PORTLAND – Children who have been the victims of abuse or neglect will receive some high-priced legal representation for free from lawyers at one of the state’s largest law firms.

About 30 lawyers from Pierce Atwood have offered their services to assist volunteer child advocates who speak for children in child protective cases. The 100-lawyer firm, with a roster that includes two former state chief justices and a U.S. special prosecutor, hope they can help right the balance in what can be the most complex and emotionally wrenching cases that come into a Maine courtroom.

The lawyers will work with Court Appointed Special Advocates, or CASAs, who represent about 480 of the state’s children in the legal process used to determine if they will be removed from their homes or allowed to stay with their families. Often the volunteers are not prepared to make the child’s position heard in a hotly contested court case.

“The CASA program supplies us with a lot of talented people who do a good job dealing with the clients, but when they come into the courtroom they can be a little bewildered,” said Maine District Court Judge Paul Eggert.

When a case of child abuse or neglect comes to court, the state is always represented by a lawyer. The mother and father are represented by a lawyer, sometimes one each.

Foster parents also may have a lawyer looking out for their interests, and sometimes even grandparents are represented. But the same is not always true of the child.

Maine law requires that a CASA be assigned to a case if a volunteer is available. Most of the time children end up being represented by court-appointed lawyers, who are paid for their services.

The guardian is allowed to testify, subpoena witnesses, ask questions in court and object when one of the other parties tries to introduce evidence that doesn’t belong. Too often a CASA can be intimidated, and let the other lawyers argue with each other, Eggert says.

Legal experience is sometimes important, especially when the needs of the Department of Human Services, represented by the state Attorney General’s Office, run counter to that of the child.

After interviewing family members, teachers and therapists, a CASA could determine that a child would be better off at home. But the state may be pushing for removal, says Kevin Gordon, a Pierce Atwood partner and utilities law expert who has been doing free child protective work for the last 12 years.

“The guardians go in against experienced trial lawyers, and these are full-blown trials that can go on for four days. Sometimes they could use someone who knows how to present an effective case,” he said.