Fifty years after the U.S. Supreme Court decided in In re Gault that juveniles in delinquency proceedings are entitled to the same due process rights as adults, Chase Professor Amy Halbrook says it is time to extend those rights to civil matters. Professor Halbrook spoke today at a seminar Chase co-sponsored on what Gault has meant and what it could mean. For Professor Halbrook, it means juveniles should have due process rights and a right to representation by a traditional lawyer in civil cases, when a protect right is at stake. In many of those civil matters, such as custody or foster care, a representative of a child is required to consider only what appears to be in the best interest of the child, not what the child wants. The ramifications for a child’s well-being or development can be so significant that rights to association and due process should be protected by a traditional lawyer, Professor Halbrook says.