How do you become a guardian ad litem?
I am a high school student and I was sort of leaning towards law for my career. I have heard about guardian ad litems before and I have done some research on what they do and it sounds interesting. I just didn't know what you had to do in order to become one. I hear in some places that they are just voulenteers, but I really have no idea how you are really suppose to become one. Is it an actaul occupation, or is it just something lawyers voulenteer for?
Answer:
"How do you become a guardian ad litem? I am a high school student and I was sort of leaning towards law for my career. I have heard about guardian ad litems before and I have done some research on what they do and it sounds interesting. I just didn't know what you had to do in order to become one. I hear in some places that they are just voulenteers, but I really have no idea how you are really suppose to become one. Is it an actaul occupation, or is it just something lawyers voulenteer for?"
There is no quick answer to your question.
Don't get confused about a situation that can be confusing from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.
There is a national organization called Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) that nominally oversees local non-profit agencies that follow a nationally guided mandate to provide trained volunteers to local juvenile courts where those volunteers act on behalf of neglected and abused children. Not all states and jurisdictions use CASAs as GALs and they may or may not have the powers of a party to the case.
A CASA is usually a volunteer, non-attorney who represents a child's best interests to the court. The CASA might also be considered a GAL. CASAs have a court order that allows them access to all the documentation about the child (school records, medical records, CPS records, etc.) and to interview parties that have knowledge about a child's circumstances. The CASA then takes that knowledge and decides what course of action to recommend to the court in the best interests of the child. A report is usually prepared for the judge and submitted a few days before the case goes to court.
Or the Court might also appoint a GAL-- generally an attorney paid by the state to represent the best wishes of the child (where the CASA does the same but can only speak generally to the court and is not entitled to make motions as an attorney-GAL would be entitled under some court rules). Usually, attorneys let themselves be known to the court as an attorney who will take on that work-- either paid or pro bono. Some attorneys do a small amount of GAL work on a pro bono basis each year to meet requirements of their local bar association or because they feel it is socially responsible to do so.
A child might also have legal counsel-- an attorney who has an attorney-client relationship with the child and who must represent the child's interests (that might not necessarily coincide with what the attorney believes are the best intersts of that child). These attorneys are most often paid but they might also do this work on a pro bono basis.
Most CASA organizations require that the volunteers who take cases be over 21 years old. But some CASA offices welcome office assistants and other volunteers to help with their administrative efforts.
Take a look at the national CASA website to find a local CASA organization. And give them a call to see how things work where you live.
As for becoming a lawyer, well, that's a whole other can of worms. Let's just say for now that if you do become an attorney, you could choose to focus in family law and represent children-- but that isn't necessarily enough to put food on the table and a Lexus in the driveway.
You petition the court for an order allowing you to represent the interests of a minor(s).
Usually it is done when a child sues a person/entity, and an adult is needed to pursue the claim and receive and hold the money in trust for the benefit of the child.
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