The research examined the task of legal representation and client management, in a study focused on the representation of parents in child care proceedings. Care proceedings, brought where there are serious child protection concerns, have been subject to extensive review, and reforms to procedures and the funding regime impacting on legal representatives. This qualitative research was prompted by a study based on an examination of court files and commissioned by the DCA . This raised questions about the way parents are represented, and the role of parental representation in affecting the process and outcome of proceedings. Underlying legal representation of parents are issues of access to justice for one of the most vulnerable and needy groups in our society.
