What is our role?
What if our client wants what he probably shouldn’t have?
We are not Guardian ad Litems pursuing the best interests of the child. Our role is to be an advocate for what the child wants and desires.
Our role as defined by The Florida Bar Commission on the Legal Needs of Children is to:
...provide independent legal representation in a traditional attorney-client relationship. As attorneys we provide independent legal counsel for a child and we owe the same duties of undivided loyalty, confidentiality, and competent representation to the child as are due an adult client...
The child’s attorney must advocate the child’s articulated position, and owes traditional duties to the child as client, consistent with the ethical obligations of attorneys as prescribed by the Florida Supreme Court.
Also see Florida Rule of Professional Conduct 4-1.14
...the lawyer shall, as far as reasonably possible, maintain a normal client-lawyer relationship with the client.
In short, the attorney for a juvenile functions the same way as with any other client.
