From Public Defender to Guardian ad Litem, attorney urges others to help

Some of Randy Moore’s best legal work over the years occurred after his client had been found guilty of a horrendous crime.

That’s when Moore, who was chief assistant public defender for many years until his retirement in 2014, would have to dig deep, look under proverbial rocks, investigate, interview people in a bid to find the one mitigating factor that might save his client from a lethal injection.

No matter the outcome, he was, more often than not, usually able to present a compelling case to the jury why his client’s life should be spared. Usually the argument Moore made had to do with how his client had been raised.

“It became apparent to me, from the beginning of my career as an assistant PD, that bad or nonexistent parenting played a significant role in shaping many of the people I represented and the decisions they made,” Moore said last week. “From the beginning I thought “what if” someone ― a teacher, a coach, a counselor, a responsible adult ― had recognized the abuse and the neglect suffered by a defenseless child and cared enough to intervene and stop it; maybe that child’s life would have taken a completely different direction, maybe that child would have made better choices and not become someone I had to defend as an attorney.”

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That is what prompted Moore to become a Guardian ad Litem (GAL) in 2017. And it’s that important volunteer work of advocating for and representing neglected, abused and abandoned children in dependency court that resulted in Moore winning the Florida Bar 2023 Pro Bono Award for the 18th Judicial Circuit.

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Attorney Jessica Travis said Moore is a perfect fit to volunteer as a Guardian ad Litem.

“Randy Moore is a serious attorney who has handled the most serious of cases. He has seen a lot of lives wasted and hurt by childhood trauma,” she said. “It only makes sense that his career would turn to volunteering as a Guardian ad Litem, helping children when they are their most vulnerable. I’m honored to know and have worked with Randy Moore and Brevard County is lucky to have him.”

Nearly anyone with a high school diploma who takes the 30-hour training class can become a Guardian ad Litem. You certainly don’t have to be an attorney. In fact it’s pretty rare that a GAL is an attorney. That’s why Moore brings a little more to the table than most.

“As a GAL and as a defense attorney, I have seen horrendous things done to children by parents who abused, neglected or failed to protect them, until someone saw evidence of abuse and did something about it,” Moore said. “Now that I’m in a position to do so, I can be that person.”

Not one to seek the spotlight, Moore agreed to be interviewed with the hope others will get involved in the program as well.

Right now, Moore represents 12 children as a Guardian ad Litem from Grant/Valkaria to Titusville to Osceola and Hillsborough Counties. The children range in age from newborn to 14 and all have been removed from the custody of their parents or caregivers because a court has determined they have been abused, neglected or abandoned.

The parents are then offered a case plan and a reasonable time to complete it, which would enable them to regain custody if it’s successfully completed. If it’s not, parental rights are terminated.

“I spent most of my career trying to avoid talking to the press but now I believe this occasion could be an opportunity to encourage attorneys and non-attorneys to volunteer in dependency cases,” he explained.

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Some of what Moore and other GALs do is to conduct monthly home visits to the foster home placement of each child where he speaks with the child and meets with the caregivers in the home. He sometimes attends parent-child visitations and is in constant contact with with mental health counselors for the children, with their teachers, with the assigned case managers as well as the GAL attorneys and Department of Children and Family attorneys. He takes the children to doctor appointments and, of course, he attends the regular court proceedings.

The present-day Chief Assistant Public Defender Mike Pirolo said the award is well-deserved for the man he calls his mentor.

“Randy Moore is your prime example of a public servant. Prior to law school he served in the military during the Vietnam war. He then spent his entire career with the public defender’s office,” Pirolo said. “Even in retirement Randy is dedicated to the representation of the most vulnerable in our community and ensuring that their constitutional rights are not violated. Randy should be a role model to every lawyer in public service.”

There are also opportunities for attorneys to volunteer their services as Attorneys ad Litem but Moore said he feels he can do more good as a guardian.

“As a guardian ad litem I’ve seen miraculous changes, progress and growth in abused children after they’ve been removed from abusive environments and placed with compassionate, nurturing caregivers who have the means and the incentive to provide the care they need,” he said. “I have been fortunate in my life, in many respects. I have never experienced abuse, or needed to be rescued from it. For me, for any person who becomes a guardian ad litem or an attorney ad litem, it’s about giving back. There is a need for both guardians ad litem and attorneys ad litem. All it takes is the desire and the commitment to step up.”

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