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Children in Dependency Proceedings Need Lawyers
Lawyer Media News |
2010/08/09 06:52
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| pLawyers who represent children in dependency proceedings say it’s time for these children – regardless of which state they live – to have a right to legal counsel./ppMeeting yesterday at the 2010 American Bar Association Annual Meeting in San Francisco, a panel of children’s rights advocates discussed eliminating the barriers that prevent lawyers from representing these children in life-impacting legal proceedings. nbsp; /ppAccording to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services there are more than half a million children in foster care and under the jurisdiction of family courts.nbsp; These are children who have been, for example, removed from their homes, placed in temporary shelters and possibly separated from siblings. /ppWhen it comes down to who is looking out for the rights and interests of the children in the courtroom – a lawyer, a guardian ad litem or an attorney ad litem -- there is no clear-cut, uniform answer./pp“Every state has a different model,” says Hilarie Bass, a Miami commercial litigator who does pro bono work representing foster kids. /ppShe points out the obvious — that there are too many children who need help, without enough money in the system to serve them.nbsp; Despite those hurdles, Bass, who is also incoming chair of the American Bar Association Section of Litigation, says she expects the section to make a recommendation on the right to counsel for children that should come up for debate before the ABA’s policymaking body in 2011. /pp“It would be a recommendation to provide for counsel and representation of children in delinquency and dependency proceedings,” says Bass.nbsp; /ppABA President Carolyn Lamm says the ABA is an association interested in promoting the best interest of children and finding solutions “before we have a crisis situation.”/ppLamm adds, “These citizens are the most vulnerable of course, in terms of no one to defend their legal rights.nbsp; The ABA does so much work in the public interest.nbsp; This is a segment of the public that needs us and we are strong and forceful advocates for children and the rights of children to be represented. nbsp; /ppSo far, the U.S. Supreme Court has not spoken on the issue of whether children have a constitutional right to counsel in dependency proceedings. /ppGeorgia attorney Trenny Stovall directs the DeKalb County Child Advocacy Center and represents children in dependency proceedings every day.nbsp; She says children who don’t have their own lawyer do not have a voice. /pp“When children don’t have a lawyer, their ability to be considered a living being with rights is vastly diminished.nbsp; Without representation, they become a widget in the eyes of the court,” says Stovall./ppChildren like 16-year-old Trevor Wade — who has been through the dependency court system — will tell you that having a lawyer makes a difference.nbsp; He says his lawyer fought against a system that would have placed him back with an abusive father.nbsp; These days he’s an intern in a public defender’s office, helping kids who are going through the court system. /ppWade hopes to go to law school and is zealous in his advocacy on this issue. /ppHe says that when states and courts make decisions not to provide lawyers for children, the question that needs to be asked is, “What is the price of a child’s success?”/p |
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Nun's death rallies anti-immigration forces
Headline Legal News |
2010/08/09 03:53
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pIn Arizona, the shooting death of a rancher blew the lid off simmering anger over border security and helped solidify support for a tough new immigration law. A similar eruption threatens in Virginia following the death of a Catholic nun in a car accident involving a man in the country illegally and accused of drunken driving./ppThe Benedictine Sisters of Virginia tried to discourage using the death of Sister Denise Mosier as a forum of the illegal immigration agenda and pleaded for a focus on Christ's command to forgive./ppThe sisters' mission is peace and love, said Corey Stewart, chairman of Prince William County's Board of Supervisors. My mission is law enforcement and the protection of public safety./ppPrince William County, about 25 miles southwest of Washington, D.C., stepped up its immigration enforcement in 2007 amid explosive growth of its Hispanic and immigrant populations. Under Stewart's leadership, the county implemented a local policy requiring police to determine the immigration status of all people arrested on suspicion of violating state or local laws.
/p |
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Lynberg Watkins
Law Firm News/California |
2010/08/07 07:21
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Since its inception, Lynberg amp; Watkins has grown to represent clients on a local, regional and national basis. The firm maintains two California offices: one in the center of the Los Angeles financial district and one in the heart of Orange County.
Built upon a foundation of skilled professionals who have diverse backgrounds and experiences, Lynberg amp; Watkins has developed to meet the ever-growing needs of our clients. We consistently and successfully resolve matters to the satisfaction of our clients in each of our practice areas.
