The UNC School of Government’s Public Defense Education group is excited to announce a new series of practice guides, The First Seven Days, by Timothy Heinle, Civil Defender Educator. The guides offer practical tips and strategies for respondent’s attorneys in various civil proceedings to use during the first several days of representation. The ideas suggested in the guides are designed to help busy attorneys hit the ground running in ways that reduce stress for the attorney and improve representation for the client.

The first entry in the series is The First Seven Days as a Guardian ad Litem in an Incompetency Proceeding. It includes ideas on creating files, client outreach, investigation tools, report writing, and more. Guardian ad litem attorneys in Chapter 35A proceedings can obtain the guide in three ways. Continue Reading

Today is the annual GiveUNC day. This year is also the School’s 90th Anniversary! Although the faces have changed over time and the name of our School (from Institute of Government to School of Government) has as well, we have been here – working to support you in your work. If you value the work of the School of Government, which includes our advising, teaching, and publications (that range from books to our many blogs like this one), please consider making a donation today. We would really appreciate your support.

Chief Justice Paul Newby issued an order on Friday, effective today, extending emergency directives currently in place for an additional thirty days to in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Tomorrow marks a full year of altered court operations, as the first set of COVID-19 emergency directives became effective Monday, March 16, 2020.

The preamble. Chief Justice Newby stated that his ongoing evaluation of the pandemic might result in the expiration or modification of emergency directives, the issuance of new directives, or both. His current plan is to extend the emergency directives that are currently in place until the public health threat posed by the COVID-19 pandemic has subsided. The Chief Justice reiterated his commitment to the state constitutional requirement that ­­courts be open and that justice be administered without favor, denial, or delay.

North Carolina adoption laws are codified in G.S. Chapter 48. I find it to be one of the more difficult Chapters to navigate because it consists of interrelated Articles and Parts. As you get familiar with the Chapter, the procedures and requirements become less challenging to piece together. It is imperative to know these procedures because “the law governing adoptions in North Carolina is wholly statutory.” Boseman v. Jarrell, 364 N.C. 537, 542 (2010).

Under North Carolina adoption laws, before an adoption of an unemancipated minor may be granted, certain consents must be obtained. See G.S. 48-3-601 through -603. One required consent is from the minor adoptee if they are 12 years old or older. G.S. 48-3-601(1). However, that minor’s consent may be waived when the court issues an order based upon a finding that it is not in the minor’s best interests to require their consent. G.S. 48-3-603(b)(2).

What court has jurisdiction to enter the order waiving the minor adoptee’s consent?

The question is circulating due to some recent North Carolina Supreme Court opinions involving appeals of termination of parental rights (TPR) orders. The facts of the opinions indicate the district court in the TPR action waived the juvenile’s consent to the adoption. The issue of whether the district court in a TPR proceeding has subject matter jurisdiction to waive the juvenile’s consent does not appear to have been raised before or decided by the Supreme Court. Instead, the minor’s waiver of consent is discussed by the Supreme Court in its review of the facts when analyzing a challenge to the district court’s determination that the TPR is in the juvenile’s best interests. The factual summaries in the Supreme Court TPR opinions made me sit up in my chair, take notice, and ask the questions in this post. Continue Reading