by Eugene Levine, Esq.


THE CHILDREN’S CORNER


Protect the Children, Save the Family: The attorney’s role in Juvenile Law


Juvenile Law does not pay well: court appointments rarely cover expenses. Juvenile cases are time-consuming, ambiguous, and emotionally draining.


Juvenile cases do not resolve in a reasonable time, and resolutions are frequently unsatisfying. Juvenile cases require specialized skills,


many of which cannot be transferred to other practice areas.


Clients in juvenile cases may be more difficult or less sympathetic than clients in other kinds of cases.


Parents in abuse and neglect cases may love their children but lack the skill to parent them well.


Juvenile cases (abuse, neglect, unmanageable child, truancy (“CHINS”) and delinquency cases) are disagreeable;


the things that make them disagreeable are the reasons attorneys are needed when they are brought to court.


Juvenile attorneys come into conflict with children, parents, judges, police, guardians, social workers, mental health providers, powerful agencies, community sentiment, and—not infrequently—their own consciences.


Drugs, alcohol, domestic violence, antisocial behavior and diagnoses-du-jour are standard fare in juvenile court.


Juvenile cases do not contribute to practice development; they are conducted in closed sessions; they can make an attorney more enemies than friends.


So why bother with juvenile work? Here- with, five reasons from a practitioner:


First: Vermont has created an elaborate structure—a legal structure—to deal with the challenges facing children and families. Someone has to do this work, and we at- torneys are uniquely qualified to do it.


Second: It is a fundamental obligation of our profession to protect the weak and powerless. Attorneys enable commerce, protect property, resolve disputes, and perform myriad other functions in our law- based society. But no obligation better jus- tifies our privileged position in the commu- nity than the protection of those for whom rule of law is the final defense against per- sonal catastrophe.


Third: It is a cultural obligation of our way of life. It takes a village to provide chil- dren with safety, stability, and nurturance. We have made legal support for families a basic element of our society. When all else fails, we Vermonters rely on law to protect


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our blameless children from harm. Who will deny our commitment to a safe and stable family environment for our children?


Fourth: Juvenile law provides a cooper- ative, law-based practice environment. Ju- venile court participants commit to a “best interests of the child” model. The safety of children and the rights of parents occupy a single philosophical space in the juvenile sessions. The challenge of reconciling what appear to be conflicting rights is imposed by law on all participants.


Fifth: Juvenile law presents an opportu- nity to perform a mitzvah. In the Jewish tra- dition, a mitzvah is an obligation shared by all adults who subscribe to the moral code. Juvenile law presents opportunities for ac- tion taken without expectation of any re- ward other than the reward of doing some- thing because it is right. ____________________ Eugene Levine, Esq., is a trial attorney in the Northeast Kingdom.


THE VERMONT BAR JOURNAL • SPRING 2012 35


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