Best Interests Equals Zealous Advocacy: A Not So Radical View of Holistic Representation for Children Accused of Crime

Abstract

In this article, I explain the importance of high quality, zealous advocacy for children accused of crime in juvenile court, and what it takes to provide such professional services. In Part I, I explore the right to counsel granted by the Gault Court, in Part II, I analyze the different views of counsel's functions in juvenile court, and Part III develops my model of holistic lawyering and how it plays out in the ideal and real world.

Keywords: juvenile justice, right to counsel, Gault, holistic lawyering