David A. Canale | Meriwether & Tharp, LLC

A native of New Orleans, Louisiana, Mr. Canale received his B.S. degree from Louisiana State University and his J.D. from the Paul M. Hebert Law Center at LSU, where he was a member of both the Moot Court Board and the Order of the Coif. Mr. Canale is admitted to practice in Louisiana and Georgia. He is a member of the Louisiana State Bar Association, the State Bar of Georgia (Family Law Section), the Cobb County Bar Association (Family Law Section), and the Blue Ridge Bar Association.

He is admitted to all state courts in Louisiana, all State and Superior Courts in Georgia, and the Georgia Court of Appeals. He is also a Master in the Charles Longstreet Weltner Family Law Inn of Court, has been named a Top 100 Lawyer in Georgia by The National Advocates, and has been selected as a Super Lawyer. Mr. Canale has over twenty-five years of experience as an attorney. In addition to private practice, he previously served as an in-house counsel for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Resolution Trust Corporation, and a private corporation. Mr. Canale currently practices in all areas of domestic relations and family law, and he has handled thousands of cases involving issues of divorce, custody, support, property division, juvenile cases, and adoptions.

I. History of parental rights vs. rights of other family members to intrude into the parent/child relationship and request visitation | 3:00pm – 3:10pm

II. Constitutional considerations | 3:10pm – 3:20pm

III. How does an attorney evaluate requests by grandparents for legal assistance in pursuing claims against parents for grandparent visitation? | 3:20pm – 3:30pm

IV. How does an attorney assist a parent in defending claims for grandparent visitation? | 3:30pm – 3:40pm

V. What works and what doesn’t? | 3:40pm – 3:50pm

VI. Gathering evidence and presenting it to a court | 3:50pm – 4:00pm

Break | 4:00pm – 4:10pm

VII. Pre-litigation strategies that may be helpful | 4:10pm – 4:25pm

VIII. Constitutional challenges to grandparent visitation statutes and defenses to those claims | 4:25pm – 4:40pm