Earlier this month the North Carolina Supreme Court issued its opinion in King v. Albemarle Hospital Authority, holding that a GAL appointment starts the running of the statute of limitations for a minor’s medical malpractice claim. During her birth in 2005, the plaintiff, Desiree King, suffered a severe brain injury. In 2008, just under three years later, a medical malpractice action was filed on her behalf by the guardian ad litem (GAL) who had been appointed for her earlier the same day pursuant to Rule of Civil Procedure 17(b). A few months later, the GAL voluntarily dismissed the action without prejudice as permitted by Rule 41(a). Instead of refiling Desiree’s action within one year as Rule 41(a) allows, the GAL refiled in 2015, about six years later. On the hospital’s motion, the trial court dismissed Desiree’s action as time-barred.
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Tag: guardian ad litem
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New Abuse, Neglect, Dependency, and Termination of Parental Rights Resources
I am so happy to announce the availability of the 2017 Manual — Abuse, Neglect, Dependency, and Termination of Parental Rights Proceedings in North Carolina.
What’s In It?
This Manual provides easily accessible information about the laws, procedures, and concepts related to abuse, neglect, dependency, and termination of parental rights proceedings in North Carolina. The primary intended audience consists of district court judges, social services attorneys, parents’ attorneys, and guardian ad litem attorney advocates who work in this area of the law.
This 2017 edition is a significant revision of the previous edition (2015) and contains hundreds of pages of new content. It includes changes made to the Juvenile Code by the North Carolina General Assembly in the 2015, 2016, and 2017 sessions as well as appellate decisions published through October 1, 2017. The new content discusses a variety of topics including mandatory concurrent permanency planning, cessation of reasonable efforts and the elimination of reunification as a permanent plan, medical decision-making for a child placed in DSS custody, the reasonable and prudent parent standard, and Foster Care 18−21.
There are nine new checklists that supplement the chapter content and incorporate the legislative changes that apply to the various hearings in abuse, neglect, dependency, and related termination of parental rights proceedings. Before you bypass the chapters to get to the checklists, explore the Manual to see what is in there. Continue Reading
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Beyond the Bench Podcast, Season 2: Episode 5 – The Child’s Voice in Court: The Role of the Guardian ad Litem
We’re back with Episode 5, “The Child’s Voice in Court: The Role of the Guardian ad Litem,” for our Beyond the Bench Season 2 podcast. In this episode, we take a break from our court cases to focus on the child. Find out how the child’s perspective is represented in court, through a guardian ad litem and the child him or herself. Continue Reading