A proposed bill, introduced by state Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman (R-Jefferson City), would establish a complaint procedure for litigants who are dissatisfied with the services of a Guardian Ad Litem in family court.
If approved, the written complaint procedure under Senate Bill 359 would be made available to the public and would be manned by the Missouri Supreme Court’s Office of Chief Disciplinary Counsel.
“I want to thank Senator Coleman for even taking a chance on working on this because it is controversial and the Missouri Bar is going to try and put down anything that touches Guardian Ads Litem but we have to start somewhere,” said Timothy W. Roldan, social worker, attorney, and St. Louis GAL.
Multiple GALs have been named as defendants in various lawsuits including Attorney Elaine Pudlowski, Attorney Jennifer Williams, and Attorney Brian Dunlop for allegedly failing to advocate for a child’s best interests in divorce and custody proceedings.
“They're not mental health professionals, and 50% of abuse is psychological with or without physical abuse or neglect," Roldan told the St. Louis Record. "Guardian Ads Litem don't have this training to understand or even identify the issues."
The proposal also calls for GALs to provide invoices every thirty days and prior to each hearing.
The invoices must include the date of services rendered, a generalized description of services, the hourly rate charged, and the time spent on the date services were rendered.
“It should be mandatory,” Roldan added. “All billing from a Guardian Ad Litem should be presented to the court and the attorneys and the parties every month in an accurate, detailed, and unredacted manner. There's no reason why they can't be honest about everything.”
However, Roldan doesn't think the proposed law goes far enough.
"Without mental health professionals being able to contribute in a meaningful way to all of these processes, everything that we do is going to be a half measure and will avail no positive results and new issues will be created," he said.
Attorney Evita Tolu who sued Pudlowski and Williams wants to see more accountability built into the bill.
"There needs to be the removal of quasi-judicial immunity so that GALs can be treated like any other legal professional and be subject to malpractice suits," she said.
Currently, the judiciary is too close to GALs, according to Roldan.
“They protect them,” he said. “They don't make them testify. They can throw out their recommendation from the back of the room. No one can check it because there's nothing in writing. They can't challenge it. They can't impose or propound discovery on them. It’s horrific.”