Lawyer for Child 2025

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An integral part of the New Zealand Family Court system is the state-funded legal representation of children. Lawyers entrusted with these duties must possess a range of skills to enable them to represent children effectively in care and protection cases, in addition to facilitating children’s participation in respect of parenting arrangements.

This workshop introduces participants to the full range of skills, knowledge and attitudes required to carry out the role effectively.

By the end of the workshop participants should be able to:

• Demonstrate an understanding of the current role of lawyer for child and ongoing changes to the nature of that role as a result of legislative changes.
• Examine their own values and beliefs in a more informed manner and understand how these might affect the way they carry out the role.
• Demonstrate knowledge of the skills required to communicate with children and the ability to put them into practice.
• Show some understanding of child development issues in planning and evaluating their interventions.
• Identify strategies for addressing the potential for conflicts of interest when the views of a child do not necessarily correspond with what the lawyer considers may be in their best interests.