Jill McInerney
Attorney, Child Welfare Law Specialist
Jill McInerney provides child-centered and zealous advocacy in juvenile dependency, family law and probate guardianship proceedings throughout the Bay Area. She is a Child Welfare Law Specialist, uniquely qualified to represent parents, children, and other relatives with issues, such as intimate partner violence; child physical abuse and emotional abuse; sexual abuse; and Child Protection Services investigations within and across dependency, family, and probate courts. Ms. McInerney was a court-appointed attorney in San Francisco Dependency Court proceedings from 2001 through 2015, taking on a leadership role within the court to also assist in developing child welfare policies and procedures to benefit parents and children throughout San Francisco. She then worked for Sefton Family Law Group (now Apex), gaining experience in all areas of family law for two years until returning to the dependency community as the Dependency Representation Program Manager at the Bar Association of San Francisco. Ms. McInerney is now in full-time private practice at McInerney Family Law. Ms. McInerney is a Contributing Author for CEB's “Juvenile Dependency Practice Guide” chapter on, “De Facto Parents,” and has provided numerous trainings to San Francisco dependency attorneys. She also trains family law and criminal law attorneys regarding the impact and intersection of child welfare issues in those contexts. Ms. McInerney is currently serving on the Executive Committee for the Family Law section of the California Lawyers Association (FLEXCOM). She has been active in legislative issues throughout her career, particularly in advocacy surrounding appropriate compensation for court-appointed counsel in child welfare proceedings to ensure that effective assistance of counsel for children and indigent parents is available statewide.
