TOM JAMES on “best interest factors and the “approximation rule.” “A significant shortcoming of the Model Marriage and Divorce Act and ‘best interest factors’ statutes in general is that they provide no guidance about how the factors are to be applied in particular cases. That decision is simply left to each individual judge’s discretion. This defeats the goals of uniformity and predictability. It also leaves plenty of room for the continued operation of the subjective judgments of individual judges. A judge who wishes to award custody to the mother in every case can usually find at least one statutory ‘best interest’ factor in her favor, and then cite it as the basis for the decision. By the same token, a judge who is more critical of a mother than a father for pursuing a career instead of being a stay-at-home parent might be able to find at least one ‘best interest’ factor to support his decision to award custody to the father.”