Los Angeles Dependency Lawyers
Redefining Dependency…
What if Dependency Court became a place where families go to heal?
We would ask families what they think they need.
Parents’ attorneys would ask their clients what would make their family safer, stronger, healthier, and happier.
Children’s attorneys would ask their child clients what they think would make their families’ lives better.
Community resources would receive funding from DCFS and the work these community partners do with families would be respected by both DCFS and the court.
Parents’ attorneys would obtain dismissals of all petitions involving children who have never been abused or neglected or whom the family can keep safe on their own.
“Neglect” would be redefined.
DCFS or court “concerns” would result in referrals to appropriate community resources, not forced subjugation to racist, sexist, and classist family regulation. Where real wounds exist, we are committed to healing.
Every family has a story. The lawyers at Los Angeles Dependency Lawyers Inc. are committed to respecting the story of every family they serve. Their stories, your stories, our stories, are the seeds of a better life for vulnerable families in Los Angeles County.
Who We Are
Los Angeles Dependency Lawyers (LADL) is a non-profit organization made up of its executive office and its five law firms. Dennis Smeal is the Executive Director of LADL, and is responsible for supervising the operation of the organization. Each law firm is headed by a law firm director who is responsible for supervising the operation of his or her law firm.
The law firms represent parents in juvenile dependency proceedings in Los Angeles County. When a petition is filed in court our lawyers are appointed to represent parents in the case. There are many different types of proceedings in a dependency case and the court could be involved with the family for many months and sometimes for several years. Each law firm assigned to the case will normally represent a parent until the court is no longer involved in the case. This “vertical” representation is important because the law firm assigned to the case will get to know the client and the client will be able to rely on consistent legal representation throughout the life of the case.
LADL lawyers are experienced in dependency law and apply their knowledge of dependency law as well as their experience in the dependency courtrooms so that their clients receive the very best representation. LADL and its 187 lawyers are committed to the families they serve and are committed to keeping families together. Our goal is to always advocate for our client and our client’s right to retain or regain custody of his or her child.
Our Mission
Care, custody and control of a child are fundamental parental liberty interests. Courts must provide a parent with fundamentally fair proceedings wherein the parent has a fair and reasonable opportunity to retain or regain care, custody and control of his/her child.
It is our mission to assure that parents receive their substantive and procedural rights and that they are provided legal representation at low or no cost affording them a fair and reasonable opportunity to parent their child. Too many children are lost to the foster care system, and it is our goal to provide legal assistance to our clients to preserve the family and, in those instances where required, reunify the family through the use of innovative, effective, affirmative, and ethical legal principles and skills.