David R. Katner
Professor of Clinical Law and Felix J. Dreyfous Teaching Fellow in Juvenile Law
Education & Affiliations
Biography
Since his graduation from law school, Mr. Katner started his own law firm (Katner & Escher) and was director of the Trial Advocacy program at Tulane. In private practice, he worked as an indigent defender, and litigated general civil and felony criminal cases including death penalty cases. He has served on the Board of the National Association of Counsel for Children (the largest legal organization of attorneys who provide representation for child and juvenile clients), and on the Board of the Children's Bureau; he has served on the Board of Directors of the New Orleans Legal Assistance Corporation, and the Jefferson Parish Juvenile Services Advisory Board, and on the Louisiana Mental Health Advocacy Services Board. He is the faculty founder of the Tulane University Vietnamese Association, of Tulane's Collegiate Organization for AIDS Prevention, and Tulane's student chapter of the National Association of Counsel for Children. He has served as legal advisor to the Louisiana Children's Code Project and Covenant House in New Orleans. He sits as an ad hoc judge in Orleans Parish Juvenile Court. He is director of the Juvenile Law Clinic, and he has taught Trial Advocacy, Legal Profession (Legal Ethics), Advanced Criminal Procedure, Evidence, and Introduction to Forensic Child Psychiatry at the Tulane Medical School.
Contributions
Selected Publications
In Search of a “Normal” Attorney-Client Relationship, Southern California Review of Law & Social Justice, (Forthcoming 2024).
Juvenile Competency Complications: Protocol, Unmet Needs, Developmental Immaturity, FASD and Comorbidity, American Journal of Law & Medicine (Forthcoming 2024). (Peer reviewed) Presented at Boston University Law School, Harvard Medical School Symposium for American Journal of Law & Medicine, Feb. 2-4, 2023).
Juvenile Competency Restoration, 27 Lewis & Clark Law Review 657 (2023). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4491809
Torture, Ethics and Accountability? 53 Loyola University Chicago Law Journal 513 (2022. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4133703 (Presented at UCLA School of Law, International Legal Ethics Conference 2022, Lawyers in a World of Crisis, UCLA Luskin Conference Center, Aug. 13-15, 2022)
Trump’s Policy of Putting Kids in Cages: Six Dead, Thousands Separated from Parents, Making America Great Again? (28 Virginia Journal of Social Policy & the Law 87, (2021) Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3854074
Delayed Responses to Child Sexual Abuse: The Kavanaugh Confirmation Hearing, and Eliminating Statutes of Limitation for Child Sexual Abuse Cases, 47 American Journal of Criminal Law 1 (2020). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3891808
Endorsing Pedophiles For Elected Office? 97 Nebraska Law Review 469 (2018). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3319879
Up In Smoke: Removing Marijuana From Schedule I, 28 BOSTON UNIVERSITY PUBLIC INTEREST LAW JOURNAL 167 (2018). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3236322
Creating State or Regional Dental Registries to Identify Pediatric Dental Abuse or Neglect, 1(5) BIOMEDICAL JOURNAL OF SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL RESEARCH (2017). Available at 2017.bjstr.ms.ID000451.DOI:10.2617/bjstr2017.01.000451.
Considerations in Identifying Pediatric Dental Neglect and the Legal Obligation to Report (co-authored with Suzanne Fournier, DDS, and Christopher Brown, DDS), 147 JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN DENTAL ASSOCIATION 812 (Oct. 2016).
Eliminating the Competency Presumption in Juvenile Delinquency Cases, 24 CORNELL JOURNAL OF LAW & PUBLIC POLICY 403 (2015). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2600603.
Mandatory Reporting of Oral Injuries Indicating Possible Child Abuse, 143 JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN DENTAL ASSOCIATION 1087 (Oct. 2012) (co-authored with Christopher Brown, DDS).
Revising Legal Ethics in Delinquency Cases by Consulting with Juveniles’ Parents, 79 UMKC LAW REVIEW 595 (2011). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2268196
In Opposition to the Mandatory Registration of Juvenile Sex Offenders, 3 JOURNAL OF RACE, GENDER & POVERTY 21 (2011-12). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2274155
Foreword: The Legacy of Gault, 44 CRIMINAL LAW BULLETIN 302 (May-June 2008). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2269190
The Ethical Struggle of Usurping Juvenile Client Autonomy by Raising Competency in Delinquency and Criminal CasesT, 16 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA INTERDISCIPLINARY LAW JOURNAL 293 (2007). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2268203
The Mental Health Paradigm and the MacArthur Study: Emerging Issues Challenging the Competence of Juveniles in Delinquency Systems, 32 AMERICAN JOURNAL OF LAW & MEDICINE 503 (2006). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2271800
Confidentiality and Juvenile Mental Health Records in Dependency Proceedings, 12 WILLIAM & MARY BILL OF RIGHTS JOURNAL 511 (2004). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2269763. This article was selected for reprinting in Representing Children, Families, and Agencies in Child Welfare, Juvenile Justice, Custody, and Adoption Proceedings 281 (Nat'l Assoc. of Counsel for Children, Children's Law Manual Series, 2004 ed.).
