Notable Cases and Experience

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OUTCOME: Successful

* Successfully argued a Special Action before the Court of Appeals, wherein a juvenile Jehovah’s Witness’ right to refuse medical treatment (blood transfusion deemed necessary to survive leukemia ... ) was upheld; * Successfully argued a Special Action before the Court of Appeals wherein the first delinquency case involving the then newly-promulgated juvenile Transfer Deferral Rule was upheld; * Successfully represented the grandmother in the 1997 high profile “Grandmother vs. Child Protective Services” case, resulting in the reversal of the Court’s ruling placing the child for adoption with non-family members and the successful return of the child to the grandmother’s custody. This case required interfacing with members of the Arizona State Legislature, legislative lobbyists, the top echelon of DES Administration, and the Office of the Governor. It was the subject of a series of articles in the Arizona Republic, was featured repeatedly on Jana Bommersbach’s morning show, and was the subject of an “NBC Xtra” national broadcast. The finalization of my client’s adoption of her granddaughter occurred in 2000. * Successfully represented the younger brother of a juvenile who raped and murdered their sister, and obtained protective orders preventing the exercise of the local media’s First Amendment “right” of access to those portions of the CPS file which pertained to my client. * Successfully represented the mother on appeal in the case which resulted in the 1999 decision, In the Matter of Mary Ellen C., in which the Court of Appeals overruled the trial court’s severance ruling, and established that the Department of Economic Security has an affirmative duty to provide rehabilitative services to the treatable mentally ill parent prior to proceeding with severance of the parent-child relationship. * Successfully represented a 14 year old foster child who sought to exercise her reproductive health freedom in August 1999, a case which received nationwide media attention. I advocated my client’s position at every level, from the trial court to the Arizona Court of Appeals to the Arizona Supreme Court, within the longest weekend of my career, including obtaining a convening of the vacationing Justices on a Sunday morning . In January 2000, I was awarded the Harry J. Blackmun award by Planned Parenthood of Central and Northern Arizona. * Have successfully obtained Adjustment to Permanent Residence Status from the Immigration and Naturalization Service for several juveniles of undocumented status under federal regulations providing for “Special Juvenile Immigrant Status” for dependent children. * Have represented numerous children in special education proceedings and have developed an expertise in the area of federal public school law. * Have successfully represented several foster families in their endeavors to become the adoptive parent(s) of the foster child(ren) when DCS/CPS sought to place the child(ren) with a different placement.