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.

2015 Annual Report of the Parental Defense Alliance of Utah

The Parental Defense Alliance of Utah has just released its Annual Report for the 2014-2015 State Fiscal Year.  You can read the full report HERE.

We have also made past reports back to the year 2011 available on the website, which you can find HERE.

Registration for the E-Filing Training is now OPEN!

Registration for the E-Filing Training is now open.  There are two registration options:  In-Person or Webcast.  Please make sure you register for the correct one.

Court staff will be present to present on the E-Filing process and to answer questions.  The deadline for mandatory E-filing is December 1, 2015 so you won't want to miss this chance to prepare.  3 hours of CLE will be requested from the Utah State Bar.

Juvenile Court E-Filing for Parental Defenders

November 6, 2015

Breakfast and Registration 8 a.m. to 9 a.m.

Training and Webcast:  9 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Miller Professional Development Center
9750 S 300 West Sandy, Utah

National Juvenile Defender Center Conference will be in Salt Lake City!

For those of you interested:

The National Juvenile Defender Center is holding their Annual Conference this year in Salt Lake City on the weekend of Oct. 23-24, 2015, Salt Lake Hilton Hotel. Meals and conference registration are FREE but the deadline to register is this Friday, September 25, 2015. Online registration HERE.

The main conference sessions are on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 23-24 with an optional 90 minute closing session on Sunday morning, Oct. 25. Topics include: effectively representing our delinquency clients in Juvenile Court, discovery/research tools, defense strategies, case law discussion, juvenile probation issues, creative lawyering, and other interesting topics. Attorneys, law professors, and juvenile court experts from all over the nation will be in Salt Lake that weekend speaking to us. Utah Bar CLE credit is pending. The Hilton Hotel is the conference site. Rooms are at discounted rate or, of course, you can commute each day to the conference.

Courtroom War Stories: WWJ(Julie)D?

The following was shared by PDA member Colleen Coebergh:

I wondered if you would consider putting this tale on the blog, because I love this story, a true story about one of our best and brightest, Julie George.   

Julie was called in to do a shelter hearing, and was representing alleged Dad.  Tiny infant, subject of the case, was being clutched tightly by foster mom who almost had a death grip on the adorable little bambino.  Incarcerated Mom, through counsel, indicated that she was prepared to swear that Julie's client was in fact father.  Alleged father asserted he was willing to swear the same.  A request was made the Court adjudicate paternity immediately.  The Guardian objected.  She wanted DNA testing.  The mom could just "say" that Julie's client was Dad, and he might not be biological father at all.   

The Court inquired, "well yes, but that's usually the case, what with Moms being in the best position to name Dads.  And besides, aren't men married to the Mom presumed to be legal father, irrespective of any notions of genetics?"  The Guardian persisted that if the Court adjudicated on their say-so alone, that man may weasel his way into the litigation, into the child's life, and that shouldn't be.  

Then she argued that guy didn't even have a right to court appointed counsel (which Julie was at the time) unless and until he established legal paternity.  (The old catch-22.  You can't have counsel until you establish legal paternity, and you can't establish legal paternity without counsel because you don't know what you're doing...)   

Without missing a beat, Julie stood up and said the alleged father just handed her a nickel, she considered that a "retainer agreement," and she was working for him for that nickel until paternity was established.  Then, she launched in the the smoothest, slickest argument about the State's efforts to vex the man in establishing paternity long enough to then turn around and argue that the child was bonded with the foster parents to the degree the child should not be moved.    

Held by the Court:  Paternity established.  DCFS has 48 hours to walk through Dad's house, and absent demonstrable safety concern, infant to be placed with Dad.  She earned just a bit over 3 cents an hour for that argument, and my undying admiration.  When frustrated, tired and lost in our efforts to open a can of whoop-ass on the powers that be, we should all ask, "WWJ(Julie)D?"   

Anyone else have a good courtroom war story to share?

Grant Dickinson's 10 Commandments for Cross Examination

On September 1, 2015, PDA board member Grant Dickinson presented at the Court Improvement Program Attorney Skills Training on the topic of Cross Examination.  Above are a copy of his slides that include helpful tips on how to prepare for cross examination of experts.

If the above slides don't load, try THIS LINK.