A Defense Perspective of Treatment Programs for Juvenile Sex Offenders, 37 CRIMINAL LAW BULLETIN 371 (July-Aug. 2001); reprinted in 2 JUVENILE CORRECTIONAL MENTAL HEALTH REPORT 17 (Jan./Feb. 2002). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2269689
Raising Mental Health Issues – Other Than Insanity – In Juvenile Delinquency Defense, 28 AMERICAN JOURNAL OF CRIMINAL LAW 1 (2001). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2274110
Using Developmental and Mental Health Issues in Opposition to Juvenile Waivers Into Adult Criminal Courts, 4 MICHIGAN CHILD WELFARE LAW JOURNAL 3 (2000). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2277224 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2277224
Coming to Praise, Not to Bury, the New ABA Standards of Practice for Lawyers Who Represent Children in Abuse and Neglect Cases, 14 GEORGETOWN JOURNAL OF LEGAL ETHICS 103 (2000). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2274112
Treatment Programs for Juvenile Sex Offenders: One Defense Lawyer's Perspective, IMPROVING THE PROFESSIONAL RESPONSE TO CHILDREN IN THE LEGAL SYSTEM (Nat'l Assoc. of Counsel for Children, Children's Law Manual Series, 2000 ed.).
The Nexus of Dependency and Delinquency: Requesting Dependency Lawyers to Handle Delinquency Cases, 3 MICHIGAN CHILD WELFARE LAW JOURNAL 2 (WINTER, 1999). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2274743
Raising Mental Health Issues in Juvenile Delinquency Defense: One Lawyer’s Perspective, SERVING THE NEEDS OF THE CHILD CLIENT: KEEPING PACE WITH THE PRACTICE OF LAW FOR CHILDREN 77 (Nat'l Assoc. of Counsel for Children, Children's Law Manual Series, 1998 ed.).
The Diminishing Protections of the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Amendments for Juveniles in Delinquency Cases, and Some Child Development Considerations Worth Revisiting,T CHILD ADVOCACY AT A CROSSROADS 351 (Nat'l Assoc. of Counsel for Children, Children's Law Manual Series, 1996 ed.).
The Ethical Dilemma Awaiting Counsel Who Represent Adolescents With HIV/AIDS: Criminal Law and Tort Suits Pressure Counsel to Breach the Confidentiality of the Clients' Medical Status, 70 TULANE LAW REVIEW 2311 (1996). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2268035
Selected Fundamental Issues for Non-Legally Trained Professionals Who Work With Attorneys in Representing Juvenile Victims and Offenders in Domestic Violence Cases 91 (co-authored with M. Ventrell), 23RD ANNUAL CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT SYMPOSIUM, AGGRESSION & VIOLENCE: DEVELOPMENTAL PATHWAYS (C. Henry Kempe Nat’l Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse and Neglect, and Dept. of Pediatrics, Univ. Colo. School of Medicine, 1995).
Breaching Attorney-Client Confidentiality When Representing Juveniles With AIDS, EXCELLENCE IN CHILDREN’S LAW 199 (Nat'l Assoc. of Counsel for Children, Children's Law Manual Series, 1994 ed.).
Legal Ethics and Representation of Juvenile Clients in Oklahoma, CHILDREN AND THE LAW, V-1CV-13, Pub. No. 541 (Oklahoma Bar Association) (1994).
Ethics in Juvenile Law, CURRENT ISSUES IN PEDIATRIC LAW 253 (Nat'l Assoc. of Counsel for Children, Children's Law Manual Series, 1993 ed.).
Ethical Considerations in Domestic Relations Cases Involving Child Abuse, USING THE LAW TO PROTECT CHILDREN: CURRENT ISSUES IN CHILD WELFARE LAW, ABUSE & NEGLECT (State Bar of New Mexico)(1992).
The Enhanced Ethical Obligations of Representing Juveniles, CHILDREN’S LAW UPDATE 165 (Nat'l Assoc. of Counsel for Children, Children's Law Manual Series, 1991 ed.).
Attempting to Define “Child Neglect” (co-authored by V. Barnes), CHILDREN’S LAW UPDATE 143 (Nat'l Assoc. of Counsel for Children, Children's Law Manual Series, 1991 ed.).
Addressing the Unmet Need for Counsel to Handle Delinquency As Well As Dependency Cases, 20 GUARDIAN 3 (1988).
Books and Book Chapters
Delinquency, Due Process, and Mental Health, Presuming Youth Incompetency, Chp. 5, A NEW JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM: TOTAL REFORM FOR A BROKEN SYSTEM (Nancy Dowd, ed., NYU Press 2015).
Delinquency and Daycare, 4 HARVARD LAW & POLICY REVIEW 49 (2010). Available at http://hlpronline.com/2010/02/katner_daycare/. Reprinted in Chp. 2, JUSTICE FOR KIDS, KEEPING KIDS OUT OF THE JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM 39 (Nancy E. Dowd, ed., NYU Press 2011).
Rethinking Juvenile Justice in the Wake of Katrina, Chp. 5, CHILDREN, LAW, AND DISASTERS, WHAT WE HAVE LEARNED FROM KATRINA AND THE HURRICANES OF 2005 113 (ABA Center on Children & the Law 2009). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2274701
Legal Issues, Chp. 14, RECOGNITION OF CHILD ABUSE FOR THE MANDATED REPORTER 309 (G.W. Medical Publishing, Inc., Angelo P. Giardino, Eileen R. Giardino, eds.) (3rd Ed. 2002)(Henry J. Plum, co-author).
Raising the Insanity Plea, Chp. 4, ETHICAL PROBLEMS FACING THE CRIMINAL DEFENSE LAWYER 48 (Rodney J. Uphoff, ed., American Bar Assoc. 1995). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2306590
