Guardians Ad Litem and the Attorney-Client Privilege - The Aftermath of the Gabriesheski Decision CLE

Guardians Ad Litem and the Attorney-Client Privilege - The Aftermath of the Gabriesheski Decision

November 2011

Guardians Ad Litem And The Attorney-Client Privilege - The Aftermath Of The Gabriesheski Decision - LIVE IN DENVER

Program Description:

On October 24, 2011, the Colorado Supreme Court issued its long-awaited opinion in People v. Gabriesheski. The court held that because a child in a dependency and neglect proceeding is not the client of a court-appointed guardian ad litem, the attorney-client privilege and confidentiality do not strictly apply. In reaching its decision the court noted that the role of the GAL is to represent the interests of the child, not the child himself or herself. What will this mean for guardians ad litem and the children whose interests they represent? Attorneys from the Office of the Child's Representative, amicus curiae in Gabriesheski, will discuss the ramifications of this important decision.

Presented by Sheri Danz, Esq. and Linda Weinerman, Esq.

Agenda:

11:30 am - 12:00 pm Registration (Lunch Provided)

12:00 pm - 1:00 pm Program

About the Faculty:

Sheri Danz, Esq.

Office of the Child's Representative

Sheri Danz is a graduate of New York University School of Law, where she received a Root-Tilden-Kern public interest scholarship and served as a member of the New York University Law Review.

Ms. Danz's legal advocacy on behalf of children and youth includes representing adolescents and young adults in child welfare and other civil matters as a Skadden Fellow/staff attorney at the Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago; representing juveniles in delinquency proceedings as a staff attorney at the Colorado State Public Defender's Office; and representing youth in public benefits, child welfare, and protective order proceedings as a legal intern at the Door's Legal Services Program, a multidisciplinary youth services center in New York City. Ms. Danz has also worked on issues regarding parents' counsel at the Office of the State Court Administrator in Colorado and served as a law clerk to the Hon. Gene Carter, United States District Court Judge for the District of Maine. Prior to law school, Ms. Danz taught special education in rural North Carolina through the Teach for America Program.

Linda Weinerman, Esq.

Office of the Child's Representative

Ms. Weinerman has dedicated her legal career to children's issues. From 1992 until 1999, she worked as a Guardian ad Litem in Denver County, representing children in dependency and neglect cases. Ms. Weinerman served as a Denver City Attorney from July 1999 through May 2002, representing the Denver Department of Human Services in both the Magistrate and Presiding Judge's Divisions. In 2002, she served on the first Local Oversight Committee of the Office of the Child's Representative in Denver County, which was charged with selecting all contract Guardians ad Litem in Denver. Shortly thereafter, in the fall of 2003, Ms. Weinerman became the OCR's Staff Attorney. In January 2005 she became the OCR's Deputy Director, handling, among other matters, all complaints filed against GALs. In December 2009, Ms. Weinerman was selected by the Board of Directors to be the new Executive Director.

Ms. Weinerman attended Colgate University, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1978. She obtained a Masters of Business Administration Degree from Pace University in 1985. Upon moving to Colorado, she attended the University of Denver School of Law and obtained her law degree in 1991.