Dealing with your
Attorney
Most probably you have a Court Appointed Attorney,
but even if you have your own paid attorney, you must be very careful and must
make sure that they work for you rather than against you.
I suspect that even if you have money to pay a
private attorney, you are probably not a millionaire, otherwise they would not
have dared to kidnap your children, so my suggestion is that rather than
wasting your resources in a private attorney that is not going to represent you
to your satisfaction, it is better to force your Court Appointed Attorney to
work for you as he/she is being paid by the System.
Most Court Appointed Attorneys do a very negative
job on parents being accused in Family Court or Criminal Court. First, it is
not their children or their lives and they get paid regardless of whatever
happens to you or your children. Although the paid is not the greatest for an
attorney, $90.00 per hour is not too bad, and that includes work in court and out
of court. It is a lot of money compared to what most of parents accused in
Family Court earn.
Rather, Court Appointed Attorneys are there as
Gatekeepers for the System and their role is to make sure that YOU do not get a
proper defense. That you do not call witnesses in your favor; that you do not
place evidence in the Court Record in your favor; that you do not speak on your
behalf since the Judge will only recognize them as with the right to speak.
Court Appointed attorneys are appointed by the Judge
and are very afraid of her/him. Not only that, but in order to get paid they
need to submit vouchers that have to be signed by the Judge and Judges can
either refuse to sign them or reduce their hours. Beside that, 18B attorneys
(Court Appointed) need to be re-appointed to the 18B Panel every year and that
is done by the Judges. It is well known that those who dare question the party
line that PARENTS ARE ALWAYS GUILTY, are usually punished by not being
re-appointed.
Be polite but firm when dealing with your attorney.
Being civil is much better than being nasty. Remember what is important is the
results. Your Court Appointed Attorney has probably too many cases, so it is in
your interest to help him/her to win your case. You have to be pro-active and
do the footwork for him/her.
First make sure that you have a copy of everything
that he/she has in your file, including copies of the court reports and any
mental evaluation. There is a grandfather myth among family court attorneys
that say that the client can not receive a copy of the mental health
evaluations. There is no law or regulation to this and it is rather a
convenient tradition to disempower parents so they can not see the evidence
against them and thus properly defend themselves.
Second make an appointed with your attorney before
your court date. Usually attorneys only see their clients in court, few minutes
before your case is called. There is no time to prepare a proper defense in
this manner. You need an appointment, preferably in his/her office. So call
your attorney and ask for an appointment. If in 3 days you do not get an
answer, then send a letter asking for one. Do it Registered with Return
Receipt, in that way your attorney will understand that you are serious about
this issue.
Third, if possible bring a Family Preservation
Advocate to your appointment. Do not let your attorney know about your
intention. Most attorneys are control freaks and they do not like the presence
of someone else who is knowledgeable at the meeting. Surprise them. They will
tell you that by bringing someone else, the client-attorney confidentiality is
going to be broken. So be it, since it is totally self-defeating to be totally
in their hands. You want to be in control of your case.
At the meeting ask your attorney to see your file.
Make sure that you have everything that he/she has. The idea is to later review
everything since we have found in every single case that there are numerous
pieces of false information that you the parents were not aware of, due to the
fact that they never saw such document and because the attorney never had the
time to read every detail of all documents and even if he/she had done it,
he/she is not as knowledgeable about the case as the parent and as such could
not detect the false information.
At the meeting is important to review strategies to
win the case, including subpoenaing witnesses (even if the trial will take
longer). It is very telling that ACS will subpoena witnesses against the
parents of facts or allegations that happened many years past, but Court
Appointed Attorneys do not want to call any witnesses on behalf of parents.
Witnesses on behalf of the parents are very important, not only witnesses to
facts, but also character witnesses and expert testimony. Section 722C of the
It is also very important that you are allowed to
testify on your behalf and are given plenty of time to do so. Remember your
chances of winning in Family Court are very slim, but you need to prepare the
Court Record for your Appeal. Given the fact that the Court of Appeals only
looks at the Court Record, not at anything else, including relevant facts that
your attorney forgot or did not allow you to put in the Court Record. What it
is not into the Court Record does not exist for the Appeal. And your chances of
winning on appeal are far greater than winning in Family Court.
Any decision that the Judge makes against you, can
be appealed. Do that if you feel strong about it. If enough people appeal, then
the Appellate Court will realize that there is something very wrong with the
present Family Court System.
Talk to your attorney to explore the possibility of
you seating in court beside him/her in that way there is better communication between
both of you. This is the way it works in Criminal Court, but not in Family
Court. Some Judges do allow this in Family Court Also ask your attorney to ask
the Judge for specific Court Times, instead of an open 9:30am which could mean
you having to wait all day, thus wasting your precious time.
If you need a translator in Court, then make sure
that you understand everything that is being translated to you. Usually
attorneys talk very fast and the translation is poor. Also English is a
compressed language that uses fewer words to express thoughts that in other
languages need more words. Spanish particularly uses longer sentences when
translated, thus forcing the translator to even rush more. If you feel that you
are not getting a good sense of what it is being translated, do not feel shy to
let the translator know and ask him/her to tell the speaker to slow down so you
can understand.
When having a case in Criminal Court, your Court
Appointed Attorney usually tries to persuade you to plead guilty for his/her
convenience. Think 100 times before you do that, except if you have powerful
reasons to do so. Whenever possible ask for a Jury Trial. You maximize your
chances that way. If you plea guilty in Criminal Court, and you have an open
Family Court case, that may affect your Family Court case in a negative way.
Again, put your Court Appointed Attorney to work for you instead of against
you.
CAUTION:
Most Court Appointed attorneys in Family Court will
try to coerce parents into entering a 1051A Plea. You need to think 100 times
before you voluntarily admit guilt. They usually will tell you that it is in
your own benefit, but think 100 times before you fall for that lie. If you
decide to agree to a 1051A Admission, you go in front of the Judge who will ask
you if you agree that you abused your child; that no one is forcing you to do
that, etc. If you agree to that, then
you are at the mercy of the court. This is very convenient to everyone working
for the system, except you. ACS will be very happy that you even if are
innocent pleaded guilty. Your attorney will be also happy because there is no
more fight and now is an easier job and just go along with the routine. Of
course this is your decision, but think 100 times before you decide about this.
If you decide against the 1051A Admission, then stand firm to the pressure and
threats of your attorney.
If you agree to the 1051 Admission, you will be
placed into the New York State Central Registry as a Child Abuser until the
youngest of your child (that you have or may have in the future) is 28 years
old. As such you can not work in any job that has to do with children. I also
heard of a case of someone who wanted to become a
When sending a letter to your attorney, always use
Certified Return Receipt to get respect and compliance from them. If possible
include the Attorney Registration Number in your letter. You can get that
number, the contact information and some more information by visiting http://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/attorney/AttorneySearch
I am not an attorney, so this is not legal advice,
just suggestions based on my personal experience. NOTHING WRITTEN
HERE SHALL BE CONSTRUED AS LEGAL ADVICE, BECAUSE IT IS NOT.
Make your own decisions based on knowledge and work on your best interest and
those of your child, not on the best interest of a cruel system that profits by
destroying families and children.
Please send us your feedback and suggestions about
how to deal with your attorney, so we can share it with others.
Here is a sample letter to request an appointment
with your Court Appointed Attorney:
Honest Attorney, Esq.
Registration Number: 0000000
My name is Pedro Innocent and you are my Court
Appointed Attorney for my abuse and neglect case in Family Court.
My next court date is
Sincerely
My Signature
____________
My Name
My Address
My Telephone