In this new book, Melissa A. Kucinski focuses on the means that allows the child's voice to be heard -- the appointment of a child’s attorney. Among other responsibilities, the child’s attorney can engage the necessary professionals, safely gather the child's words and preferences, perform outside investigation to put the them into context, and then interpret them in the most appropriate manner. Opinions are evolving about how to keep the child as the case's focus, but this also raises a wide range of questions and concerns: why should we listen to a child, what potential concerns exist when listening to them, and how do we solicit their opinions? A Practical Handbook for the Child's Attorney presents a logical and clearly presented framework for addressing those questions and providing the most productive answers. This is a hands-on guide essential to any attorney working with a child as legal counsel. Because of the myriad roles, titles, guidelines and standards for attorneys representing children, the handbook focuses on the ABA Standards of Practice for Lawyers Representing Children in Custody Cases, pointing out cases where state laws may differ. Chapters address in-depth these critical aspects of the child's attorney's role: • Ethics and malpractice
• Investigation and information gathering
• Negotiation and settlement
• International cases Appendices include three charts listing, by state, helpful regulations for the child's attorney, a summary of state statutes, and the laws governing for representation of children in court. In addition, the book includes sample forms, cases, and resources for further research. About the Author: Melissa Kucinski is an attorney and mediator in Washington, D.C., and Maryland. She served as a consultant to the Hague Conference on Private International Law in 2013 and has written a dozen articles published in
more than one language on international children’s issues, the mediation of complex cross-border custody, and child abduction cases. Melissa has presented at national and international conferences on international children’s issues and mediation. Melissa was part of a U.S. Delegation sent to Tokyo, Japan, in 2014 to train Japanese mediators to handle international parental child abduction cases under the 1980 Hague Convention on Parental Child Abduction. Melissa has been a long-standing member of the U.S. Secretary of State’s Advisory Committee on Private International Law. She served as a private sector advisor to the U.S. Delegation to The Hague’s Sixth Special Commission meeting in 2011 to review the practical operation of two international children’s treaties, and she attended the Seventh Special Commission meeting in 2017 with International Social Service (ISS). She
currently chairs ISS’s efforts to create a global network of international family mediators. Melissa has served in a variety of capacities within the American Bar Association, including past chair of an International Family
Mediation Task Force, where she spearheaded the effort to design and host a weeklong advanced international family mediation training. Melissa has taught the International Family Law course at the George Washington University School of Law since 2010. She is a fellow of the International Academy of Family Lawyers. Melissa is a member of the
Uniform Law Commission’s Joint Editorial Board on Uniform Family Laws, and has been an observer or advisor on numerous study and drafting committees since 2012. | 
