Leslie Harris is the Dorothy Kliks Fones Professor of Law emerita at the University of Oregon/ She teaches Children and the Law formerly taught Family Law, Criminal Law, and Elder Law. She is co-director of the Oregon Child Advocacy Project, which provides education and assistance to attorneys advocating for the interests of children. She has written law review articles about the child welfare system, nontraditional families, family support duties, and property rights at divorce and is the co-author of textbooks on Family Law and Children and the Law which are widely used throughout the U.S. She is an elected member of the American Law Institute and serves on advisory boards for the Oregon Juvenile Court Improvement Project and several other organizations. She was one of the first recipients of the law school's Orlando John Hollis Faculty Teaching Award.
More information for students enrolled in my class is available on Canvas.
Professor Harris' Curriculum vita
Books
FAMILY LAW (with June Carbone)(Fifth Ed.,Aspen 2014)(with teachers' manual)
CHILDREN, PARENTS, AND THE LAW: PUBLIC AND PRIVATE AUTHORITY IN THE HOME, SCHOOLS, AND JUVENILE COURTS (with Tamar Birckhead)(Third Ed.,Aspen 2012)(with teachers' manual)
FAMILY LAW (with June Carbone) (Fourth Ed., Aspen Publishers, 2010)(with teachers manual)
CHILDREN, PARENTS, AND THE LAW: PUBLIC AND PRIVATE AUTHORITY IN THE HOME, SCHOOLS, AND JUVENILE COURTS (Second Ed., Aspen/Wolters Kluwer (2007) (with teacher’s manual)
THE RIGHTS OF CHILDREN (Oregon State Bar 2006), reprinted with revisions as Chapter 4 in Oregon State Bar Continuing Legal Education, JUVENILE LAW (2007)
FAMILY LAW (with Lee Teitelbaum and June Carbone) (Third Ed., Aspen Publishers 2005) (with teacher’s manual)
CHILDREN, PARENTS, AND THE LAW: PUBLIC AND PRIVATE AUTHORITY IN THE HOME, SCHOOLS, AND JUVENILE COURTS (with Lee Teitelbaum) (Aspen Publishers 2002) (with teacher’s manual) FAMILY LAW (with Lee Teitelbaum) (Second Ed., Aspen Publishers 2000) (with teacher’s manual)
VALUING FAMILIES (University of Oregon Center for the Study of Women in Society 1999)
FAMILY LAW (WITH LEE TEITELBAUM & CAROL WEISBROD) (LITTLE, BROWN & CO. 1996) (WITH TEACHER’S MANUAL)
Articles, Book Chapters, Essays and Reports
Reforming Paternity Law to Eliminate Gender, Status and Class Inequality, 2013: Michigan State Law Review 1295
Voluntary Acknowledgments of Parentage for Same-Sex Couples, 20 American
University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law 467 (2012)
Questioning Child Support Enforcement Policy for Poor Families. 45 Family Law: Quarterly 157 (2011)
Challenging the Overuse of Foster Care and Disrupting the Path to Delinquency and Prison in JUSTICE FOR KIDS: KEEPING KIDS OUT OF THE JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM (Nancy E. Dowd ed., NYU Press forthcoming)
Failure to Protect from Exposure to Domestic Violence in Private Custody Contests (forthcoming FAMILY LAW QUARTERLY 2010)
ESTABLISHING AND ENFORCING PARENTING PLANS, Report to the Legislature from the Parenting Plan Work Group of the Family Law Section of the Oregon State Bar (2010)
Making Parents Pay: Understanding Parental Responsibility Laws, 31(3) FAMILY ADVOCATE 38 (Winter 2009)
The Basis for Legal Parentage and the Clash Between Custody and Child Support, forthcoming 42 INDIANA LAW REVIEW 611 (2008)
Entries on Legal Regulation of Children’s Conduct and Children’s Rights to Property and Contract in CHICAGO COMPANION TO THE CHILD (University of Chicago Press, 2009)
Entry on Orr v. Orr in ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES (David Tanenhaus ed., Macmillan Reference 2008)
Involving Nonresident Fathers in Dependency Cases: New Efforts, New Problems, New Solutions, 9 JOURNAL OF LAW & FAMILY STUDIES 281 (2007)
Symposium Introduction: Promoting Nurturing Relationships for Children, 9(2) JOURNAL OF LAW & FAMILY STUDIES vii (2007)
A New Paternity Law for the Twenty-First Century: Of Biology, Social Function, Children’s Interests and Betrayal, 44 WILLAMETTE LAW REVIEW 297 (2007)
The Story of Morgan v. Foretich in FAMILY LAW STORIES (Carol Sanger ed., Foundation Press 2007) (with June Carbone)
