Fiduciary Duty
Why your family law attorney owes undivided loyalty to YOU—not the child, not the judge, and not the local domestic relations bar.
What Family Lawyers Tell Paying Clients
Family courts and lawyers routinely tell parents: "In family court, things work differently. As an officer of the court, my ultimate ethical obligation is to help the judge reach what's best for the child, even if you want to aggressively assert your constitutional rights."
This statement is an ethical falsehood and an actionable breach of contract. Your attorney represents YOU, not the child. Feigning dual loyalty allows attorneys to maintain comfortable standing with judges at their client's expense.
The Fiduciary Duty of Absolute Loyalty
A fiduciary duty is the highest standard of care known to Anglo-American law. When you retain an attorney, they contractually bind themselves to advance your legal objectives and strictly safeguard your legal rights.
Under governing Rules of Professional Conduct, the client defines the objectives of representation. An attorney who refuses to file constitutional objections or waives your rights because "the judge doesn't like constitutional arguments" commits an actionable breach of fiduciary trust.
Natural Parental Trust Precedes the State
“The law's concept of the family rests on a presumption that parents possess what a child lacks in maturity, experience, and capacity for judgment required for making life's difficult decisions.”
As ruled by the Supreme Court, parents hold a natural common-law fiduciary trust over their children. That trust is not held by the attorney or the state judge.
Scope of Representation & Loyalty
Under ABA Model Rules 1.2 and 1.7, a lawyer must abide by a client's decisions concerning the objectives of representation and shall not represent a client if the representation involves a concurrent conflict of interest.
Attempting to balance a client's constitutional parental rights against an adverse party's subjective demands breaches undivided fiduciary loyalty.
The "Don't Anger the Judge" Trap
Attorneys frequently coerce clients into settling for substandard possession orders by threatening: "If we push your constitutional arguments, the judge will get mad and give you even less time."
By convincing you to waive your record, the lawyer collects their fee without ever having to write an appealable brief or risk judicial disfavor.
Instruct your attorney in writing to raise your constitutional objections on the record, or relieve them of representation.
Written Directive to Your Retained Counsel
Deliver this written instruction to your attorney to prevent them from waiving your constitutional protections:
"Formal Client Directive on Constitutional Preservation: Pursuant to your fiduciary duty and the Rules of Professional Conduct governing scope of representation, you are hereby instructed that I do NOT consent to the waiver of any of my federal or state constitutional rights."
"You are directed to formally object on the record to the application of the statutory "best interest" standard absent an adjudicated finding of unfitness under strict scrutiny, and to preserve all constitutional errors for appellate review. You do not have authority to compromise my equal parental status."