lia href=http://www.lynberg.com/http://www.lynberg.com//a/li |
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David Boies Urges ABA Members
Press Release |
2010/08/06 08:53
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pDavid Boies challenged America’s lawyers to “bring the rule of law to its full fruition here in this country … to fulfill the goals and lofty rhetoric of our founding fathers,” as the keynote speaker at the Opening Assembly of the 2010 ABA Annual Meeting in San Francisco. /ppThe rule of law was the assembly theme, as ABA members gathered in the Herbst Theater of the War Memorial Veterans Building, site of the signing of the charter of the United Nations in 1945. nbsp; /ppPresident Carolyn B. Lamm pointed to ABA efforts from activities of the Section of International Law to such projects as the Central European and Eurasian Law Initiative, the Rule of Law Initiative and the World Justice Project as advancing United Nations goals to spread democracy based on law around the world. /ppBoies, co-counsel with Ted Olson in winning a federal district court ruling Wednesday that overturned California’s Proposition 8, cited “numerous challenges to the rule of law in our own country,” in applying that theme at home. /ppWhen our nation was born, it consisted of “wes” and “theys,” Boies said, with the “wes” being white male property owners and the “theys” comprising everyone else.nbsp; As the national history unfolded, the circle of “wes” expanded to encompass more and more segments of society. nbsp; /pp“We have an opportunity to expand the circle of ‘wes’ until there are no more ‘theys,’” said Boies, urging lawyers to work toward ensuring that “liberty and equality and protection of individual rights is something that every citizen equally enjoys.”/ppTo achieve that goal, Boies identified four challenges confronting his audience./ppFirst, he suggested the rule of law works best when adversaries have equivalent resources, whether those resources are plentiful or sparse. nbsp; But the “time when our system tends to break down is when one party has tremendous resources and the other party does not.”nbsp; Those are the times that “threatened to undermine the protections of the rule of law… [and lawyers] need to find ways to reduce the imbalance,” he said.nbsp; He urged reducing procedural advantages that favor the “better resourced party,” and urged lawyers to not “use discovery as a war of attrition,” for example.nbsp;
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Second, he called for “better tools to help juries” decide important but complex cases, such as allowing jurors to ask questions and take notes on testimony. /ppHis third challenge was to “improve judges and the judicial machinery,” citing a “crisis in terms of financing the justice system in the United States.”nbsp; First year associates in his law firm are paid higher salaries than federal district court judges, and state court judges earn even less, he said.nbsp; “If we can’t afford to spend a fraction of what we are spending to expand that system to Iraq, something is wrong with our sense of priorities,” he maintained. nbsp; /ppAll lawyers must stand up for the independence of judges, resisting threats to their safety when they make unpopular decisions, said Boies, noting that there already have been threats to harm the judge whonbsp; ruled in the Proposition 8 litigation. /ppBoies’ cited predictably equal application of the law without regard to the identity of the parties as the final challenge to the rule of law, saying that when rights depend on who is asserting them, “the rule of law is undermined.”/p |
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Murder conviction of mom reversed in California
Topics in Legal News |
2010/08/03 08:53
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pAn appeals court panel has reversed the murder conviction of a mother accused of driving her teenage son and his friends to a Southern California park where a 13-year-old rival gang member was stabbed to death./ppThe 2nd District Court of Appeal panel ruled 2-1 on Monday that jurors in the case of 33-year-old Eva Daley were given an impermissibly ambiguous jury instruction during the 2008 trial./ppAssociate Justice Laurie D. Zelon wrote that case records don't show the jury based its verdict on a legally valid theory, so the conviction should be reversed./ppDaley had been convicted of second-degree murder for the 2007 death of Jose Cano./ppProsecutors argued that Daley wanted revenge because Cano allegedly stabbed her son six months earlier.
/p |
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ABA TO HOST CYBER SECURITY DISCUSSION
Press Release |
2010/08/03 08:53
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| span style=font-family: Arial; font-size: 10ptComputers and networks have brought an entire world into our homes and law offices. As it turns out, the world is full of thieves, spies and hostile armies.span style=mso-spacerun: yesnbsp; /spanWhat are the risks of cyber “insecurity,” and what can we do about them?strong style=mso-bidi-font-weight: normal o:p/o:p/strong/spanp style=margin: 0in 0in 0pt class=MsoNormalstrong style=mso-bidi-font-weight: normalspan style=font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pto:p /o:p/span/strong/pp style=margin: 0in 0in 0pt class=MsoNormalspan style=font-family: Arial; font-size: 10ptAnswers to this question and more will be provided during an upcoming program sponsored by the American Bar Association.span style=mso-spacerun: yesnbsp; /spanThe program will be held as part of the association’s Annual Meeting, which begins Thursday. o:p/o:p/span/pp style=margin: 0in 0in 0pt class=MsoNormalstrongspan style=font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pto:p /o:p/span/strong/pp style=margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: