D&G Attorney Jesse Butler Wins Appeal Protecting Abused Child’s Interests

Attorney Jesse R. Butler
Jesse R. Butler

On August 23, 2017, the Fifth District Court of Appeals issued an opinion affirming the termination of parental rights in the case M.B. v. Department of Children and Families. Jesse Butler represented the interests of the minor child, M.B., on appeal. The appeal involved the neglect and abuse of a minor child with special needs. The trial court found that it was in the best interests of the child to terminate the parental rights of the mother. Termination of the mother’s parental rights would permit the child to be adopted by a close caregiver, whom the child had formed a special bond. Jesse Butler represented the Guardian Ad Litem Program on appeal as a volunteer (pro bono) appellate attorney through the Defending the Best Interests project of the Florida Bar. The Guardian Ad Litem Program serves as the voice of the child in these proceedings. After an expedited appellate briefing schedule, the Fifth District Court of Appeal affirmed the termination of parental rights by the trial court.

Jesse Butler practices appellate law, consumer law, and general civil/commercial litigation at Dickinson & Gibbons. He is a member of the Appellate Section of the Florida Bar and is the immediate past-president of the Sarasota County Bar Association’s Young Lawyers Division. Jesse Butler currently serves on the Florida Bar Young Lawyer Division’s Board of Governors as elected representative of the Twelfth Judicial Circuit, which includes Sarasota, Manatee and DeSoto Counties. He is A/V rated by Martindale-Hubbell.

If you have a question about an appeal or need an appellate law attorney, contact Dickinson & Gibbons, P.A. at 941-366-4680.