Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-hfldf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-23T17:29:15.689Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

5 - Ethical Considerations and Constraints in Child Custody and Dependency Appeals

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 July 2009

Get access

Summary

Because many parties in both family custody and in child dependency cases do not have a constitutional or statutory right to appointed counsel on appeal, it should not be surprising that appellate courts have rarely discussed legal ethics in those proceedings. “Historically, family and juvenile courts have been largely pro se tribunals in which legal representation was permitted, but not encouraged.” And during the last decade of “limited appellate court resources and burgeoning caseloads,” some appellate jurists have bemoaned the “general deterioration in the quality of appellate advocacy.” State bar association mandatory continuing legal education courses rarely involve appellate advocacy training, and there are few avenues for attorneys, once they graduate from law school, to receive formal training in appellate skills and/or specialized training in the custody and dependency appellate processes. This chapter focuses on those few areas of concentrated ethical decisions in appeals involving child custody and juvenile dependency and attempts to answer some of the following questions: (1) Is there a right to appointed appellate counsel; (2) who has standing to appeal; (3) what is the subject matter jurisdiction of appellate courts in these proceedings; (4) should appellate courts apply a narrow or liberal construction to appellate rules of court; (5) under what circumstances are trial issues waived from consideration on appeal; and (6) what are appellate counsel's ethical duties.

Type
Chapter
Information
Legal Ethics in Child Custody and Dependency Proceedings
A Guide for Judges and Lawyers
, pp. 120 - 144
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2006

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×