Role of attorneys ad litem.

• Author: Vickers, Harry
• Position: Letters - Letter to the editor

I must respectfully disagree with Sarah J. Campbell and Robin L. Rosenberg, authors of "The Use of Next Friends to Seek Appointment of Counsel for Dependent Children Who are Incapable or Unable to Request Appointment of Counsel" (May), and their suggestion that "next friends" be appointed statewide for dependent children who may be in need of legal representation. Having worked as a senior GAL attorney in the dependency court in Brevard County for the past nine and a half years, I have seen literally hundreds of attorneys ad litem (AAL) appointed to meet this need.

In this jurisdiction, the parents, DCF workers, the guardian ad litem, and/or their attorneys regularly present ora tenus or written motions for the appointment of an AAL for the child. AALs are appointed from the legal aid society or from a registry of local pro bono attorneys. The court has always given serious consideration to these requests, whether the child is a baby or someone aging out of the dependency system. I...