Message from the Chairs

The Section of Litigation has filed the proposed ABA Model Act Governing the Representation of Children in Abuse, Neglect, and Dependency Proceedings (hereinafter “ABA Model Act”) for consideration by the House of Delegates during the ABA Annual Meeting in August 2008 in New York. Highlights include a mandate which requires that a lawyer be appointed for each child who is the subject of a petition in an abuse, neglect, dependency, termination of parental rights or post termination of parental rights proceeding and that, consistent with the ABA Model Rules, the child’s lawyer should form an attorney-client relationship which is fundamentally indistinguishable from the attorney-client relationship in any other situation. This attorney-client relationship would include the duties of client direction, confidentiality, diligence, competence, loyalty, communication, and the duty to advise.

If you would like to see a copy of the proposed ABA Model Act, please e-mail our committee director Catherine Krebs.

Angela Vigil
Shari Shink
Phyllis Craig-Taylor
Co-Chairs, Children's Rights Litigation Committee