MARLENE DRESCHER was the first Director of Legal Aid's Domestic Violence Clinic.

   
CHERYL O'NEILL was the first Client Advocate at Legal Aid's Domestic Violence Clinic. .

THE PARTNERS

Lane County Legal Aid Service (LCLAS), the University of Oregon School of Law, Womenspace and Sexual Assault Support Services all in Eugene, Oregon are the partners in this collaborative effort. The project also enjoys the active support of a diverse group of community members, from the District Attorney's office and local bar to community activists, who provide education for our students and expert testimony for our clients.

LCLAS is an autonomous nonprofit legal services organization that incorporated in Oregon in 1971. Laurence Hamblen, the Executive Director has more than 26 years in legal services and is the primary administrator of the grant. LCLAS administers the project, houses the Clinic, and provides staff for mentoring and support of Clinic staff. Marlene Drescher is Supervising Attorney at the Clinic and has been practicing law for 21 years, working for more than eight years at the University of Oregon as the Director of its Office of Student Advocacy.

The University of Oregon School of Law provides the academic structure for the Clinic. Professor Merle Weiner teaches the Domestic Violence Class at the law school, the prerequisite for students to participate in the Clinic. Professors Caroline Forell and Leslie Harris also represent the law school with Professor Weiner on the steering committee. They monitor the project to ensure the quality of experience for the law students.

Sexual Assault Support Services (SASS), a service provider for survivors of sexual assault and stalking, and Womenspace, a provider of services for domestic violence, contribute advocacy services for the Clinic's clients. Womenspace provides advocates on site and SASS upon request when the request for services includes issues of stalking, child sexual abuse and/or sexual assault. In addition, Womenspace and SASS provide initial training for Clinic students and staff and participate in the ongoing training series as coordinated by the Supervising Attorney. 

Clinic staff and partnering agencies participate in other local collaborative efforts to address domestic violence as an issue within the general community, for example, in the criminal justice system, medical or social service provision, crisis intervention, housing and other social arenas. Clinic staff actively participates in the Lane County Domestic Violence Council (DV Council), a 45 member group that works to improve the coordinated community response to domestic violence. The DV Council is funded by a recently renewed Center for Disease Control (CDC) three-year grant to Womenspace, which also funds other collaborative community efforts and some direct services.

Community collaboration plays a major role in the Clinic's efficacy. We have utilized pro bono expert witnesses in our cases in the areas of risk assessment of abuse, custody evaluation, cycle of violence, and sex offender recidivism. We are continuing to expand our list of pro bono attorneys to handle case overload, and we have conducted continuing legal education to the local bar to further this goal.

COMMUNITY NEED

Lane County covers 4,620 square miles, encompasses the second largest urban area in the state, and has a population of almost 300,000. In a representative 12-month period, Lane County law enforcement responded to over 1,356 reports of domestic violence, the courts addressed over 1500 requests for restraining orders, and shelter and advocacy organizations received more than 5,000 requests from battered women for services.

In 1999 Oregon published the Oregon Domestic Violence Needs Assessment. An Oregon Health Division team of researchers sampled more than 2,000 individuals and reports the most comprehensive identification of the needs of victims of domestic violence in Oregon's history. They reported that more than 1 in 8 (132,800) Oregon women were estimated to have been victims of domestic violence in the previous one-year period. Three of every 4 female victims experienced multiple acts of physical abuse, more than 1 in 10 experienced an act of criminal assault, 1 in 14 experienced sexual coercion or rape as part of the violence and 1 in every 20 sustained an injury by her partner. Almost all of the women fit within the eligibility guidelines for a restraining order, most were victims of acts that could be prosecuted as crimes. Twenty-two percent of the respondents approached legal services agencies for help, 23% approached either a hotline, shelter or advocacy service provider.

Those responding to the survey identified that in 83% of the contacts to request civil legal assistance they were treated with respect and support but in only 23% of the cases did they receive legal assistance. This demonstrates a system with some sensitivity to the issues but not the resources to help. The county breakdown supports this contention; civil legal assistance available in Lane County was assessed as present but inadequate to meet the need.

THE CONTEXT

We will be using the pronoun "she" to describe the survivor, and "he" to refer to the batterer or stalker because the overwhelming number of cases we see reflect those gender roles. Clearly, this is not an exclusive assignment of roles, however, and we apologize if this offends anyone. 

When a client requests services, she generally has received an ex parte (or uncontested) protective order under the Family Abuse Prevention Act (FAPA) or the stalking law. The Respondent, who may be a spouse, former spouse, lover, former lover, present or former household member, etc., usually has been served with the ex parte order and has filled out the paperwork to request a hearing to contest the order.

