A Voice for the Vulnerable

Providing compassionate, effective, and highly skilled representation to children as Guardian Ad Litem.
Children deserve to have an attorney who will develop a relationship with them, fight for their best interest, and give them a voice.  As stated in Rule 8:6 of the Rules of the Virginia Supreme Court, The Child Advocate Law Firm PLLC can be counted on to to “vigorously represent the child, fully protecting the child’s interest and welfare.”



Morgan Cox, Attorney at Law

Morgan started her legal career interning in a domestic violence shelter in Pennsylvania.  The internship allowed her to experience, even before finishing law school, what it was like to work with families in crisis and how to use her law degree to positively impact people’s lives.  Immediately after law school, Morgan clerked for three family court judges in the Family Court of the State of Delaware.  For two years, Morgan assisted in the writing of judicial opinions, including custody, visitation, support, and termination of parental rights. Morgan’s desire to do child advocacy work was prompted from her time as a law clerk.  She knew that ultimately she would like to focus her career on being a voice for children.

Danielle Wingfield-Smith (Of Counsel)

Danielle’s deep commitment to child advocacy work led her to pursue a career in the field of law. Danielle began her legal career assisting families and children at the Jeanette Lipman Family Law Clinic in Richmond, Virginia. Working with the clinic gave her valuable experience as she litigated cases relating to foster care, divorce, custody, visitation, domestic violence, public benefits, housing, children in need of services, and education, which were heard in the Juvenile & Domestic Relations Courts in Richmond and Chesterfield, Virginia. During her time at the clinic, Danielle had the privilege of serving as the understudy of Dale Cecka, Esquire, co-author of the 2018 edition of Virginia Practice, Family Law: Theory, Practice, and Forms, one of the major authorities for the practice of family law in Virginia.

Put simply, a guardian ad litem is an attorney appointed by the Court to represent a child’s best interests. Judges are routinely required to make critical decisions related to children such as when and how long a child will be removed from their home, who is allowed access to a child, and what custodial schedule will be put in place for a child. The decisions made in Court every day have a lifetime of consequences for the children involved. The Child Advocate Law Firm is committed to giving children a voice and being part of the solution to restore hope and dreams in children who find themselves in the middle of a court dispute.

        Morgan is committed to the pro bono representation of children who qualify for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) and asylum. Children who have been abused, neglected, and/or abandoned in their home country may qualify for SIJS. Many of the unaccompanied minors who are apprehended at the border qualify to legally stay in this country because of this special status afforded to the most vulnerable of children who enter our country. Likewise, children who have been persecuted or fear they will be persecuted on account of race, religion, nationality, and/or membership in a particular social group or political opinion may be granted asylum. Morgan’s immigration experience is limited and has been obtained through training and acceptance of cases provided through non-profit organizations. Given the fact that she is a solo practitioner, Morgan is limited on the number of cases that she can take on pro bono and therefore her ability to take on a case will be determined on a case by case basis.

          Resources For Your Journey

          Kids in Need of Defense (KIND)

          I was trained to represent children in Special Immigrant Juvenile Status cases by KIND in Washington D.C. KIND is on the front lines of providing advocacy for unaccompanied minors. In 2014, an unprecedented number of unaccompanied minors crossed the…

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          The Unexpected Legacy of Divorce

          The Unexpected Legacy of Divorce written by Judith S. Wallerstein, Julia M. Lewis, and Sandra Blakeslee, profoundly affected how I advise clients in custody proceedings. It is the only longitudinal study that has been done on children of divorce. It…

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          Our Family Wizard

          Our Family Wizard is a website that “offers divorced or separated parents an array of tools to easily schedule child custody and track parenting time, share important family information, manage expenses as well as create an accurate, clear log of…

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          Office Location

          1710 Allied Street, Suite 21
          Charlottesville, VA 22903

          Contact

          (Ph) 434-282-4575

          (Fax)  800-510-5810