Archive

• Parents Forfeited Their Right to Court-Appointed Counsel in TPR: What Is the Law for Attorney Representation of Parents in A/N/D and TPR Actions?

  This entry was contributed by Sara DePasquale on December 6, 2023 at 5:55 pm and is filed under Child Welfare Law.

  North Carolina law requires that parents in abuse, neglect, dependency (A/N/D) and termination of parental rights (TPR) cases receive court-appointed counsel if they are indigent. G.S. 7B-602; 7B-1101.1. Parents also have a right to knowingly and voluntarily waive their statutory right to counsel. Id. The question of whether a parent may forfeit their right to counsel in a juvenile proceeding based on their behaviors had not been answered until recently. Three appellate opinions address the issue and answer that question. Parents can and have forfeited their statutory right to court-appointed counsel. To get to forfeiture, you first need to understand the rules related to a parent’s statutory right to court-appointed counsel. Continue Reading

• New SOG Bulletin: “Ethical Dilemmas in Client Representation for DSS Attorneys in North Carolina”

  This entry was contributed by Kristi Nickodem on October 13, 2021 at 3:36 pm and is filed under Uncategorized.

  An attorney who represents a department of social services (DSS) in North Carolina faces a variety of unique ethical challenges when it comes to client representation. Who is the attorney’s client? How should the attorney report malfeasance within the agency? A number of factors make these determinations particularly challenging in North Carolina. Continue Reading