be publicly known that he donated. Patric disputes this account, and wants partial custody of the child, now 3. California law does not recognize a sperm donor as a father if the donation occurred through a doctor or a sperm bank and the donor is not the woman’s husband, unless the parties had an agreement in place. There was no agreement outlining the intent of the parties. Such an agreement would have likely prevented a dispute because the parties’ intent and expectations would have been fully outlined in the contract. This tabloid story reemphasizes how critical it is to have a Sperm Donor Agreement in place, even if your donor is known to you as friend, acquaintance, or even paramour.

Now, California State Senator Jerry Hill is introducing a bill that would grant broader rights to sperm donors. Such legislation, if passed, could open up a Pandora’s Box of litigation in California, which has more fertility clinics than any other state. To read more about the legislation and Patric’s custody battle, click here.

Photo courtesy of Florida Bar YLD.

On June 28, 2013 at the Florida Bar Annual Convention, attorney Karen Persis was sworn in to the Florida Bar Young Lawyers Division as a Governor for the Ninth Circuit. The Young Lawyers Division of The Florida Bar has over 21,000 members. All lawyers under age 36 and new Florida Bar members for the first 5 years in good standing are automatically members. The purpose of the Florida Bar YLD is to get its members involved in the Florida Bar, to provide a full and complete program of activities and projects designed to be of interest and assistance to YLD members, and to engage in such activities as shall tend to further the best interests of the legal profession. Karen was elected to a two-year term.

On June 21, 2013, Karen Persis became certified by the Florida Supreme Court as a Family Mediator. Mediation can be an effective tool to resolve disputes in family law matters. It generally saves time and money in the long run, and it can also dissipate the stress involved in family law disputes. It can be a great alternative to mediation. Karen Persis is now accepting mediation cases in Orange, Seminole, Volusia, Osceola, Brevard and Lake counties. Though she is located in Orlando, she will drive to your location. Her mediation rates are on a sliding scale, based on the income of the parties.

A recent CNNMoney article discusses the trend of couple using the popular trend of crowdfunding in order to grow their families through adoption and fertility treatments. You can read the entire article here. Fertility treatments and adoption, whether domestic or international, can be rather expensive. When Jessica and Sean Haley of Melbourne, Florida, realized the need for fertility treatments to expand their family, they took to the website, Indiegogo, to help them out. The couple raised more than $8,000 on the site, with donations from more than 130 people. Their son is considered the first “crowdfunded baby!”