From: dyfsreform
Sent: Friday, August 08, 2008 6:17 AM
Subject: [AFRA_HelpLine] How I Found Attorney Who "Hates" CPS

Hi,

When I became dissatisfied with my public defender, I gathered the names and phone numbers of attorneys listed online and in the phone book and systematically called each attorney. This was time consuming and tedious work not motivated by my ability to pay a private attorney, but motivated by my hope in finding a way. My situation could not become worse, only better by contacting other attorneys.

One day, an attorney who runs a private law firm invited me to his office. He reviewed my court documents and asked, "Where is your fact finding hearing?" He explained that he occasionally litigates cases for parents trying to regain custody.

That day, I sent a letter to the Office of Parental Representation which oversees the public defenders. The letter stated problems with my current public defender and requested transferring my case to the new attorney. I included the information - name, address, phone number - of the new attorney.

Within days, my public defender was replaced and now I have an attorney who "hates" CPS. Note that I had been creating a paper trail documenting the problems with my first public defender, so if you haven't started creating a paper trail, obtain the contact info to that person and start writing. I believe that providing the contact info of a new attorney also helped.

By repeating this process, I have found attorneys willing to state whether he/she is a "pool" attorney for the Office of Parental Representation. This is good information to request when calling around. Pro bono attorneys - and attorneys who know how to properly leverage state resources (think "funding") exist.

I hope this experience helps others, and I welcome follow up of questions or requests for more information.

Sincerely,

--
dyfsreform at gmail dot com
http://dyfsreform.blogspot.com - DYFS can be sued. Link to the latest lawsuits against DYFS in New Jersey Federal District Court.
http://groups.google.com/group/dyfsreform - Over 40 downloadable documents related to child protection at the executive level
AIM/Yahoo Messenger/Googletalk: dyfsreform

If I can offer any financial guidance for your advice, please let me know as I have a B.S. in business finance and economics (Valedictorian of Economics and 3.8/4.0 GPA) and I am a Candidate for the Chartered Financial Analyst Level I Exam to be held in December.