Ethics for Juvenile Defense Attorneys

Course Description

This 1.25 hour training provides a comprehensive outline of ethical obligations specific to the practice of juvenile defense and illustrates key obligations through the presentation of hypotheticals. It is an expanded and updated version of the ethics module included in PJDC’s 2016 AB 703 Training. It can earn you up to 1.25 of Ethics MCLE credit.

Credits

1.25 Participatory MCLE, 1.25 Legal Ethics

Faculty

Sue Burrell

Sue Burrell has spent her whole career doing juvenile and criminal justice work – first as a public defender and appellate attorney in Los Angeles, then working on policy and system reform at the Youth Law Center for 28 years, and for the last 5 years serving as the first ever Policy Director for PJDC. She has helped to develop legislation on juvenile competence, prohibiting incarceration of truants, defining the role of juvenile counsel, in the past few years reducing transfer – through SB 382, Proposition 57, SB 1391, and AB 1423. She has written widely on youth justice issues and regularly files amicus briefs in the California Supreme Court.Most recently she has worked closely with advocates around the state to help shape SB 823, closing the state institutional system in favor of handling youth closer to their home and communities.

Rourke F. Stacy-Padilla

Ms. Stacy has been with the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office for over 15 years and currently serves as the dedicated trainer for their juvenile division. She has litigated numerous matters in both the California Court of Appeal and California Supreme Court and has argued three juvenile matters in the California Supreme Court. (Luis M. v. Superior Court (2014) 59 Cal.4th 300; and as amicus counsel: People v. Nelson (2012) 53 Cal.4th 367, People v. Lessie (2010) 47 Cal.4th 1152.) She garnered national and statewide recognition for her expertise in various areas of juvenile delinquency law and her expertise is called upon by many other public defender offices and other legal professionals throughout the state. She has testified as juvenile law expert at the California State Capitol and has presented on various juvenile law issues on both a state and national level. She has also been consulted in drafting juvenile legislation and is one of the co-drafters of the Public Safety and Rehabilitation Act, known as Proposition 57, which was passed by the electorate November, 2016.

In addition to training attorneys within her office, she is also a local trainer with National Institute for Trial Advocacy and is one of 100 attorneys in the United States certified by the National Juvenile Defender Center to train juvenile attorneys as part of their Juvenile Training Immersion Program. She is co-editor of Collateral Consequences of Juvenile Delinquency Proceedings in California, A Handbook for Juvenile Law Professionals, (2011) which is published by the Pacific Juvenile Defender Center and is one of the only comprehensive books in the United States addressing the significant and permanent consequences youth face when involved in delinquency court.

 Robert Lu, Juvenile Trainer

Robert C. Lu is a California attorney, who has worked in the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office for over 14 years. He is currently responsible for training new juvenile court attorneys and litigating juvenile court writs.