Page 13 - Juvenile Practice is not Child's Play

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are required to tell the court should they mention anything about child abuse or a future violent crime. TFC §
261.101(c).

Use layman’s terms and age-appropriate vocabulary, especially if your client will testify in court. You should also make

a point of explaining the following terms to your client: right, case, interrogation, confession, adjudication, disposition,
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petition, prosecutor (D.A., District Attorney, County Attorney), and status offender. Also make sure you explain to
your client what your job is as a lawyer (counsel), and how you are supposed to help. Note that youth may not know
that attorney, lawyer, and counsel are the same. As a means for establishing rapport and putting the client at ease, it is

often useful to give the client a business card and to use the card as a prop to reinforce certain messages. Pointing out
the lines on the card containing counsel’s phone numbers, counsel should explain that s/he is giving the client the
numbers so that the client can call whenever the client has questions or has information to impart to counsel. Counsel

can say explicitly that it will be necessary for counsel and the client to keep in touch and to work together closely in
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fighting against the charges.

What about the parents? In most areas of the law, attorneys have contact with the relatives and loved ones of their

clients. In juvenile cases, that contact is significantly more important and complicated. For example, having your client’s
parents present when you meet with them is a gamble that could seriously hurt their interests. You must explain to the
parents that you need to meet with your client alone, even if you spend some time talking to the client and their parents

first about general issues. Parental intervention will prevent you from being able to talk freely with your client and

provide them with sound legal advice, because the attorney-client privilege is broken by their presence. Additionally,
Rule 1.05 of the Rules of Professional Responsibility states that you may not reveal confidential information to your
client’s parents without your client’s consent. Make sure your client is aware of this rule. You should always stay in

communication with your client’s parents, especially since your client is most likely returning home, but remember that
you represent the child and not the parents. TFC § 51.10.

It may be difficult for parents to understand that they are not your client, especially since they often are footing your

bill. But you need to carefully manage your role and that relationship. That relationship will be critical in securing the
best disposition for your client and getting your client out of detention.

Keep in mind that the parents can be the complaining witnesses in the case, or they may pressure the child to confess.

You are the expert in the juvenile system and should explain the implications of various courses of action to your client

21 Knowledge of child abuse and knowledge of future violent crimes are exceptions to the attorney-client privilege
22 Status offense is an offense based on the minority of the offender, such as curfew violation or running away. A status offense is not
as serious as a crime. Status offenses can lead to a finding that a juvenile is a Child In Need of Supervision (CINS).
23 Id. at 126.