Matt Muenzen is celebrating a meaningful appellate victory.

Attorney Matthew Muenzen helped secure a reversal for a parent from the Oregon Court of Appeals in a challenging dependency case involving no identified alleged perpetrator, complex medical evidence, multiple alleged marks, and no history about how the child received the marks.

The Court made clear:

Dependency jurisdiction requires proof of a current, real, specific, and immediate risk to the child — not just a generalized risk based on past concerns and opinions.

This case highlights the importance of:

- Careful review of medical and factual records
- Holding the state to the correct legal standard
- Protecting families from unsupported findings

We’re proud of Matthew’s work and the impact this decision will have for parents navigating the DHS system and the dependency process in Juvenile Court.