Lawyers learn how to represent kids.

Patrick Neale, a government and land use lawyer in Marco Island, admits when he walked in the door of the seminar offering an overview of how to represent children in court, he was undecided about actually agreeing to take a case.

He dutifully checked the box that said he agreed to represent a child. That was his ticket to get CLE credits without paying a fee for a seminar titled, "Children Are in Need--Every Lawyer Can Help: What You Can Do and How to Do It."

By the time the three-hour seminar ended January 16, at the Bar's Midyear Meeting in Miami, Neale said he was definitely inspired to take a case. Later, he'll fill out a "validation form" that shows he did indeed take a case.

"I said to myself, 'Why don't you just listen to what you tell others? Get out of your comfort zone,'" Neale said.

That was the idea behind the seminar sponsored by an unprecedented partnership between the Public Interest Law Section, often dubbed "the conscience of the Bar," and the largest section with plenty of resources, the Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section.

It was designed not for the experienced child advocate who already knows the ins and outs of dependency and family courts, but for lawyers who practice in a variety of fields and are willing to accept Bar President Miles McGrane's challenge to represent a child.

"Simply said, children are my agenda," McGrane told the lawyers. In his travels around the state, he said, "Many of our members have told me they would like to help but didn't know how to get started, and that's exactly why this program was developed.... Your knowledge and ability as a lawyer is truly in great need. Today, there are less than 20 full-time legal aid attorneys providing children's services. That's one legal aid attorney for every 31,000 children in our state."

On this Friday afternoon, 89 lawyers participated in the seminar. Of those, 54 people committed to represent at least one child. And many of the others were already in jobs, such as legal aid or legal service lawyers, where they could provide representation.

For Neale, it was also a way to be a better volunteer in his community. He's already involved in the United Way in Collier County; he's on the board of the YMCA; and he's president-elect of Youth Haven, a children's emergency shelter.

"I thought it would help me be a better board member and understand children's issues," Neale said.

"What I loved about the seminar was it gave you just enough information in each...