ESTABLISHING, DISESTABLISHING, AND CHALLENGING LEGAL PATERNITY, Report for the Oregon Law Commission to the Oregon Legislature (2007)
An Empirical Study of Parental Responsibility Laws: Sending Messages, but What Kind and to Whom? 2006 UTAH LAW REVIEW 5
In Memory of Lee Teitelbaum, 7 JOURNAL OF LAW & FAMILY STUDIES 497 (2005)
Tracing, Spousal Gifts, and Rebuttable Presumptions: Puzzles of Oregon Property Division Law, 83 OREGON LAW REVIEW 1291 (2005)
Same-Sex Unions Around the World: Marriage, Civil Unions, Registered Partnerships — What are the Differences and Why Do They Matter? 19(5) PROBATE AND PROPERTY 31 (2005)
THE RIGHTS OF PUTATIVE FATHERS IN JUVENILE COURT, Report for the Oregon Law Commission to the Oregon Legislature (2005)
Chapter 4 — Making Custody Arrangements if the Juvenile Court is Not Involved; Chapter 5 – Child Support; Chapter 6 – When the Juvenile Court is Involved in A RESOURCE GUIDE FOR PARENTS INCARCERATED IN OREGON (2004)
Entries on Children’s Rights, Marriage, and Spousal Support in OXFORD COMPANION TO AMERICAN LAW (Kermit E. Hall ed., Oxford University Press 2002)
Entries on Family Courts and Paternity Suits in THE FAMILY IN AMERICA: AN ENCYCLOPEDIA (Joseph Hawes & Elizabeth Shors eds., ABC-CLIO 2001)
The ALI Child Support Principles: Incremental Changes to Improve the Lot of Children and Residential Parents, 8 DUKE JOURNAL GENDER LAW AND POLICY 245 (2001)
Troxel v. Granville: Not the End of Grandparent Visitation, 11(3) EXPERIENCE 7 (2001)
A ‘Just and Proper Division:’ Property Distribution at Divorce in Oregon, 78 OREGON LAW REVIEW 735 (1999)
The New ALI Child Support Principles, 35 WILLAMETTE LAW REVIEW 717 (1999)
Semantics and Policy in Physician-Assisted Death: Piercing the Verbal Veil, 5 ELDER LAW JOURNAL 251 (1997)
Reconsidering the Criteria for Legal Fatherhood, 1996 UTAH LAW REVIEW 461
Book review of DIVORCE REFORM AT THE CROSSROADS (S. Sugarman & H. Kay eds.), 1991 BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY LAW REVIEW 561
Making and Breaking Connections Between Parents’ Duty to Support and Right to Control Their Children, 69 OREGON LAW REVIEW 689 (1990) (with Dennis Waldrop & Lori Waldrop)
Rethinking the Relationship Between Juvenile Courts and Treatment Agencies–An Administrative Law Approach, 28 JOURNAL OF FAMILY LAW 217 (1990)
New Perspectives on the Law of Rape, 66 TEXAS LAW REVIEW 905 (1988)
Constitutional Limits on Criminal Presumptions as an Expression of Changing Concepts of Fundamental Fairness, 77 JOURNAL OF CRIMINAL LAW & CRIMINOLOGY 308 (1986)
The Utah Child Protection System: Analysis and Proposals for Change, 1983 UTAH LAW REVIEW 1
Children’s Waiver of Miranda Rights and the Supreme Court’s Decisions in Parham, Bellotti and Fare, 10 NEW MEXICO LAW REVIEW 379 (1980)
Some Historical Perspectives on Governmental Regulation of Children and Parents, in BEYOND CONTROL: STATUS OFFENDERS IN THE JUVENILE COURT 1 (L. Teitelbaum & A. Gough, eds. 1977) (with Lee Teitelbaum)
Children’s Court Practice in Delinquency and Need of Supervision Cases Under the New Rules, 6 NEW MEXICO LAW REVIEW 331 (1976)
Newsletter, Bar Journal and Magazine Articles; Breifs, Legislative Testimony, and Research Memoranda
“Child Support for Post-Secondary Education: Empirical and Historical Perspectives,” 29 Journal of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers 299 (2017)
“Teen Health Care Decisions: How Maturity and Social Policy Affect Four Hard Cases,” 72 Studies in Law, Politics, and Society 185 (2017) (peer reviewed)
Review: Life – The Next Phase, 17(3) Oregon State Bar Elder Law Newsletter 4 (July 2014)
The Impact of the New Supreme Court ICWA Case on Child Welfare Cases, 10(3) Juvenile Law: Reader 1 (2013)
Defining “Vulnerable Person,” 16(2) Oregon State Bar Elder Law Newsletter 7 (April 2013)
Medicaid Beneficiaries Successfully Challenge Washington State Cuts, 15(1) Oregon State Bar: Elder Law Newsletter 7 (January 2012)
Written testimony to the Oregon Senate Judiciary Committee on SB 334 and HB 3064: (pertaining to joint custody) (April 2011)
When a Child May Have a Tort Claim: What’s the Child’s Court-Appointed Attorney To Do?
