After 25 years of representing vulnerable children and families, Fredonia-based attorney Michael J. Sullivan believes Family Court is where he belongs.

For 20 years, Sullivan has been the Chautauqua County Liaison to the Appellate Court’s Attorney for the Child program from Chautauqua County. He was first appointed by the retired Judge Lynn Hartley and then continued in that role by recently retired Family Court Judge, Judith Claire.

Sullivan has practiced law in New York since February 1985 and has maintained his law office at his current address, 7 E. Main St. in Fredonia, since 1991. A graduate of the Syracuse University College of Law, he received his undergraduate degree from the University of Dayton, in Dayton, Ohio. He a member of the Northern Chautauqua County and the Erie County Bar Associations.

He is the Attorney for the Child Liaison from Chautauqua County to the Fourth Department Appellate Court program. He serves on the New York State Child Welfare Court Improvement Project Steering Committee for Chautauqua County Family Court. Sullivan is also a panel member on the New York State Surrogate Decision Making Committee.

Sullivan is running against Frewsburg attorney Sherry Bjork in Tuesday’s Republican primary election. He has been endorsed by the Republican and Conservative parties. He will also appear on the Independence and Green party line in November.

OBSERVER: Why are you running to become the next Family Court judge in Chautauqua County?

Sullivan: My career took a turn 25 years ago. I was starting my full-time private law office after working for the county for nine years. The Family Court judge at the time was Lynn Hartley. He suggested I become a Law Guardian, the predecessor to today’s Attorney for the Child. My third client was a particularly difficult situation with sexual abuse. During the process of helping this little girl, I discovered that Family Court was where I belonged. Today my law practice is centered on family law and I would not want it any other way. It is the rare day that you go home without feeling that you had accomplished good for a child and a family. The skills that an attorney has to refine to work in family court, dealing with the family stress and the individual clients trauma, past and present, is only acquired by doing this work. I have lived the issues in family court with my clients for an extended period of time. I have developed the patience to deal with adults and children who are reluctant to open up and share very personal details. I have developed the empathy to work with people in their most dire times. And I have a passion for this work that I did not realize until I started working with children and families 25 years ago. I am compelled to run for this office because I am convinced I can do more to help children and families as a Judge than as an attorney and I want to do just that.

OBSERVER: What experiences in your legal career make you an ideal fit for this position?

Sullivan: I never want to say I have seen it all. Just when you say or even think it, something totally new becomes a part of a family trauma bring people to court. But having seen many different situations from hundreds of families over more than 25 years has created a wealth of experience. I have also developed empathy and compassion from listening to clients about the frustrations they have with a system that enters their lives for a short period of time but can have great, and lifetime, consequences. The totality of my experience makes me the ideal fit. Attorneys are trained to find the legal answers, but Family Court is not only about the law book answers. Much of what happens follows a set of rules and laws, but with great deference to individual family and child needs. My experience with the people I have been involved with in family court, the children, the parents, the foster parents, the CASA worker, the caseworkers, other attorneys and judges is the total experience that make me an ideal fit for the position of Judge. In addition I was invited nearly 15 years ago by retired Judge Judith Claire to help create our Chautauqua County Family Drug Treatment Court. The invitation has been one of the moments I look back on proudly knowing I had the chance to develop and to continue to today working with Families where drug addiction has led to abuse and neglect. We spent nearly 3 years developing the court and have worked with addicted parents now for over 12 years. I did not know what to expect when it started. But in hindsight it has proven to be one of the greatest reforms in Family Court. We know it works. We know that nearly all the parents who graduate, never return to family court on new neglects. We have witnessed more than a dozen babies born free of drug addiction after their mothers had previously given birth to a child that needed to go through withdrawals and facing a lifetime of challenges. It is truly amazing to be part of a program where every participant volunteers to be part of the very demanding program with the goal of doing what is right for their children despite an addiction.

OBSERVER: What do you see as the most pressing challenges facing Family Court today and how do you plan on addressing them if elected?

Sullivan: The most pressing challenge facing the Family Court is the challenge that faces families every day, our community’s drug addiction epidemic. Decades ago our nation launched a war on drugs and today we literally have people dying in the streets from violence and overdoses. Every time a parent uses an illegal substance, or abuses a legal substance, the risks to their children increase. Parents unable to care for their child because of a drug or alcohol induced stupor; the parent who leaves the children home alone to get their next fix; the violence that enters the home over drug sales; and the trauma of a young child unable to awaken a parent who is unconscious. The pressing challenges of the family brought by drugs are the pressing challenge on the court. Our court is in the midst of a statewide Child Welfare Court Improvement Project. On September 1, a few days ago, new protocols were stared to increase the screening for and detection of drug and alcohol abuse which may not be immediately apparent in neglect and abuse cases. The purpose of the program is to move parents into evaluations and treatment faster so that the issues are addressed immediately, not months down the road. The idea is to incorporate some of the basic concepts of the drug treatment court into the more traditional court setting. Having been part of the treatment court development and still participating as the advocate for the child on the court team, and having been invited by retired Judge Judith Claire to participate in the development of the new program, I believe I am in the best position of the candidates to continue the work through the pilot period and into full implementation.

OBSERVER: Any reforms you’d like to see implemented?

Sullivan: I serve on the steering committee for the Child Welfare Court Improvement Project. The program has worked to make the Court better for about 10 years. We have opened the door to conditional surrenders, allowing children who are freed for adoption to be adopted quickly without waiting more than two years while their birth parents appeal the termination of parental rights. We have developed a child court orientation day which brings children to the court to tour and learn the lay of the land before their actual court dates. We worked to improve the scheduling to allow proper time to handle pre-trials; we have increased trauma informed practices in court providing training to attorneys who deal with clients who often have a lifetime of trauma that needs to be understood before an attorney can offer assistance for the current crisis or situation. Having participated in these past projects, I look forward to working to implement the current project to address drug and alcohol in neglect and abuse cases. As we move forward in that area, I would be ready to take on the next challenge or task, as the ongoing process to improve family court continues.