See In re Marriage of Suarez, 148 Ill. App. 3d 849, 858 (1986) ("greater liberty should be allowed in the matter of opening the proofs when the case is tried before the court without a jury"). ¶ 50 Last, Constantin argues that even if we determine that his counsel was to blame, the trial court's order punishes only the children. He cited In re Marriage of Danko, 230 Ill. App. 3d 572, 576 (1992), in which the court stated that ineffective assistance of counsel is generally not a ground for relief under section 2-1401 of the Code of Civil Procedure (735 ILCS 5/2-1401(West 1990)), but there may be instances where the rule should be relaxed, such as for the protection of a minor's interest. Although this case does not involve section 2-1401, Constantin analogizes the principle to this situation as an instance where justice and fairness require relief. He also maintains that the trial court had a duty to ensure that the children's rights were adequately protected.