none; mso-list-ins: genuser 20100802T1254 class=MsoNormalstrongspan style=font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pto:p /o:p/span/strong/pp style=margin: 0in 0in 0pt class=MsoNormalspan style=font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: boldWho: span style=mso-tab-count: 1 nbsp; nbsp; nbsp;nbsp; /spanstrongStewart A. Baker/strongo:p/o:p/span/pp style=margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: none; mso-list-ins: genuser 20100802T1252 class=MsoNormalspan style=font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: boldspan style=mso-tab-count: 1 nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp;nbsp; nbsp;/spanFormer assistant secretary for Policy, Department of Homeland Securityo:p/o:p/span/pp style=margin: 0in 0in 0pt class=MsoNormalspan style=font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: boldo:p /o:p/span/pp style=margin: 0in 0in 0pt class=MsoNormalspan style=font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: boldWhat: span style=mso-tab-count: 1 nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; /spanstrong“Cyber Security, Law and Liability — Thieves, Spies and Hostile Armies”o:p/o:p/strong/span/pp style=margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: none; mso-list-ins: genuser 20100802T1252 class=MsoNormalstrongspan style=font-family: Arial; font-size: 10ptspan style=mso-tab-count: 1 nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; /span/span/strongspan style=font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: boldSponsored by the st1:city w:st=onst1:place w:st=onABA/st1:place/st1:city Standing Committee on Law amp; National Security o:p/o:p/span/pp style=margin: 0in 0in 0pt class=MsoNormalspan style=font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: boldo:p /o:p/span/pp style=margin: 0in 0in 0pt class=MsoNormalspan style=font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: boldWhen: span style=mso-tab-count: 1 nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; /spanFriday, 3:45 p.m. — 5:15 p.m.o:p/o:p/span/pp style=margin: 0in 0in 0pt class=MsoNormalspan style=font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: boldo:p /o:p/span/pp style=margin: 0in 0in 0pt class=MsoNormalspan style=font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: boldWhere: nbsp; nbsp;nbsp; nbsp;Moscone West Convention Centero:p/o:p/span/pp style=text-indent: 0.5in; margin: 0in 0in 0pt class=MsoNormalspan style=font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold nbsp; nbsp;nbsp; Room 2022, Second Flooro:p/o:p/span/pp style=text-indent: 0.5in; margin: 0in 0in 0pt class=MsoNormalspan style=font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold nbsp; nbsp; nbsp;747 Howard St.o:p/o:p/span/pp style=text-indent: 0.5in; margin: 0in 0in 0pt class=MsoNormalst1:city w:st=onst1:place w:st=onspan style=font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold nbsp; nbsp; nbsp;San Francisco/span/st1:place/st1:cityspan style=font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: boldo:p/o:p/span/pp style=margin: 0in 0in 0pt class=MsoNormalspan style=font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: boldo:p /o:p/span/pp style=margin: 0in 0in 0pt class=MsoNormalspan style=font-family: Arial; font-size: 10ptJoining strong style=mso-bidi-font-weight: normalBaker /strongin the discussion will bestrong style=mso-bidi-font-weight: normal Elizabeth Rindskopf Parker/strong, dean and professor of law, University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law, and former general counsel, CIA; strong style=mso-bidi-font-weight: normalRobert Knake/strong, International Affairs Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations, and co-author of Cyber War; ando:p/o:p/span/pp style=margin: 0in 0in 0pt class=MsoNormalstrong style=mso-bidi-font-weight: normalspan style=font-family: Arial; font-size: 10ptHarvey Rishikof/span/strongspan style=font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt, professor of law and national security studies at the st1:place w:st=onst1:placename w:st=onNational/st1:placename st1:placename w:st=onWar/st1:placename st1:placetype w:st=onCollege/st1:placetype/st1:place, and former legal counsel to the deputy director of the FBI.o:p/o:p/span/pp style=margin: 0in 0in 0pt class=MsoNormalspan style=font-family: Arial; font-size: 10ptspan style=mso-spacerun: yes /spano:p/o:p/span/pp style=margin: 0in 0in 0pt class=MsoNormalspan style=font-family: Arial; font-size: 10ptWhat will happen if the government makes it easier for federal agencies to demand that companies release personal electronic communications of persons who are part of a terrorism investigation?span style=mso-spacerun: yesnbsp; /spanstrong style=mso-bidi-font-weight: normalBaker/strong answered that question in a href=http://ABA.pr-optout.com/Url.aspx?515903x5321288x2157326The Washington Post/a (7/29).span style=mso-spacerun: yesnbsp; /spano:p/o:p/span/pp style=margin: 0in 0in 0pt class=MsoNormalspan style=font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pto:p /o:p/span/pp style=margin: 0in 0in 0ptspan style=font-family: Arial; font-size: 10ptWith span style=mso-bidi-font-weight: boldnearly/span 400,000 members, the American Bar Association is the largest voluntary professional membership organization in the world.nbsp; As the national voice of the legal profession, the ABA works to improve the administration of justice, promotes programs that assist lawyers and judges in their work, accredits law schools, provides continuing legal education, and works to build public understanding around the world of the importance of the rule of law.o:p/o:p/span/pp style=margin: 0in 0in 0pt class=MsoNormalspan style=font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pto:p /o:p/span/p |
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