Keywords
ethics, children, practice, decisions, capacity, obligations, recommendations, legal representation
Abstract
[Preamble] As with adults, a lawyer has an ethical obligation to advocate the position of a child unless independent evidence exists that the child is unable to express a reasoned choice about issues that are relevant to the particular purpose for which the lawyer is representing the child. Where such evidence exists, the lawyer must engage in additional fact-finding to determine whether the child has, or may develop, the capacity to direct the lawyer's action in the particular context.
Recommended Citation
Peter Margulies,
Report of the Working Group on Determining the Child's Capacity to Make Decisions,
64 Fordham L. Rev. 1339
(1996).
Available at: https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/flr/vol64/iss4/5