HDFS 403 - Families in the Legal Environment

Legal issues related to families including: adoption, marriage, divorce, parent and child rights, consumer issues, disability, and estate planning.

This course can be applied towards:

• Human Development and Family Studies (B.S.)

Textbooks and Materials

No textbooks are required for this course.

Instructors

Holly Panetta
(970) 215-5974
holly.panetta@ymail.com

Holly Panetta is an attorney and mediator currently working as Director for the State of Colorado Office of Dispute Resolution. Prior to joining the State office, Ms. Panetta operated in private practice offering Mediation and Child and Family Investigation Services in northern Colorado. As a contract mediator through the state Office of Dispute Resolution, Ms. Panetta mediated more than 300 court-ordered cases per year. These cases included Domestic Relations, Parental Responsibilities, Child Support Enforcement and Dependency and Neglect. She also served as a court-appointed investigator for high conflict divorce and parental responsibility cases.

Prior to opening a solo practice, Ms. Panetta worked as a litigation associate for Henderson, Taylor & Rapp, a law firm in Greeley specializing in family and criminal law. She also served as a Family Court Facilitator in the Colorado Courts.

Ms. Panetta attended law school at the University of Denver and received her Juris Doctor in 2003. She also has a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from Colorado State University and is a candidate for a Master’s of Science in Human Development and Family Studies.