(for Oregon Child Advocacy Project) (with Colin Love-Geiger and Alyssa Knudsen) (June 2010), reprinted in 7(4) Juvenile Law Reader 16 (Aug./Sept. 2010)
Family Leave Laws Help Balance Jobs with Caregiving, 13(2) Oregon State Bar Elder Law: Newsletter 13 (April 2010)
Waiver of Counsel in Delinquency Proceedings (for Oregon Child Advocacy Project) (with
Jordan Bates, David Sherbo- Huggins and Rebekah Murphy) (March 2010)
Reasonable Efforts to Reunify in Dependency Cases (for Oregon Child Advocacy Project) (with
Laura Althouse, Farron Lennon, & David Sherbo-Huggins)
Termination of Parental Rights in Extreme Conduct Cases (for Oregon Child Advocacy Project)
(with Farron Lennon and David Sherbo-Huggins) (2008) reprinted in 5(5) Juvenile Law Reader 9 (Nov. 2008), 5(6) Juvenile Law Reader 4 (Jan. 2009), and 5(7) Juvenile Law Reader 6 (Mar. 2009)
Guardians ad Litem for Parents in Dependency and TPR Cases (for Oregon Child Advocacy
Project) (with Colin Love-Geiger and Annette Smith) (2008) reprinted in 5(5) Juvenile Law Reader 5 (Nov. 2008)
2007 Amendments to Oregon Paternity Law, 27(2) Oregon State Bar Family Law Newsletter: (April 2008)
Appellate Court Rules on Conservatorship Issues, 11(2) Oregon State Bar Elder Law: Newsletter 19 (April 2008)
2007 Amendments Impact on Oregon's Paternity Law on Dependency Proceedings in Juvenile Court -- Part I, 5(1) Juvenile Law Reader 1 (Feb.-Mar.2008); Part II, 5(2) Juvenile Law Reader 3 (Feb.-Mar.2008)
Decision-Making Authority for Dependent Children who are not in the Custody of DHS (for
Oregon Child Advocacy Project) (with Jordan Bates and Gloria Trainor) (2008)
Authority of Oregon Juvenile Courts to Review DHS Actions in Child Dependency Cases (for
Oregon Child Advocacy Project) (with Molly Allen, Tehan Wittemeyer and Farron Lennon) (rev. 2008)
Amicus Curiae in State ex rel. Juv. Dept. v. D.C.J., Oregon Court of Appeals No. A134837 (brief
filed by counsel) (for Oregon Child Advocacy Project) (with Laura Althouse, Farron Lennon, and Gloria Trainor)(2007)
The Case of Anna Nicole Smith and the Probate Exception to Federal Jurisdiction, 9(3) Oregon: State Bar Elder Law Newsletter 23 (July 2006)
Challenges to Paternity Orders in Oregon -- Standing and Grounds (for Oregon Child Advocacy Project) (with Molly Allen) (2006)
It’s a Father, or Not – Changes in Paternity Law from the 2005 Session, 25(1) Oregon State Bar: Family law newsletter 1 (2006)
New Laws Affect Inheritance, Slayers’ Rights, Death Benefits, More, 8(4) Oregon State Bar: Elder Law Newsletter 3 (Fall 2005)
Physician Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment (POLST): An Oregon Innovation, 8 (3) Oregon: State Bar elder law newsletter 8 (Summer 2005)
Marriage, Civil Union, Domestic Partnership: What in the World is the Difference? Trial: Lawyer 23 (Spring 2005)
Choosing a Long Term Care Facility: An Interview with Letty Morgan, 8(2) Oregon State Bar: Elder law newsletter 9 (Spring 2005)
Paying Family Members for In-Home Care, 8(1) Oregon State Bar elder law newsletter 5: (Winter 2005)
Brief for Amicus Curiae Vermont Freedom to Marry Task Force et al., Li v. State, Oregon: Supreme Court No. S51612 (co-author) (2004)
Reverse Mortgages Can Help Cash-Poor Elders, 7(3) Oregon State Bar elder law newsletter: 10 (Summer 2004)
Medicare Will Add Prescription Coverage, 7(1) Oregon State Bar elder law newsletter 11: (Winter 2004)
Oregon’s Third Party Visitation Statutes: Do They Survive Troxel v. Granville? 20(1) Oregon: State Bar Family law newsletter 1 (2001)
Brief as Amicus Curiae, First Interstate Bank of Oregon v. Young, Oregon Court of Appeals No. CA A71103 (co-author) (1992)
Book Review of Children's Rights in America: U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child Compared with United States Law (C. Cohen & H. Davidson eds. 1990), 10 ABA Juvenile and Child Welfare Law Reporter 76 (July 1991)
Brief for Amicus Curiae Juvenile Rights Project, State ex rel. Juv. Dept. v. Silence, Oregon Supreme Court No. S37865 (co-author) (1991)
Parent-Third Party Custody Disputes Under Hruby, ORS 109.119, 8(1) Oregon State Bar Family law newsletter 1 (1988)
Experimentation on People Can’t Be Doctors’ Decision, Oregonian C1 (June 23, 1985)
