HAGERSTOWN -- Four and a half years ago, a father walked shakily out of the courthouse here, heartbroken. He had just failed to get custody of his 5-year-old boy, even though his ex-wife was engaged to a convicted child molester.
"I honestly feel from the depths of my heart that my son will be in grave danger," the father wrote Washington County Circuit Judge Fred C. Wright III, imploring him to reconsider.
"What if you are wrong?" he went on in an emotional, 11-page letter in the court file. "What could you do for [my son]? Say you were sorry? It would not change his experience. It would not comfort him when he wakes up in the middle of the night."
Today, the father says his worst nightmare has come true, prompting him to join a state battle over the accountability of court-appointed lawyers for children. In this case, he believes his son's lawyer, whose job it was to investigate the case on behalf of the judge, favored the boy's mother and ignored critical evidence against her and her soon-to-be husband.
The General Assembly is considering emergency legislation to restore broad immunity to such lawyers, called "guardians ad litem," after Maryland's highest court ruled recently they could be sued for malpractice.
On one side are family law attorneys, who fear they will be hit with lots of lawsuits because their decisions almost always make at least one parent unhappy in bitter custody battles.
"Run, do not walk. ... Get out NOW!" Gaithersburg lawyer David S. Goldberg wrote in an e-mail urging fellow attorneys to refuse future court assignments as guardians - and to remove themselves from current cases.
On the other side are parents, who find they have little or no recourse if an attorney assigned to a child plays favorites, ignores or suppresses evidence or fails otherwise to advocate properly for the child.
`Terrible mistake'
"I want to highlight the terrible mistake the guardian made in my case and the consequence," said the 33-year-old father, a Pennsylvania constable, whose name is being withheld by The Sun to protect his son's identity. He plans to testify against the bill at a Senate committee hearing today.
His son, now 9, told Washington County authorities last month that his stepfather had sexually abused him and two friends, according to the Jan. 17 sheriff's report. The boy described abuse that began when he was 5, shortly after his mother married the convicted offender - and continued through last Christmas.
Larry Phillip Slack Jr., 44, is now in jail, charged with 28 counts of child abuse, records show. Slack could not be reached for comment; he was unable to make $750,000 bail and has yet to notify the court of his chosen attorney.
"It's too late for my son. The damage is done," the father said. "I just don't want to see this happen to other kids."
Not many cases have such extreme outcomes, family lawyers say. The overwhelming majority of divorces that result in custody disputes are resolved without lengthy court battles. Only in a fraction of custody cases do courts have to intervene and assign an attorney to represent the interests of the child.
Unlike court-appointed lawyers who act in financial or estate cases, child guardians in custody disputes traditionally have enjoyed immunity from malpractice claims. But on Jan. 18, the Maryland Court of Appeals ruled that they should be treated the same as any other attorney.
That frightens family lawyers, who say their decisions often upset parents. Said Goldberg, the Gaithersburg lawyer: "One party or the other is going to be mad at you. We call it as we see it."
In Montgomery County, judges have been flooded with petitions from attorneys asking to be excused as guardians.
Maryland keeps no statistics on how often lawyers represent children in custody fights, said Pamela Cardullo Ortiz, executive director of the Department of Family Administration at the state's Administrative Office of the Courts. But should these attorneys quit in large numbers, she said, "it could impact the ability of the court to make good decisions in these cases. It enhances the quality of decision-making in very high-conflict cases when there's a child's attorney."
Del. Kathleen M. Dumais, a Montgomery County Democrat who introduced the emergency legislation in the House, said she feared fewer lawyers would sign up. Dumais, a family lawyer who has served as a guardian ad litem, said it's the children in the biggest custody fights who need an independent advocate the most.
"Many times, you're put in very high-conflict cases," she said. "Both parties feel so incredibly strongly, and there's going to be a judgment call. That's why I think some immunity is appropriate."
Guardians essentially should be seen as an extension of the judicial branch, she said - and, like judges, should not be held liable. In fact, these lawyers typically act on behalf of the judge, interviewing all parties, checking court, school and medical records, visiting homes.
`Just plain stupid'
