CEB book: California Juvenile Dependency Practice 2015 About the Authors Malvina E. J. Abbott, a co-author of chapter 4, is a retired Deputy Public Defender IV, Branch Leader (Juvenile Dependency) for the Office of the San Diego County Public Defender and continues to work part-time as a public defender. Ms. Abbott received her B.S. degree from Cornell University in 1964 and her J.D. degree from Thomas Jefferson Law School (formerly Western State University College of Law) in 1975. She is a former member and chair of the Executive Committee of the Law Practice Management and Technology Section of the State Bar; a former member of the Senior Lawyers Committee of the State Bar; and a member of the San Diego County Bar Association and the California Public Defenders Association. She was the author of many of the updates to California Juvenile Court Practice (Cal CEB 1981), which this book replaced. Carol B. Barnett, author of chapter 8, is an attorney with East Bay Children s Law Offices in Hayward, specializing in dependency matters. She received her B.A. degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara, in 1989, her M.A. degree from George Washington University in 1993, and her J.D. degree from Golden Gate University School of Law in 1996. She formerly was an associate dependency attorney with the Alameda County Public Defender s Office. Hon. Patricia Bresee, a co-author of chapter 6, retired as a Commissioner of the San Mateo County Superior Court in 2002, after serving as a commissioner for 15 years. Commissioner Bresee received her J.D. degree in 1972 from the San Francisco Law School. Since 1988, she has served on the Judicial Council s Juvenile Law Advisory Committee (she now chairs its Rules and Forms Committee) and on the Faculty and Planning Committees of the CJER (Center for Judicial Education and Research) Juvenile Law Institute. She has served on the Faculty of the Judicial College and has trained judicial officers newly assigned to juvenile court since 1997. Commissioner Bresee received the California Judge s Association Juvenile Court Judge of the Year Award in 1994 and was named National Judge of the Year by the National Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) Association in 1998. She has served on the National Council of Juvenile and Family Law Judges Permanency Planning Committee and is presently on its Juvenile Drug Committee and co-chair of its Adoption Committee. She also serves on the Children and Family First Commission, County of San Mateo. Bradley A. Bristow, author of chapter 10, is a staff attorney with the Central California Appellate Program. He received his B.A. degree from the University of California, Los Angeles, in 1975 and his J.D. degree from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law, in 1979. Mr. Bristow teaches a clinic on civil appeals at the McGeorge School of Law, and he is a member of the California Public Defenders Association and serves on its Amicus Committee and Dependency Hotline Panel. He is a former member of the Sacramento County Voluntary Legal Services Program and received its VLSP Award in 1994. Hon. L. Michael Clark, author of chapter 14, was appointed as a Judge of the Superior Court in Santa Clara County in May 2008. Mr. Clark received his B.A. degree from Westmont College in
1977, his J.D. degree from Santa Clara Law School in 1980, and his M.A. degree in 1990 from Fuller Theological Seminary. He formerly was the Lead Deputy County Counsel in the Office of the County Counsel, Santa Clara County. He also formerly served on the Judicial Council Family and Juvenile Law Advisory Committee. He is a past chair of the County Counsel s Association of California, Child Welfare Study Section; a contributing editor to the California Attorney General s Child Abuse Prevention Handbook and Intervention Guide (2000); and editorial consultant on Children and the Law for Attorney s BriefCase, Inc. He also has served as an adjunct instructor for the Forensic Certificate Program at the San Jose State University Graduate School of Social Work, a Judge Pro Tem, and a Special Master for Search Warrant Proceedings. Mr. Clark is a member of the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children, the National Association of Counsel for Children, the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, and the Christian Legal Society. He is a frequent lecturer on dependency law for a wide variety of groups. David A. Donner, author of chapter 13, is in private practice in San Francisco, specializing in juvenile dependency, child custody, foster parent adoptions, mental health consulting, probate guardianships, and mediation and special master work in family law custody matters. Mr. Donner received his B.A. degree from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1979 and his J.D. degree from the University of San Francisco School of Law in 1984. He is a board member of the Psychoanalytic Institute of Northern California and a founding member of the Children s Psychotherapy Project. He is also a member of the International Society for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect, the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts, the