Respondent may contest all of the order, or some part of it. The order may have granted Petitioner (generally, our client) not only protection but also custody of the parties' children, limited or supervised visitation (parenting time) with Respondent, exclusive use of the residence, and under new legislation, emergency support. Respondent may contest the allegations of abuse, or disagree with some of the conditions of the protective order. (Sometimes we represent a Respondent if the ex parte order seems frivolous or a misuse of the legal system to further abuse a survivor.)

Contested hearings are like trials, are usually a couple of hours, but sometimes much longer. One case where the batterer took out a restraining order against our client in hopes of obtaining an advantage in a pending divorce went 3 days in hearing. The cases may involve police reports, 911 calls, medical reports, hospital records, answering machine tapes, abusive or threatening letters from Respondent to Petitioner, psychiatric records, custody evaluations, and other reports and records. Some of the cases involve depositions, and other types of discovery. All of this is challenging to a law student trying to organize a first appearance in court, especially because the student often is working in a very short time frame. The student also must try to figure out the appropriate legal technique to get all the evidence admitted into the court record.

If Respondent requests a hearing and contests custody, under law the hearing must take place within 5 days. Otherwise, the hearing must be held within 21 days. Sometimes a law student receives a case on Wednesday or Thursday set for hearing the following Monday.

Most of the representation provided through the Clinic for protective orders is done by third year law students who are certified by the Oregon Supreme Court to practice law under the guidance and direction of an attorney. Students in the Clinic make court appearances, draft pleadings, and engage in other legal practice under the direct and close supervision of the Clinic supervisor.

CLINIC MODEL: ATTORNEYS AND ADVOCATES WORKING TOGETHER

The design of our clinic provides clients with both civil legal representation and the expertise of domestic violence and sexual assault lay advocates in a coordinated effort.

Using this unique model, we provide survivors of family violence, stalking and sexual assault with supportive access to the legal system. This type of broad support for survivors can be essential for their short-term safety plans and provides long term tools to create lives free from violence. Currently, we provide this access for low-income people who have very limited opportunities to obtain civil legal services. 

Our clinic is staffed by attorneys, third-year law students, a staff advocate from the local domestic violence program, and volunteer advocates trained by that program. Staff advocates from the local sexual assault program are available to our clients and Clinic staff whenever there is an issue of sexual assault or stalking. This collective effort gives clients the broadest possible support as they enter the legal system, which is the one arena where they must come face-to-face with the abusive person in their lives.

Third-year law students, under the supervision of our Clinic director, represent survivors in hearings for protective orders. Staff attorneys also represent survivors in hearings for protective orders, but they can handle more complicated civil legal issues, as well. Typical civil legal needs for survivors include dissolutions, custody determinations, and parenting time arrangements.

Both staff and student attorneys work together with advocates throughout the process. In the pre-hearing stage, advocates provide emotional support during the legal interviews conducted by the attorneys. They also provide the safety planning and resource referrals that make protective orders successful tools for survivors to create abuse-free lives for themselves and their children. Advocates can assist attorneys in collecting evidence, serving subpoenas and other pre-trial preparation.

In the long term cases, like custody and dissolution, advocate support for the client can be invaluable in helping them to establish new lives and a strong foundation for their legal requests. A survivor seeking custody, which is usually the single most important issue for mothers, needs to show the court that she can provide a stable and healthy environment for her children. This task can be overwhelming for a traumatized individual who sometimes has to find housing, transportation, furniture, clothing and employment within a couple of months. Supportive advocacy can reduce some of that trauma and provide some practical help in reaching these necessary goals. 

During the time at the courthouse the attorney-advocate team approach is especially productive. The attorney needs to focus on case preparation and often is involved in negotiating with the opposing party or their attorney. While they must concentrate on the legal issues, the survivor often is particularly vulnerable and intimidated by facing her batterer under the additional stress of a court appearance. Her physical safety is a major concern, as survivors have been killed in and around courthouses when they have been present for legal matters. Advocates help to ensure a survivor's safety by staying alert to the batterer's behavior and staying in the client's physical presence at all times. Advocates know the courthouse; both its layout as well as how to get security assistance. Unlike the attorney, who is often focused on the law and legal procedure, an advocate's focus is exclusively on the survivor and her concerns. Advocates, however, are usually familiar enough with the legal system to be able to explain court procedures to the client and calm a survivor's worst fears.

As a result of this cooperative partnership, we have successfully resolved 90% of our cases. It is clear that the cooperation of attorneys and advocates provides effective, comprehensive and appropriate civil legal services for survivors of the trauma of domestic violence and stalking. 

INTAKE AND ASSESSMENT

Legal Aid services are limited to the very poor. Even for this small group of people, the available resources only can help about one-third of those eligible to apply. Before the Clinic, the number of intimate violence survivors seeking assistance for protective orders and family law remedies overwhelmed LCLAS. Survivors often went without legal representation and, since the volunteer screeners did not necessarily have domestic violence or sexual assault training, they went without safety planning, domestic violence information, or resource referral.

