Law Office of Deborah Dentler

About Us

Deborah Dentler,  Attorney

Ms. Dentler holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in history, and a law degree from UCLA. She specializes in juvenile dependency cases in California’s appellate courts (where she typically represents biological parents and foster children).  An adoptive parent herself, she is often consulted by foster parents seeking information about court procedures.   She practices juvenile dependency law in California’s appellate courts and also maintains a limited practice in certain trial courts in the Greater L.A. area.  She has substantial experience in legislative drafting, legislative advocacy, organizational consulting and grant writing. She represents the non-profit advocacy organization Advokids in a landmark lawsuit filed against the Los Angeles County’s child welfare agency in August 2014. She is an annual chapter update author of a leading treatise on child welfare law, California Juvenile Dependency Practice (C.E.B.) and has twice presented panel discussions at annual conferences of the North American Council on Adoptable Children.  Deborah was a relative caregiver and then legal guardian of a relative’s 11 year-old daughter who had lived in a dozen different foster homes in L.A. County before being adopted by Deborah and her family at age 13.   Deborah is married to labor lawyer Tony Segall. They have two biological sons, one a Los Angeles litigator and the other a Brooklyn composer. Deborah’s daughter-in-law Alexis Casillas is a special education advocacy attorney in Los Angeles. For more about Deborah, see her c.v. here.


  • About Us
  • Resources
    • FAQs
    • Links
    • Documents
    • Court Forms
    • Subsidies and Financial Support
    • Education
    • Recommended Reading
  • Intake Questionnaire
  • Contact

Tag Cloud

adopt adoption Adoption Tax Credit Advokids American Bar Association CDSS CHAMPS children's rights conference DCFS Deborah Dentler Fost-Adopt foster Foster Care Foster Child foster parent grievance procedure Group home host Jim Newton JV-210 Kidsave kinship Law lawsuit litigation Los Angeles Los Angeles County Los Angeles Times Memo 1-95 NACAC National Adoption Day National Adoption Month nbc Nebraska New York Times Outward press release same-sex couples Scholarship Serenity Foster Family Agengy Supreme Court webinar Weekend Miracles Whelan

News and Updates

Advocates for Foster Children Announce Victory in Landmark Lawsuit Against Troubled Child Welfare System in Los Angeles

Settlement Will Correct Systemic Wrongdoing by DCFS A judgment was entered today, October 19, 2017, in Los Angeles Superior Court in a landmark lawsuit filed by three former foster parents and the nonprofit organization Advokids. Filed in August 2014, the lawsuit, titled Advokids et al. v. Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services […]

CHAMPS – Children Need Amazing Parents – Launch Communications Toolkit

CHAMPS campaign advocates for the amazing parents that help foster children recover from trauma, grow, and flourish. This toolkit provides sample Facebook posts, social media images, tweets and a blurb for a newsletter. Click here for a link CHAMPS Facebook page. Click here for the communications toolkit.

More Posts from this Category

[footer_backtotop]

Copyright © 2023 Law Office of Deborah Dentler · Site by Allium Creative · Log in