Juvenile & Child Protection

With the complexities surrounding child protection issues, many family law attorneys are opting-out of venturing into juvenile court to assist their clients with these affairs. The Family Law attorneys at Messerli Kramer do not share that same reluctance. We recognize that parents of all socio-economic backgrounds can find themselves in the unfortunate situation of being in the scope of a child protection investigation, an often complex and high-stakes position. Using our experience in working with county investigators, we have been able to settle many cases relatively quickly, without any maltreatment findings or filing of a CHIPS Petition. While settlement is not always an option, we are prepared to advocate for our clients in the courtroom, and guide them through the child protection process.

Representative Experience

• Represented relatives in adopting their grandchildren, nieces, and nephews after successfully terminating the parental rights of the parents, both by the consent of the parents and through contested litigation.
• Represented parents and children in various juvenile proceedings involving child protection investigations and threatened terminations of parental rights, maltreatment findings and appeals, removals of children from the family home, child protection issues in family court, and threatened criminal charges.
• Representative cases have included children injured in daycare settings, shaken baby allegations, intra-family sexual abuse allegations, with many of these cases requiring working with criminal defense attorneys and forensic evidence and experts.

• Advocated for parents in child protection litigation when accusations of intra-family sexual abuse allegations were raised and successfully defended against any finding of maltreatment.
• Guided parents in terminating parental rights after the adoption was determined to be unsuccessful and no longer a situation that was in the best interests of the child.
• Represented foster parents throughout the child protection process and protected their interests in pursuing adoption.

Professionals