PRACTICE AREAS
Child Abuse Defense
If your children have been taken from you by one of the many social service agencies you may be unsure of where to turn to for help or even feel that your situation is hopeless. Juvenile dependency law is more unique than possibly any other area of law. The process involves many invested parties. It is complex and intimidating. In few other areas of law will anyone find themselves arrayed against a half a dozen or more persons attempting to take their children, who are often willing to engage in less than admirable conduct to achieve that end. Your best chance of having your children returned to your care is with an attorney experienced in dependency law.
Civil Rights Litigation
Parents and children have a well-established constitutional right to live together without governmental interference. The Fourteenth Amendment guarantees that parents and children will not be separated by government officials without due process of law unless there are exigent circumstances. (An exigent circumstance requires a reasonable cause to believe that the child is in imminent danger of serious bodily injury, after a reasonable investigation has occurred, and there are no reasonable, less intrusive means to avoid the injury, and the circumstances are so imminent that the harm is likely to occur in the time necessary to obtain a protective custody warrant from the court.)
This includes the basic and absolute constitutional right to due process in our courts, guaranteed by the fourteenth amendment, to be free from the knowing presentation of false or perjured evidence in either obtaining a removal warrant or use in the dependency court proceedings to further sever the familial bond.
Juvenile Delinquency
Kids make mistakes. But in the eyes of the law children can be arrested, charged and incarcerated. Not only could a juvenile face serious punishment in the immediate future, but he or she must also confront an extremely difficult and stigmatized future.
Facing a criminal charge as a juvenile can be incredibly frightening and overwhelming. It’s a common misconception that juvenile courts are more lenient. More often than not the court fails to give children the benefit of the doubt. Unfortunately, they do not share the understanding of a caring parent. While the system can be tough, there are more lenient options available other than jail, such as community supervision (probation), community service
or a fine. Even a more serious sex offense charge can be handled by probation. But to gain these more lenient sentences you need defense attorneys with experience of how the juvenile court system works. We have helped parents and their children to gain the best result, and not just a satisfactory one. We have helped youths from all types of communities. We have protected thousands of good kids with promising futures who are falsely accused or who have made a mistake. We work hard to make the system care about our juvenile clients and their futures.