Married couples no longer head the majority of U.S. families, a fact that inspired the topic for Santa Clara University’s 2008 Family Law Symposium, hosted Feb. 15 by the Santa Clara Law Review

The day-long event, which brings together three panels of judges, attorneys, policymakers, and scholars, provides a forum for debating and analyzing the legal and social issues surrounding the changing structure of the American family. The symposium is entitled “When Change Comes Home: Legal Repercussions and Comparative Perspectives on the Transforming Structure of American Households.” It will begin at 8:30 a.m. and is open to the public.

“We felt a need to initiate discussion on this issue,” explained Wayne Chi, lead symposium editor of the Law Review. “Marriage equality is a novel topic in most law schools, but it’s a hot topic in this year’s presidential election—and it’s of prime importance to many people.”

According to the 2005 U.S. Census, only 49.7 percent—a historic low—of households in America are led by married couples. Chi said the potential social and economic implications of the Census data are profound as cohabitation among unmarried couples becomes more common. “We need to consider reforming the law to better serve and support the full range of close personal relationships among adults and families,” he noted.

Nancy Polikoff, professor of law at American University Washington College of Law, will deliver the symposium’s keynote address. For more than 30 years, she has been writing and litigating cases involving non-traditional families, and her book, Beyond (Straight and Gay) Marriage: Valuing All Families Under the Law, will be published in early February.

Among panelists coming from throughout the country will be state Supreme Court justices Reeves Kistler of Oregon and Harry Lee Anstead of Florida. SCU School of Law professors participating in the event include Gary Spitko and June Carbone.

Registration deadline for the symposium is Feb. 1. For more information about the event and to register online, go to www.scu.edu/law/lawreview/symposium.cfm. The general admission fee is $169. The symposium will be held in the Adobe Lodge at SCU, 500 El Camino Real, Santa Clara, Calif.

About Santa Clara University

Santa Clara University, a comprehensive Jesuit, Catholic university located 40 miles south of San Francisco in California's Silicon Valley, offers its more than 8,337 students rigorous undergraduate curricula in arts and sciences, business, and engineering, plus master's and law degrees and engineering Ph.D.s. Distinguished nationally by one of the highest graduation rates among all U.S. master's universities, California’s oldest operating higher-education institution demonstrates faith-inspired values of ethics and social justice. For more information, see www.scu.edu.