Meet Jim Smith - Board Member for the 3rd Judicial District

As an attorney at Lokken and Associates, Jim Smith practices parental defense in child welfare cases and family dependency drug court in Utah’s Third District.  He also has extensive background in family law, criminal defense, and bankruptcy law.  In his position with the Parental Defense Alliance of Utah, Jim is particularly interested in giving newcomers to child welfare law the tools they need to quickly become confident and effective practitioners in a field of law that is often uniquely challenging.

Jim loves kids (he has five of them!), sailing, camping, and studying maritime and Utah history.  A native Californian, he now lives with his family in Lehi where he serves as cubmaster in his local Cub Scout pack and continually adds to his collection of Titanic books and memorabilia.

The PDA has New Board Members!

The Parental Defense Alliance is excited to introduce our new board.  As previously announced we are moving to a board that will represent the various regions and judicial districts of the state.  After receiving a number of qualified applicants, we have offered positions to Mark Tanner and Jim Smith. The board and it's representation now looks like the following:

Region Name	Judicial Districts	Current Board Member Representative
Northern	1 and 2	Carol Mortensen
Salt Lake	3	Jim Smith
Central	4	Grant Dickinson
Southern	5 and 6	David Boyer
Eastern	7 and 8	Mark Tanner

We look forward to tapping into the expertise and ideas of this new expanded board as we continue to serve the parental defense attorneys in the state of Utah.  

Tough Love is Streaming on PBS this Month!

For those of you who may not have been able to join us for the screening of Tough Love in June, you can watch the film for the month of October on PBS.  Here's the LINK.

This a a great film about the struggle parents face in trying to get their kids back after removal.  One attorney who saw this in June said "Every AG, GAL and parental defense attorney should see this film!"  We couldn't agree more, and hope you take the time to watch.

SHORT SYNOPSIS OF FILM

Offering a rare look at the inner workings of the American child welfare system, Tough Love chronicles the lives of two parents—one in Seattle and one in New York City—as each fights to be reunited with children taken out of their custody. Through intimate, verité footage of both families, we witness first-hand the complex and daunting bureaucracy of America’s family courts. Moreover, we come to understand the powerful role poverty and prejudice play in keeping parents and children apart— and the challenges parents must overcome in order to put their families back together.  The film is approximately 85 minutes.