The American Association for Justice published “Shining a Light on Child Welfare Agency Negligence,” co-authored by PCVA attorney Ian Bauer. In the article, Ian and his co-author, Daniel Pollack, discuss the complexities involved with making claims against child welfare agencies and highlight some best practices for navigating such claims.
The authors state that it is important to argue that common law negligence standards should be extended to child welfare agencies. They also advise reviewing the rules in the jurisdiction where the claim is filed, how to make a negligence claim in such a case, and how to choose the right expert witnesses and prepare them appropriately.
Given the complexity of these cases, the authors believe that the most important quality of a lawyer bringing such a case is tenacity.
“As trial lawyers, our clients entrust us to tell their stories, on their terms, and hold accountable the powerful people, wealthy corporations, and faceless bureaucracies who wronged them. This is a sacred, profound trust – all the more so when representing children who have endured unimaginable abuse and neglect because the social welfare agencies with the power to protect them sat idly by.”
Click here to read the article. [Reprinted with permission of Trial® (August 2022) Copyright ©2022 American Association for Justice®, Formerly Association of Trial Lawyers of America (ATLA®) www.justice.org/aaj-publications]