Major case victories & highlights:

In re Welfare of L.M.L. (Minn. App. 2007).  In February 2007, the Minnesota Court of Appeals ruled in Mark's favor by holding that a juvenile court may establish jurisdiction over a person until the person becomes 19 if the court finds it is in the person's best interests.  Mark won this important decision on behalf of a Guardian ad Litem who wanted to extend the court's jurisdiction over an emotionally disturbed boy who needed to be under court order until age 19 to remain in a structured living environment.  This case will be of great benefit for children who often are cut loose from the protection of juvenile courts simply because they turn 18. 

In re Baby T.T.B. (Minn. Sup. Ct.).  In July 2006, Mark filed an amicus curiae brief (a “friend of the court” brief) in the Minnesota Supreme Court on behalf of the National Association of Counsel for Children asserting that the Minnesota Court of Appeals erred in holding that “good cause” did not exist to deny the motion of the Tribe to transfer the case to tribal court in the proceedings below.  Mark argued in his brief that the Court should interpret the permanency timelines behind the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 coextensively with the “good cause” transfer provision in Indian Child Welfare Act, and that the Court may give effect to both federal laws by finding the existence of good cause to deny transfer in situations where the proceedings at issue would violate the permanency timetables of the ASFA.  On October 19, 2006, the Minnesota Supreme Court issued an opinion adopting Mark’s arguments.

In the fall of 2005, Mark Fiddler was awarded a contract with Minnesota State Guardian ad Litem Program to provide legal consulting services to the law firm of Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi L.L.P., which provides pro bono legal representation to court-appointed guardians ad litem.

In 2006 Mark was invited to serve on the ICWA Subcommittee to the Minnesota Supreme Court Juvenile Protection Rules Committee and a special committee of ICWA practitioners to assist the Court in writing a bench manual on ICWA procedures. 

In July 2006, Mark was appointed to the Assembly of the Minnesota State Bar Association.  In September, Mark was appointed to Legislative Committee, which studies and makes recommendations related to legislation, lobbying priorities, and official MSBA positions.

A CREATIVE THINKER, Mark talks about art and the law in the journal of Cultural Studies & Comparative Literature Department, University of Minnesota.  See p. 10 at CSCL05

In March 2007, Dean Steven Rosenstone of the College of Liberal Arts, University of Minnesota, named Mark an "Alumni of Notable Distinction" for his work on behalf of children in the law.  Mark was a Humanities major as an undergraduate before attending the University of Minnesota Law School.