Dedicated to the legal representation of families, Daniel gives attorneys a voice to help improve the workings of family court.
Daniel serves on the Judicial Engagement Team (JET) for the Jackson County Family Court Division in Kansas City, Missouri, which includes a parent’s attorney, family court judge, family court commissioners, family court administrator, a Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) representative, a representative from the Office of the Guardian ad Litem, a representative from the juvenile officer and a representative from the Children’s Division for each party. In JET meetings, participants discuss current workings of the court and plans to improve it.
As an offshoot of JET, Daniel leads an attorney work group that gives attorneys practicing at the family court an opportunity to voice their concerns and offer suggestions to optimize the court. Daniel and the group have completed a number of initiatives including production of tutorial videos for appointed attorneys, available on the 16th Circuit Court of Kansas City, Missouri website, that allow attorneys unfamiliar with juvenile law to receive a general introduction to cases involving child neglect and abuse, termination of parental rights and delinquency. In addition, the attorney work group created continuing legal education (CLE) training on pro bono representation for parents at initial protective custody hearings and has ongoing training programs for attorneys at the family court. Multiple subcommittees have spawned off from the attorney work group to focus on specific areas to improve the family court.