It Takes a Lawyer to Raise a Child?: Allocating Responsibilities Among Parents, Children, and Lawyers in Delinquency Cases

This Article considers whether, and to what extent, children do or should look to parents for guidance in matters of juvenile delinquency. To this end, I draw insight from theories of adolescent development, rules of professional ethics, and principles of constitutional law and justice. In Part I, I identify opportunities for support and collaboration between children and parents in the juvenile justice system and then consider the potential for conflict in these families. In Part II, I propose six strategies for effective lawyering on behalf of children and parents in juvenile court. Given the complexities of the issues, I recognize that a single paradigm will not satisfy every attorney-child-parent relationship. Instead, it is my hope to identify core principles that will guide lawyers in counseling children, interacting with parents, and protecting the legal rights of children charged with crime. In Part III, I propose a few systemic reforms that might alleviate conflict and thereby facilitate a more effective relationship between the attorney, the child, and the parent