National Association of Counsel for Children, and the Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) Regional Advisory Board. He previously practiced as a deputy city attorney in San Francisco. He has served as chair of the Bar Association of San Francisco s Juvenile Justice Section (1999 2002) and as a mentor attorney in the San Francisco Juvenile Court and now serves as a Pro Tem in the dependency court. Mr. Donner has taught continuing education courses in trial skills, client interviewing, and child advocacy and has been a frequent speaker and consultant on dependency and mental health issues. Mark R. Murray, author of chapter 11, is a private practitioner in San Francisco who emphasizes juvenile law and civil litigation in the Bay Area counties. He received his B.A. and B.S. degrees from St. Mary s College in 1983 and his J.D. degree from Golden Gate University School of Law in 1986. Mr. Murray serves as a Judge Pro Tem, a Commissioner Pro Tem, and a Dependency Mentor Attorney for the San Francisco Superior Court. He has served as chair of the Juvenile Justice Section of the Bar Association of San Francisco, coordinator of mandatory dependency training for the panel attorneys in the San Francisco Superior Court, lecturer at the State Bar Conference on dependency issues, member of the San Francisco Dependency Court Advisory Committee, delegate of the Bar Association of San Francisco to the State Bar Conference of Delegates, and dependency expert witness. Mr. Murray is a member of the National Association of Counsel for Children, the California Public Defender Association, the San Francisco Trial Lawyer s Association, the Bar Association of San Francisco, and the St. Thomas More Society. Hon. Amy M. Pellman, author of chapter 2, is a Judge of the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles, having previously served as a Commissioner of the same court. She received her B.A. degree from Mount Holyoke College in 1982 and her J.D. degree from City University of New York in 1987. She has experience as a juvenile dependency trial and appellate
attorney and as a civil litigator. She has coordinated programs such as National Adoption Saturday and is a frequent lecturer for a variety of groups, among them the Los Angeles County Juvenile Court Bar Association; the Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) office; foster family agencies; the University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law; and Loyola Law School. Commissioner Pellman is an adjunct professor at Southwestern University of Law, where she teaches Children and the Law and is a member of the faculty of the National Council on Juvenile and Family Court Judges. Commissioner Pellman formerly served as the legal director of The Alliance for Children s Rights, Los Angeles, a nonprofit organization that represents children in poverty. Her publications include The Alliance for Children s Rights vs. Los Angeles County Dept. of Children and Family Services, 1 Whittier J of Child & Family Advocacy 64 (2002) and Married Women s Property Rights, Women and the Law (Clark Boardman 1987). John E. Philips, a co-author of chapter 4, is a senior deputy county counsel and team leader supervising attorneys in the Office of the County Counsel, San Diego County. He received his B.A. degree in child psychology in 1981 from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and his J.D. degree from Southwestern University School of Law in 1985. Mr. Philips has represented the prevailing party in several appellate cases that resulted in published opinions, including In re Troy Z. (1992) 3 C4th 1170 and In re Stephanie M. (1994) 7 C4th 295. Mary J. Risling, author of chapter 9, is the former directing attorney of California Indian Legal Services (CILS), Eureka, where she engaged in a federal, state, and tribal administrative and judicial practice with emphasis on federal Indian Law. She has conducted training on specialized legal and Indian law issues for tribes, the CILS client community, state and federal agencies, postsecondary institutions and continuing legal education providers, including the Center for Judicial Education and Research (CJER). Beginning in 1994, she served three terms on the California Judicial Council s Family and Juvenile Law Standing Advisory Committee. Ms. Risling is the author of the updated California Judges Benchguide The Indian Child Welfare Act, developed by CILS and updated under a project funded by the California Office of Criminal Justice Planning. Elaine S. Rosen,a co-author of chapter 7, began practicing family and juvenile law in 1983 in Los Angeles. She received her bachelor s degree from University of California, Los Angeles, in 1975 and her law degree from Southwestern University School of Law in 1978. Since 2007 Ms. Rosen has been the education and training director for the San Bernardino Law Firm of Friedman and Gebbie, which specializes in juvenile law. She has been a speaker for the Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) program in Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties. She