Do you know good attorneys for family and appellate courts? Good children rights advocates?

Z. is a lovely woman. She has been a cherished friend of mine since our childhood days in Chicago's Lincoln Park. Our friendship across racial lines developed quickly as we roller skated and skateboarded up and down Mohawk Street everyday together, after school. She was a delightful, warm little girl with a broad smile!  Both of us loved reading and she appreciated my early love of poetry. We were classmates for several years in addition to being neighbors, and we even had the same piano teacher. My late father was her dentist, a touching connection that has meant even more to me since his sudden and untimely death when Z. and I were in our twenties. 

Z.'s leadership skills were evident at a young age, and she was one of the smartest kids I knew. I remember her charming, pure childhood curiosity about any and all topics. She never got bored, but absorbed all new information with fascination. Her decision to pursue medicine made sense; along with her compassion for others, she excelled at school.

Today, Z. is a wonderful, loving mother fighting in court for her parenting rights. Her ex has a generous salary and extensive resources. Further supported by the excessive child support payments Z.'s family pays him, he has been able to afford an attorney to legally destroy Z.'s parenting rights.  He has also vindictively limited her access to their children. 

Worst of all, her ex-husband has neglected their children's health. Against court orders and doctors' plans, he misrepresented the facts to a surgeon and illegally had their son's medically-necessary feeding tube removed. The youngster immediately lost a great deal of weight and has grown minimally for years since. Because she does not now have medical rights for the children, Z. can only watch as her son gags as he eats, and fails to gain weight and grow at the rate he was achieving when he was under her care. His condition is also known as Failure to Thrive. Furthermore, both of her children have a genetic disorder called Fuchs Dystrophy affecting their eyesight, for which their father has not brought them in for doctor-ordered follow-up care from an ophthalmologist.

Z. herself has impaired eyesight, a seizure disorder, and no income due to health and legal issues.  Unlike her well-to-do ex-husband, she cannot afford an attorney, and must file petitions and motions on her own (she is representing herself pro se). The situation is terribly stacked against her and her children, and they need all the help they can get!

Z. desperately needs funding to hire attorneys to regain the medical decision-making rights for her children. Retaining appropriate attorney(s) will cost upwards of $25,000.

Please help Z. turn around a terrible legal situation, reunify with her two children, and restore their compromised health!