family-law arkansas
Can I change attorney ad litem?
<p>I’m in a custody battle in Arkansas. We still have 10 months until the final date of court. Our attorney ad litem appointed for our 2 year old daughter is extremely biased against me. I can feel it and don’t trust her. Can I request the court to change AAL?</p>

<p>This person is appointed by the court to look after the child's interests recognizing that the child's interests may be different from those of the parents. As @phoog notes in the comments:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>the attorney ad litem is not your lawyer. The question suggests that
you might not understand this (you mention &quot;our&quot; attorney ad litem).
The job of the attorney ad litem is to represent your daughter's
interests, which might not align with yours. This is why you need your
own lawyer. The attorney ad litem might be skeptical of you and your
submissions to the court; that's her job. It doesn't necessarily mean
that she is biased against you. If her skepticism is well founded, an
attempt to have her replaced may work against you.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>(FYI, most jurisdictions call this person a &quot;guardian ad litem&quot; or GAL, but Arkansas uses atypical terminology.)</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Our attorney ad litem appointed for our 2 year old daughter is
extremely biased against me.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This is not a reason to remove the person appointed. It is their job to distrust parents and provide an independent opinion to the court.</p>
<p>There could be grounds for removing a guardian ad litem (e.g. a personal relationship with one of the parties prior to the litigation), but nothing in this question suggests that any relevant facts are present.</p>
<p>You would be much better served trying to figure out what causes the guardian ad litem to distrust you and to find a way to show that person that their distrust of you is ill-founded.</p>

<p>The attorney ad litem <strong>is on the opposing side</strong>.</p>
<p>There are 3 teams on the field: you, your ex and your child.</p>
<p>They don't wear team jerseys in legal work, but if they did, the <em>attorney ad litem</em> would be wearing a different color jersey than you.</p>
<p>That is why they seem extremely biased against you.</p>
<p>You should not even be talking to them. That's why you have a lawyer.</p>
<p>If you don't have a lawyer, and have been clinging to the <em>attorney ad litem</em> to try to get free legal advice, that would partly explain their hostility.  They can't give you legal advice.  If you think they have, no, they have been negotiating with an opponent.</p>
