In re A.R. CA1/1

BACKGROUND

This appeal is before us on remand from the Supreme Court following its reversal of our dismissal of the appeal on the ground it was not timely filed. (In re A.R. (2021) 11 Cal.5th 234, 257-258.) The high court held that when parents’ “court-appointed attorneys have failed to timely file a notice of appeal of an order terminating parental rights, parents whose rights have been terminated may seek relief based on the denial of the statutory right to the assistance of competent counsel. [Citations.] To succeed in such a claim, parents must show that they would have filed a timely appeal absent attorney error and that they diligently sought relief from default within a reasonable timeframe, considering the child’s ‘ “unusually strong” ’ interest in finality.” (Ibid.) Following remand, we issued an order reinstating the appeal. We set forth some of the background of the case as stated in the Supreme Court’s opinion and set forth specific facts relating to the issue on appeal in our discussion of the issue.3 “M.B. gave birth to A.R. in 2016. At the time, M.B. herself was still a minor. Less than a year later, the Alameda County Social Services Agency (Agency) filed a…