SPLIT DECISION: Ineffective Assistance in a Parental-Rights-Termination Case – In re J.A.B., 04-18-0

In In re J.A.B., the majority held that when an appointed trial attorney in a parental-termination case briefly appeared, and then left during the presentation of the Texas Department of Family & Protective Services’ case, the parent was deprived of effective assistance of counsel. The concurrence agreed with the analysis, but emphasized “the egregiousness of counsel’s conduct in abandoning his client during trial.”