Summer 2004

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The following are summaries of some of the cases Pine Tree Native American Unit attorneys have handled over the last six months. You can call attorneys Judith Plano or Mike Guare or paralegal Danny Mills at 1-800-879-7463.

Guardian ad Litem:

Pine Tree attorney Judith Plano handled a complicated Guardian ad litem case where one parent and the child were of Native descent. This was a very difficult case involving a great deal of serious domestic violence, stalking, breaking and entering. The child was terrified of visiting the batterer alone. Based on the affidavit of the Guardian ad litem, the judge awarded temporary sole Parental rights and responsibilities to the mother. The batterer's visitation rights were changed to allow only visits supervised by a professional.

TANF:

The client had guardianship of a minor family member. The child was attending a residential school as there was no high school on the reservation. DHS denied TANF to the client for the care of her relative, even though she qualified in all respects. The client asked for a fair hearing and represented herself, where she handled the case in a very lawyerly fashion, bringing forward all the relevant legal issues. She was again denied on the basis that there were closer schools that the child could attend. The client asked Pine Tree for help. Judith Plano filed an appeal in Superior Court. In her brief, attorney Plano was able to raise all the relevant issues and show where the hearing officer had abused his discretion by not properly following the law. The Attorney General's Office, which represented DHS, read the brief and re-read the transcript of the fair hearing. It decided that DHS' position did not have merit. DHS then awarded the client TANF for her relative and reimbursed her for 6 months of back TANF payments that she was owed.

Miscellaneous:

Pine Tree drafted several wills and medical powers of attorney, gave advice about issues, such as food stamps, evictions; family law, and neglect substantiation by DHS and represented a client at a Protection from Abuse hearing, getting a favorable result.