Presentations to Academic Conferences
Thinking About the Mature Minor Rule when Adolescents Refuse Medical Care – Or Seek an Abortion, Law & Society Assn. annual meeting (Seattle May 2015)
Drifting Toward Marriage: How and Why Legal Structures for Alternative Family Forms Converge on Marriage, Law & Society Assn. annual meeting (Minneapolis May 2014)
Equality in Defining Parent-Child Relationships: The Impacts of Gender, Class and Family Form, Michigan State College of Law conference In Search of Equality in Family Law (East Lansing April 2013)
Adolescents Refusing or Failing to Seek Medical Treatment, International Society of Family Law North American Regional Conference/Midwestern Family Law Conference (Iowa City 2012)
Author meets reader panel, Inside the Castle by Grossman & Friedman, Law & Society Assn. annual meeting (Honolulu 2012)
Lessons from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, Law & Society Assn. annual meeting (Honolulu 2012)
Implications of the Fragile Families Studies for the Law of Family Formation and Child Support, Midwest Family Law Conference (East Lansing, MI, June 2011)
Voluntary Acknowledgments of Parentage for All Parents, American University Law School
conference on The New 'Illegitimacy': Revisiting Why Parentage Should Not Depend on Marriage (Washington, D.C. 2011)
The Foster Care-Delinquency-Prison Pipeline, International Society of Family Law North
American Regional Conference (Kansas City, Mo. 2010)
Foster Care: Intractable Problem or Highly Effective Strategy?, 2010 Juvenile Justice
Conference: Juvenile Justice: Passages, Prevention, and Intervention (University of Florida School of Law 2010)
Clashing Systems for Determining Parentage, First Annual Midwest Family Law Conference (Indianapolis 2008)
Voluntary Acknowledgments of Paternity: Judgments or Creations of Status Relationships?,
International Society of Family Law North American Regional Conference (Vancouver, B.C. 2007)
Resolving Conflicting Claims to Paternity: The Case of Voluntary Acknowledgments, Law & Society Assn. annual meeting (Baltimore 2006)
Missing Fathers in Dependency Cases: Of Parents’ Rights and Children's Interests, Oregon Child Advocacy Project conference on Protecting Children’s Need for Nurturance (2006)
Parental Unfitness in Private Custody Disputes – New Meanings for an Old Construct, International Society of Family Law World Conference (Salt Lake City 2005)
Parental Responsibility Laws: Who Enacts Them? Who Enforces Them? Do They Make Any
Difference? International Society of Family Law North American Regional Conference (Eugene 2003)
The Law and Politics of Welfare to Work in Oregon, Work, Welfare and Politics Conference, University of Oregon (2000)
The Dual System of Family Law at the Turn of the New Century, International Society of Family Law North American Regional Conference (Albuquerque, N.M. 1999)
Child Support Under the New American Law Institute Principles: What Can Oregon Learn? Family Law Conference (Willamette University College of Law 1999)
Fatherhood, University of Utah Law Review Family Law Symposium (Salt Lake City 1995)
Legal Challenges to the Recognition of Functional Families, International Society of Family Law North American Regional Conference (Grand Teton 1993)
Other Professional Presentations
County Variation in the Early Stages of Oregon Dependency Cases: Preliminary Findings from a Study of Case Files, Oregon Juvenile Academy (October 2015)
New Standards of Practices for Attorneys for Parents and Children in Dependency Cases – FAQs – And Some Answers, Oregon Juvenile Academy (October 2014)
Paternity Law Today and New Issues on the Horizon, Oregon State Bar Family Law Section Annual Conference (October 2011)
Challenging the Overuse of Foster Care and Disrupting the Path to Delinquency and Prison and Involving Nonresident Fathers in Dependency Cases: New Efforts, New Problems, New Solutions, Family and Juvenile Law Conference of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (March 2011)
Zealousness and the Role of Counsel in Delinquency Cases, Oregon Criminal Defense Lawyers’
Juvenile Law Seminar (April 2010)