has been an adjunct professor at the University of Redlands and at California State University, San Bernardino, where she is the immediate past chair of the Development Council for the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences. She is on the board of Inland Counties Legal Services, and she is the chair of the newly formed Education Advocacy Section of the San Bernardino County Bar Association. Ms. Rosen was board president of the Los Angeles Juvenile Courts Bar Association in 1989. In 1995 she became part of the Judicial Council s Administrative Office of the Courts initial juvenile law reasonable efforts project. In 1999, she was appointed director of the Department of Law and Public Policy at University of California, Riverside, where she coordinated the annual Juvenile Law Institute. Ms. Rosen sat as a judge pro tem in Riverside County s juvenile dependency court from 1998 to 2004. Janet G. Sherwood, author of chapter 12, is a private practitioner in Corte Madera; she limits her practice to juvenile dependency, adoption, and related child custody issues. Ms. Sherwood
received her B.A. degree from Raymond College and her J.D. degree from McGeorge School of Law. A frequent speaker and consultant on juvenile dependency issues, she is on the dependency panels for the First and Sixth District Appellate Programs and the Central California Appellate Program. Ms. Sherwood is a member of the boards of the Northern California Association of Counsel for Children (NCACC) and San Rafael s Family and Children s Law Center, and is president of Advokids, a nonprofit organization that provides resources, training, and assistance to children s advocates. She is an associate member of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges and is a member of the Marin County Bar Association, Marin County Women Lawyers, the National Association of Counsel for Children, and the California Appellate Defense Counsel. She has served as a faculty member of the California Judicial Council s Child Advocacy Training Project, as a Marin County Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Commissioner, and as a member of the board of the Center for the Family in Transition. She has practiced as a Deputy Attorney General for the State of California, representing health, education, and welfare agencies and as staff counsel for the State Department of Social Services. She is the author of California Juvenile Dependency Case Law Updates and is the editor of the NCACC s Dependency News. Carmela F. Simoncini, author of chapter 3, is the lead appellate court attorney with the California Court of Appeal, Fourth District, Division 2. Ms. Simoncini received her B.F.A. degree from Arizona State University in 1975, her J.D. degree from Western State University College of Law in 1978, and her L.L.M. degree (General/Criminal) from the University of San Diego Law School. She serves as one of the California Public Defenders Association s (CPDA s) Dependency Hotline attorneys, and she is also a member of the Appellate Court Committee of the San Diego County Bar Association. She formerly was a staff attorney with Appellate Defenders, Inc., San Diego. In 1994, she received the E. Stanley Conant Award presented by the board of directors of Defender Programs of San Diego. She is former chair of the Appellate Committee for California Attorneys for Criminal Justice and a former member of the amicus committee of the CPDA. She has been an adjunct professor of law at Thomas Jefferson School of Law since 1991, where she has taught courses on juvenile dependency, appellate advocacy, and legal writing. Hon. Sherri Sobel, author of chapter 5, is a referee with the Los Angeles County Superior Court who specializes in juvenile dependency, Indian children, and special education. She received her B.S. degree from Temple University in 1966 and her J.D. degree from Western State University College of Law in 1983. For 19 years (13 as a practicing attorney and 6 on the bench) she has taught, written, and served on more committees, boards, and commissions than she can count, on behalf of organizations ranging from the local to the national. Beth L. Steigerwalt, a co-author of chapter 7, is a deputy county counsel in the office of the San Bernardino County Counsel. She received her B.A. degree from the University of Arizona in 1988 and her J.D. degree from the University of San Diego Law School in 1988. Ms. Steigerwalt formerly was an associate with Friedman, Gebbie & Gardner, San Bernardino, where she specialized in juvenile dependency law. She has taught for the University of California, Riverside, Extension in its paralegal certificate program. Christopher N. Wu, author of chapter 1, is senior director, Judicial Engagement, at Casey Family Programs, the nation s largest operating foundation exclusively devoted to improving outcomes for families and children in the child welfare system. Mr. Wu received his B.A. degree from Shimer College in 1978 and his J.D. degree in 1984 from the University of Michigan Law School, where his interest in children s law began in that school s Child Advocacy Law Clinic.
