New Jersey Division of Youth & Family Services v. D.C.

This appeal poses the issue of compensation for attorneys appointed to represent indigent parents and their minor children in actions by the Division of Youth and Family Services (DYFS) for termination of parental rights under N.J.S.A. 30:4011 to -24. Appellants ask us to determine that the. fees for their services as appointed counsel in a Title 30 case are compensable and legally payable. The two terms have different implications. The fees are “compensable” if appellants have the substantive right to be paid. They are “legally payable,” however, only if the legislature has appropriated…