By Matt Coker

In May of 2007, the Weekly published "Spare the Child: Amy Bril Wants to Make Sure Her Kids Don't Grow Up Like She Did--Inside the Notorious Cult Known as The Family" by former staff writer Derek Olson. The story centered on a custody battle between Amy Bril and her former husband Nathanael Bril over their three children, then ages 13, 10 and 8.

At the time, the mother had no job, no lawyer and barely enough money for frequent trips to an Orange courthouse in hopes of gaining sole legal and physical custody of the kids. She feared if she did not fight for her children she would never see them again due to threats from the historically perverse cult known as The Children of God, a.k.a. The Family International, which she grew up in and to which Nathanael pledged his life.

After reading the story in the Weekly, lawyers in the the Irvine office of Dorsey & Whitney LLP took Amy Bril's case pro bono in June 2007. They now want our readers -- and the world -- to know the matter has been resolved in their client's favor after more than 1 1/2 years in the courts.

"Needless to say, this is a great success for the client," says Jeanne Beach of Los Angeles-based Weber Shandwick, Dorsey & Whitney's Los Angeles-based public-relations firm.

Continue reading "Child-Custody Deal Favors Escapee of Notorious Cult 'The Family'"...