Mr. Wu is a member of the board of directors of the National Center for Youth Law and Legal Services for Children. He is also president of the Northern California Association of Counsel for Children and a member of the Asian American Bar Association of the Greater Bay Area. Previously, he was supervising attorney with the California Judicial Council s Center for Families, Children & the Courts and executive director of the California Blue Ribbon Commission on Children in Foster Care. He also previously served as the managing attorney at Legal Services for Children in San Francisco, a nonprofit law office using teams of attorneys and social workers to provide direct services to children. About the 2015 Update Authors Malvina E. J. Abbott. See the About the Authors section for full biographical information. Bradley A. Bristow. See the About the Authors section for full biographical information. Deborah Dentler, update author for chapter 6, practices primarily at the appellate level, handling appeals for parents, children, kinship caregivers, and foster parents. Ms. Dentler is a graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law and has specialized for the last 15 years in juvenile dependency law. Ever since adopting a teenaged relative from foster care, she has represented foster parents in L.A. s juvenile court. A frequent presenter to groups of foster parents, adoptive families, and social workers, Ms. Dentler has served as a consultant, grant writer, and legislative advocate for nonprofit organizations.. David A. Donner. See the About the Authors section for full biographical information. Kerry Doyle, an update co-author for chapter 1, is an attorney with the Judicial Council of California, Center for Families, Children & the Courts (CFCC) and is the lead attorney on the Judicial Resources and Technical Assistance Project. Ms. Doyle received her bachelor s degrees in both psychology and sociology and law and society from the University of California, Riverside, and she is a graduate of King Hall School of Law at the University of California, Davis. She is also a Public Interest Law Scholar. Before joining CFCC in 2004, Ms. Doyle represented children and parents involved in dependency and guardianship proceedings and children in high-conflict family law custody matters. She also consulted on and edited The Incarcerated Parent s Manual, a guide to California dependency court proceedings published by Prisoner Legal Services and Legal Services for Prisoners with Children. Michael A. Markel, update author for chapter 5, is the principal assistant county counsel for the County of San Bernardino, where he specializes in Juvenile Dependency and Risk Management. He received his B.A. degree from the University of California, Irvine, and his J.D. degree from the University of San Diego School of Law. Marymichael Miatovich, update author for chapter 14, is an attorney with the Center for Families, Children & the Courts (CFCC) for the Judicial Council of California in San Francisco. Ms. Miatovich obtained her undergraduate and law degrees from Santa Clara University and became a member of the California State Bar in 2001; she obtained her master s degree in clinical psychology with an emphasis in child abuse and neglect from JFK University in 2013. She is a part of the Juvenile Court Assistance Team (JCAT), which works to help improve the juvenile
dependency courts in California. She is a statewide trainer on the topic of laws and best practices related to children in foster care. In 2008, Ms. Miatovich became a Certified Child Welfare Law Specialist (CWLS) through the National Association of Counsel for Children. This specialty is accredited by the State Bar of California, Board of Legal Specialization. Ms. Miatovich was previously a court-appointed attorney representing parents in juvenile dependency proceedings in Santa Clara County. In that capacity, she represented parents in all parts of the juvenile dependency process, from the initial hearing to permanency planning. Prior to that, she worked in the city attorney s office for the City of Santa Clara. Mark R. Murray. See the About the Authors section for full biographical information. Hon. Amy M. Pellman. See the About the Authors section for full biographical information. Elaine S. Rosen. See the About the Authors section for full biographical information. Janet G. Sherwood. See the About the Authors section for full biographical information. Carmela F. Simoncini is the update author for chapters 3 and 9. See the About the Authors section for full biographical information. Beth L. Steigerwalt. See the About the Authors section for full biographical information. Hon. Anthony A. Trendacosta, update author for chapter 8, has served as a Court Commissioner presiding over dependency cases in Los Angeles County since 2005. He received his B.A. degree from California State University, Northridge, in 1972 and his J.D. degree from the University of LaVerne, San Fernando Valley College of Law, in 1975. Christopher N. Wu. See the About the Authors section for full biographical information.