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Originally Posted by Nancy1999  Got to ask you, since you represent children, doesn't it drive you insane, when you KNOW the parents are guilty, and some attorney is misleading the judge just to win the case, even though he/she knows it will be harmful to the children? |
Well I am in depency court...Though it is a "quasi criminal" area of law when the state seeks to terminate parental rights they are still civil matters so procedurally things operate a bit differently...Generally there are different attorneys representing the parents in any criminal proceeding that may have resulted from an allegation of abuse or neglect...However, the answer to your question is no.
I am there to advocate for the best interest of my client, the child. The defense attorney is there to advocate for his client. We both do our jobs and the system works. I have found myself in many situations where the state has sought termination of parental rights when it was clear that the parents just needed services to correct parental deficiencies and that if rights were terminated my client would be lost in the foster system and never achieve permancy. In those cases the defense attorneys have been my closest allies in protecting my clients. In fact my significant other routinely represents parents in dependency matters and he happens to be one of the most honest and thoughtful attorneys I know.