program that trains law students to advocate for victims of domestic violence who seek Orders of Protection against their abusers in family court. Fordham's DVAC is one of ten New York City law schools that comprise the CAP consortium with six legal service agencies. Victims of domestic violence and law school students benefit greatly from the CAP program. Victims are usually frightened and unaware of their legal rights and the remedies available to them upon entering court. CAP students provide support and education to domestic violence victims and assist them in an otherwise intimidating arena. Student advocates staff a Petitioners Assistance Table, where they interview domestic violence victims and help them draft their petitions. The students then accompany and advocate for the petitioners when they appear before family court judges. The student advocates also accompany petitioners to court on their adjourn dates and assist them with their cases as they move forward. Additionally, the students provide victims with safety planning and referrals to community resources such as shelters and counseling. DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ADVOCACY PROJECT The Domestic Violence Advocacy Project (DVAP) works in various ways to help women who are the victims of domestic violence. The Domestic Violence Advocacy Project operates two public service programs for students, supervised by Sanctuary for Families, a New York organization that assists battered women. Through the Courtroom Advocates Program (CAP), law students assist women at Family Court in getting orders of protection from their batterers. For example, student advocates help the women draft their complaints, answer any questions, and assist the women when they appear before the judge. In the Uncontested Divorce Project, students are trained to assist women in obtaining a divorce from their batterer.
Prior to participating in these programs, law
students participate in a full day of training run by Sanctuary for Families. DVAP also brings in speakers throughout the year and sponsors events for Domestic Violence Awareness Month. This year, DVAP is organizing a performance of The Vagina Monologues for the law school. The performance dates are February 13-15, 2013. For additional information please visit http://vdaynyugradwomen.blogspot.com/ This year one of the beneficiaries from the proceeds of The Vagina Monologues is One Billion Rising. Please click hereto view an incredibly powerful short film and here for the amazing "Break the Chain" video. HARVARD LAW SCHOOL FAMILY AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE LAW CLINIC (LSC) STUDENT WORK
The Family and Domestic Violence Law Unit of
the Legal Services Center focuses on offering clients legal assistance on divorce, domestic violence, paternity, child and spousal support, adoption, and guardianship. The clinics of the Family Unit are: The Family Law Clinic addresses issues of custody, visitation, child and spousal support, health and life insurance, and the equitable division of marital property and debt in the context of divorce, paternity, modification, contempt, guardianship, and adoption actions. The Clinic also provides a broad range of direct legal services to the LGBT community, with a particular emphasis on family-related legal issues (custody, support and visitation, and second-parent adoptions) and estate planning (wills, powers of attorneys, partnership agreements) to ensure that same-sex partners and families are legally protected.
The Domestic Violence Clinic focuses on abuse
Clinic students have full responsibility for their cases
prevention, safety, and making sure that
and receive a challenging education in the art of trial
domestic violence is not a barrier to a client's
advocacy under the intensive supervision of Clinic
legal rights regarding custody, property
faculty. Through course work and client
division, and other aspects of family and
representation, students learn to excel in every phase
domestic relations.
of expedited civil litigation, including pretrial skills
(counseling, interviewing, investigation, and
Students have the opportunity to:
Conduct factual and legal research Interview clients Draft complaints and other legal documents Draft and respond to discovery requests Negotiate with opposing parties and counsel Argue motions and represent clients in district
court and family and probate court
Develop and present trainings and workshops
These clinics are part of the Legal Services Center
(LSC), a general practice community law office in Jamaica Plain. LSC's diverse clinics provide clinical instruction to second- and third-year law students and serve as a laboratory for the innovative delivery of legal services. Students are taught and mentored under the supervision and guidance of clinical instructors and fellows in one of LSC's litigation clinical practices.
GEORGETOWN LAW SCHOOL
Students in the Domestic Violence Clinic represent victims of intimate abuse in civil protection order (CPO) cases. Protection orders typically include a broad spectrum of relief, designed to effectively end the violence in a family or dating relationship. A CPO may direct a batterer to stop assaulting and threatening the victim, to stay away from the victim, her home, and her workplace, and not to contact her in any manner. The CPO also may include an award of temporary custody of the parties' children, with visitation rights for the non-custodial parent, as well as an award of child support.
negotiation) and trial skills (opening statement,
witness direct and cross examination, closing arguments). Clinic participants become intimately familiar with both the extensive family and criminal law provisions applicable to their cases, as well as civil procedure and legal ethics. Students gain expertise in the law of evidence, typically handling exhibits including photographs, tape recordings, weapons, police reports, and medical records. In addition, students learn to navigate the criminal justice system by working closely with the U.S. Attorney's Office in prosecutions against their clients' abusive partners. Every student represents 3-4 clients in CPO cases. Although it is impossible to predict whether any particular case will settle or go to trial, every single Clinic student will have an opportunity to question one or more witness in an initial Temporary Protection Order hearing; and every student will have multiple opportunities to negotiate a settlement or go to trial. Clinic students learn to: Provide highly effective client representation; Become creative, independent thinkers; and Increase the effectiveness of civil and criminal justice system interventions in domestic violence situations. The DVC's mission: Provide law students with an intensive, challenging education in the art of trial advocacy; and