When attorney Evita Tolu discovered that a popular Guardian Ad Litem (GAL) has 40 cases with trials and hearings scheduled over a 22-day period, she was appalled.
“It’s unreasonable,” she said. “That is ripping off litigants and delaying their cases. I know from my personal experience that I can only handle one or two trials per month because of the preparation required even for a one-day trial.”
Of the 40 cases with scheduled proceedings between Jan. 2 and Feb. 2 taking place in St. Charles or St. Louis, Elaine Pudlowski has about eleven GAL cases with the rest involving divorcing parents or child custody disputes, according to Casenet data obtained by the St. Louis Record.
Pudlowski is a partner at Frankel, Rubin, Klein, Payne & Pudlowski law firm.
“Motion hearings require extensive drafting, preparation, and time for arguments,” Tolu told the St. Louis Record. “Settlement conferences require the attorney’s knowledge of the client’s file from A to Z and a review of the file, meetings, and discussions with the client and opposing counsel.”
Under Standard 2.0 of the Missouri Supreme Court GAL Standards, a GAL has a duty to notify the court if the caseload reaches a level bearing upon the guardian ad item’s ability to meet these standards or to comply with the ethical standards of the rules of professional conduct.
“Forty cases with trials and hearings in 22 days...it's impossible to be competent,” Tolu added. “I deal with immigrants and the situation is similar to the extent that families are being separated. I can only do one trial a month because I have to prepare thoroughly myself, my client, and the witnesses to make sure that my client gets the outcome the client wants and that there will be no separation in the family.”
The Missouri Supreme Court responded but declined to comment on the record.
The greatest burden falls on the children GALs represent, according to Timothy W. Roldan, social worker, attorney, and former St. Louis GAL.
“The risk to the divorcing parents in custody disputes is that the investigation was not done competently and not done thoroughly and the risk for the children, in particular, is a due process violation because the GAL probably cannot meet her duties to the child," he said.
When asked about her caseload, Pudlowski did not respond to requests for comment. As previously reported in the St. Louis Record, Tolu unsuccessfully sued Pudlowski after losing custody of her children in her divorce in which Pudlowski served as a GAL.