When Parents' Religious Practices Clash with Children's 'Best Interests' -- The Examples of
Medical Decision-Making and Custody, First Annual Jews and Justice Conference, Portland (November 2009)
A New Paternity Law for the Twenty-First Century, Oregon Legal Services Family Law Task
Force, Portland (October 2008)
Ethics Presentation and Discussion: Guardians Ad Litem for Parents with Diminished Capacity,
Juvenile Law Training Academy conference, Springfield (October 2008) (panelist)
The 2008 Paternity Law, Fifth Family Law Conference of the State Family Law Advisory Committee, Salem (September 2008)
Judicial Authority to Review Agency Actions, Oregon Child Advocacy Project Conference on
Putting the Puzzle Together: Cooperation, Conflict and Collaboration among Juvenile Courts and Child Welfare Agencies (April 2008)
A New Paternity Law for the Twenty-First Century: Of Biology, Social Function, Children’s
Interests and Betrayal, Oregon State Bar, Family Law 2008 (February 2008)
Voluntary Acknowledgments of Paternity: Entry into the Status of Co-Parentage, Family Law Institute for the Minnesota Judiciary (October 2007)
Rebutting the Presumption of Equal Contribution in Property Division Cases, Oregon Academy of Family Law Practitioners (May 2007)
Testimony on proposed legislation regarding Establishing, Disestablishing, and Challenging
Legal Paternity (HB 2382), Oregon Law Commission (January 2007) and Oregon House Judiciary Committee (February 2007)
Termination of Parental Rights – The Case Law and Paternity Issues in Termination Cases, Law and Practice: Termination of Parental Rights, presented by the Oregon Juvenile Training Academy (October 2006)
Kunze -- The Aftermath, Oregon Chapter, American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (2006)
The Rights of Children and Adolescents, Essentials of Juvenile Court Practice, presented by the
Oregon Juvenile Training Academy (October 2005)
Domestic Partnerships 30 Years After Beal: The Law in Other Jurisdictions and the Proposal of the American Law Institute, Oregon Law Institute 18th Annual Family Law Seminar (2005)
Testimony on proposed legislation regarding Rights of Putative Fathers in Juvenile Court (SB234) Oregon Law Commission (January 2005)
Oregon Senate Judiciary Committee (February 2005)
Same Sex Marriage, The Legal Background: Other States and Other Countries, Constitutional Law Section, Oregon State Bar (2004)
Ethics Issues – Representation of Best Interests/Expressed Wishes, panel discussion, Oregon Criminal Defense Lawyers Association Juvenile Law Seminar (April 2004)
Children of Incarcerated Parents, panel discussion, Through the Eyes of a Child III, Oregon Juvenile Court Improvement Conference (August 2003)
Reasonable and Active Efforts, panel discussion, Through the Eyes of a Child II, Oregon Juvenile Court Improvement Project Conference (August 2000)
Child Welfare Law and Practice: Parents with Children or Parents vs. Children? 1999 Western Regional Symposium on Child Abuse & Sexual Assault (SCAR Symposium)
Minimally Adequate Parenting, Oregon statewide conference of Citizen Review Boards and Court Appointed Special Advocates (1999)
The Federal Adoption and Safe Families Act, PL 105-89: How It Changes Oregon Law and How It Can Help Your Clients, Oregon Criminal Defense Lawyers Association (1998)
From the Right to Die to Physician-Assisted Death: Law and Semantics, Decisions at the End of Life Conference, University of Oregon School of Law (1997)
Citizen Review Boards -- What the Law Says You Can and Cannot Do, Keynote address, Oregon Statewide Citizen Review Board Conference (1995)
Representing Children and Other Legally Incompetent People: The Roles of Counsel and Guardian Ad Litem, Oregon State Bar Family Law Section Semiannual Meeting (1993)
An Overview of Students' (Mostly Constitutional) Rights, Education Advocacy Project (1993)
The Controversy Over Courts Dictating Agency Actions, National Conference on Children and the Law sponsored by American Bar Association Center on Children and the Law (1990)
Making CSD Do What They Should and Ethical Dilemmas in Juvenile Court: Defining the Role of the Lawyer, Oregon Criminal Defense Lawyers Association (1990)