02/28/2023
SUCH A GREAT DAY!! Last September I represented foster parents in a CPS case who intervened in the trial for termination of the parents’ rights. Trial was in front of Judge John Roach and lasted an entire week - over 5 separate trial settings - in order to accommodate all of the evidence. Emily Reichert (attorney for CPS), Jack Fan (attorney for the child) and I fought hard to provide overwhelming evidence to the Court that terminating parental rights was in this child’s best interest. (It’s more complicated than that but this is already becoming a novel of a post..)
As you can imagine, it’s an incredibly emotional type of trial and one not entered into lightly. However, this child was 4 years old when the case began and was 6 years old when trial finally commenced. 2 long years of the parents not getting themselves straight despite being given multiple opportunities. But what’s really heartbreaking is that she had been in and out of CPS investigations since the day she was born. After the 4th CPS investigation, one for each year she had been alive, the child was finally removed and placed in foster care. CPS and my client’s filed for termination, which was granted, and the parents both appealed.
Today we received the opinion from the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals that UPHELD the ruling by Judge Roach for Parental Termination!
I can now move forward with filing for the foster parents to adopt!!
Such a hard fought battle for all lawyers involved. We had the best CASA Supervisor (Courtney Gambill) Casa Advocate (Jen Boswell) and CPS caseworker (Kaci Koslan) who all worked tirelessly to get the best result for this child. She can move forward in life with the people who love her, continue to nurture her, and truly put her first.
What an amazing way to start off the week! Here is a picture of my clients with the child. After 3 long years, they can now LEGALLY become a family. ♥️ Super big shout out to my paralegal Lindsay M White for keeping me organized and focused through it all! 🙂
