The Difference Volunteer Attorneys Make in the Courtroom

By: Liz Whipple, Staff Attorney, Director of AVLF Safe Families Office

Each year, the Violence Policy Center in D.C. releases a study “When Men Murder Women: An Analysis of 2009 Homicide Data.” Georgia is ranked sixth in the nation for its rate of women killed by men. Sixth!

I was recently told you can’t control the actions of others, you can only control your own actions. As an attorney, never mind an attorney who does domestic violence work, this is not something I like to hear. I don’t want to join a drum circle, I don’t want to meditate, and I don’t want to let things just be.

Controlling things is precisely what I want. I want an abuser to stop hurting a loved one. I want a client to leave her abuser and never look back. I want a grown person to love their elderly parent, not terrorize them in their own home. I want my clients’ young children to emerge emotionally unscathed from a home filled with strife. I want the judge to grant every protective order I bring in front of her. Bottomline – I want to win.

Sometimes, some of these things happen. Occasionally, I take the credit. Much of the time, however, I am brought back to that much-resisted reality: I can only do as much as I can do. Realistically, sometimes that’s enough, sometimes it isn’t. Even when it is “enough”, the small part I’ve played in someone’s life is exactly that – a small part. I have to be happy with that, and let them deal with the entirely, hopefully equipped with a tool that can make dealing with that entirely a bit easier.

Losing a protective order case is a hard thing to accept when you believe your client needs an order to stay safe. There’s simply no getting around it. But volunteer attorneys provide so much to their clients, even if the petition itself is denied. The simple presence of someone there to advocate for you can strengthen a victim’s resolution to stay safe from their abuser. While it’s always incredible to have a person share in your victory, suffering a loss with someone is an entirely different experience, and is far more likely to strengthen one’s resolve to stay safe.

I am in Protective Order Court every Monday and Friday. I see the difference attorneys make in that courtroom, and it affirms my belief that we need to provide representation now more than ever. Attorneys don’t win every case. Each case they don’t win is more of a reason their presence is so important. Pro se clients are alone and facing an intimidating process, and attorneys can make a world of difference to a case. Coming to court alone can often be a barrier to a client pursuing a protective order – who wouldn’t be afraid of facing their abuser alone, in a setting as intimidating as a courtroom, with the prospect of telling intimate details of your life to a room full of people. Things we take for granted are often beyond the abilities of a pro se client – negotiating consent orders, presenting any evidence, even telling a coherent story.

The harsher the numbers get, the tougher an order becomes to obtain, the greater our obligation is to make sure victims have voices in our courts. Attorneys, especially volunteer attorneys, simply have to be there. I may vent, I may (occasionally) cry, but I am going to be there. Thanks to those of you who are there with me.