An attorney has an obligation to inform the court if he or she is not able to handle an assigned matter professionally due to a lack of expertise and inability to obtain sufficient knowledge to appropriately represent the client, and also is unable to retain a substitute attorney knowledgeable in the area. We sua sponte determine that appellate counsel was so ineffective in this contested adoption appeal that the mother was deprived of her right to appellate counsel. In counsel's five-page brief he relied on an inapplicable statute, cited to no cases and failed to mention the lack of a transcript of the judge's decision. We therefore adjourn this appeal to appoint substitute appellate counsel and obtain the transcript.