Amy Karp, Training Director
Katharine Klubock, Supervising Attorney
Katrina Krywonis, Legal Training Attorney
Rebecca Amdemariam, Legal Training Attorney
Jacquelyn Diaz, Administrative Assistant
Seeking Counsel for Child Welfare/State Intervention Appeals
The Committee for Public Counsel Services (CPCS) is seeking private attorneys to join the Children and Family Law (CAFL) Division appellate panel. CAFL appeals are appeals of final judgments in care and protection, termination of parental rights, guardianship of a minor, contested adoption, and other child welfare/state intervention proceedings. Most cases concern intervention by the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families in family life. The work of the CAFL appellate panel attorneys includes interviewing and visiting clients, conducting legal research, writing motions and briefs, and arguing cases before the Massachusetts Appeals Court and Supreme Judicial Court. All CAFL appeals get oral argument. Private panel attorneys handle the vast majority of CAFL appeals; other CAFL appeals are handled by the CAFL Appellate (staff) Unit. This posting is not for a staff position; it is for private attorneys to obtain certification to receive, and be compensated for, CAFL appellate appointments. Compensation is $85/hour. During the first year after completing the mandatory training, newly certified attorneys are expected to take at least one appellant and one appellee assignment. Panel members should expect to spend about 100-250 hours on each CAFL appeal. New CAFL appellate attorneys receive free mentoring for several years. Private panel attorneys submit bills to CPCS and must agree to follow all billing and other requirements set forth in the CPCS Assigned Counsel Manual, available at:
https://www.publiccounsel.net/assigned-counsel-manual/
Kindly direct any questions to Abigail Salois, Supervising Staff Attorney, CPCS/CAFL Appellate Panel Support Unit, at: asalois@publiccounsel.net.
Qualifications:
Applicants must have the following minimum qualifications:
- Demonstrated proficiency in legal research and writing; and
- At least one of the following:
i. Two years of child welfare/state intervention trial experience;
ii. Primary authorship of two or more appellate briefs in other subjects;
iii. A recent appellate clerkship, substantial editing experience for a law journal, publication of a law journal article, or other substantial research and writing experience.
Applicants must be admitted to the Mass. bar or be eligible for admission by December 12, 2023.
Admission into the training is competitive and not all applicants will be admitted. All admitted applicants must attend the four-day CAFL appellate training program scheduled for January 30, February 1, 6, and 8, 2024. The trainings, which will be conducted by Zoom, will take place from 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. each day. There will also be an orientation by Zoom on January 24, 2024 from 4:00-5:00 p.m. The agency actively seeks to diversify its private attorney panel membership.
Applications: CAFL Appellate Panel Application – 2024
Applications are due on December 11, 2023, but will be accepted on a rolling basis until the training is filled.
Important Notice: CAFL CLE Changes for Fiscal Year 2024
The process for submitting FY24 CLEs will be different from past fiscal years. Please read the following carefully to ensure that your CLE credits are processed.
- Emma Knight (eknight@publiccounsel.net) is the new point person for CAFL CLEs. Please do not send CLE-related questions or documents to Rita Caso unless explicitly instructed to do so.
- Fill out this form for each CAFL-approved training you complete: https://www.cognitoforms.com/committeeforpubliccounselservices/caflcleaffirmationform. You no longer need to submit certificates or affirmation documents. The signed electronic form is sufficient to affirm attendance.
- When you submit the form, you will receive an automatic confirmation for your records. You will not receive further confirmation from Emma, but you can reach out to her with any questions.
- Please check the CPCS Training Calendar first to see if a program is approved for credit. You can find the calendar If you would like to request credit for a program that is not on the list, please email cafltraining@publiccounsel.net.
- Note about recordings of past trainings: In addition to future training programs, attorneys can take advantage of the many recorded webinars approved for credit in prior years. Recordings of CPCS trainings can be found on MyGideon.org. If you are having trouble logging in to MyGideon, please email CAFLtraining@publiccounsel.net. There are also recordings of approved webinars available on the websites of outside organizations such as MCLE, the Children’s Bureau, the NACC and the ABA.