With the additional resources of the Clinic, we made an extra effort to identify and respond to survivors. One of the first changes we made was to add to LCLAS's initial intake form an opportunity for clients to self-identify as victims of intimate violence. Our menu of legal services now lists "Restraining Orders/Stalking Orders/Violence in the Home", giving clients the opportunity to request these services by placing a simple mark on our intake form.

We experimented with having Womenspace volunteers conduct the initial intake for prospective clients. For policy reasons we concluded that LCLAS trained screeners needed to do all initial intakes, including to establish financial eligibility and confirm intimate violence as a legal issue. Whether or not a prospective client is eligible or appropriate for legal services, however, a Womenspace advocate is available to assist with risk assessment, safety planning and more comprehensive information and referral services. When domestic violence includes stalking, sexual abuse or sexual abuse of a child, an advocate from Sexual Assault Support Services (SASS) can be called to provide these same lay advocacy services. 

If the case appears acceptable for legal representation, the staff advocate also takes a detailed history. This information is very helpful in making a more informed decision about whether or not to accept the case. The staff advocate's intake notes are very helpful for law students in organizing their initial interviews, although it is hard to provide enough training to volunteer advocates for them to do this as effectively. We make decisions about accepting more complex cases at our weekly case review with all the Clinic staff and LCLAS family law attorneys. The decision about whether or not a student will take a protective order case is made between that student and the Clinic supervisor after an initial interview of the potential client by the student.

INITIAL INTERVIEW AND PRE-TRIAL HEARING/ PREPARATION

LCLAS intake is every weekday afternoon from 1pm to 3pm. Generally, we try to have a law student and an advocate scheduled for office hours during these times. This usually makes it possible for the potential client with a protective order hearing to go through intake and an initial legal interview all in the same afternoon. This is especially important because of the short time frame for most protective order hearings as well as being more convenient for the client. At the initial interview, the law student gathers the facts that support the legal theory they will need to prove in order to have the protective order remain in effect. The advocate listens, notes down referral and safety needs to address at the end of the legal interview, and prepares an action plan.

The attorney and advocate have very different tasks: the advocate's job is to validate, support, and appropriately refer the client to social services. The attorney or law student must prepare the case looking for the client's weakest as well as strongest points. The best way to prepare for the adverse party's arguments is to probe some of the most painful territory with the client. At times, we ask her to describe the worst lies the batterer will say about her to the judge.

The kind of detail a lawyer needs sometimes makes the client feel that they aren't being believed or haven't been abused badly enough. Here, the advocate's support is crucial to the client's well being. Conversely, a judge in a contested hearing does not always recognize as legally sufficient the facts the client recited for the ex parte order. The things that the client may see as most abusive--emotional abuse, emotional manipulation, financial control, or other domination short of physical abuse-- may not meet the legal requirements of an order for protection. The client may minimize or not even mention physical abuse, (which would meet the legal standard recognized by the court), because the emotional or mental abuse may be more traumatic to her.

Scheduling advocates and attorneys together with clients, particularly given the short time frame for hearing preparation and the limited availability of volunteer lay advocates and law students, has been an on-going challenge. When available, advocates sit in on follow-up interviews, help collect evidence, serve subpoenas and do other pre-trial preparation. 

Currently, we team up law students and lay advocates so that the same individuals work together throughout the semester. We hope this approach makes it easier for the student and advocate to coordinate their schedules and to form a closer relationship, which often is necessary for the lay advocates to successfully mentor the students.

TRIAL/HEARING

Going to court takes a very private matter into a public forum where the client is entitled under law to state protection. The private act is no longer just between the parties, but a legally recognized public issue. This validation in a public forum of the right to protection in especially reinforced by the advocate at the time that the client feels most vulnerable and the lawyer is most busy: in court.

An advocate's presence can be especially important if the case takes an unexpected turn; for example, the batterer makes unanticipated allegations against the survivor. While the attorney needs to quickly gather evidence to rebut the allegations, the survivor is trying to deal with her overwhelming emotional reaction. At that point, an advocate's simple presence and personal validation provides help for the client trying to juggle her emotional turmoil with the requisite state of mind for success in the courtroom.

In one instance, a client fled from a courtroom after a particularly painful encounter with a judge. While the lawyer had to stay in the courtroom, the advocate was available to follow the client outside, to comfort, to explain, and to listen to the frustrations of a survivor who was under-served by the judicial system.

When a survivor is not prepared for painful scrutiny and perhaps rejection from the court, they may react in anger, and need to be "reined in" in order to try to mitigate the harm. Advocates are generally more effective in coaching survivors on how to maneuver the court system than lawyers. Likewise, when a client receives only part of her requested relief from the court, an advocate is there to clarify the positive part of the court order and help her define future objectives.

When attorneys explain the outcome of a case, the explanation often occurs at a time that the client is least receptive to hearing it. An advocate is there to further explain, checking in with the client to ensure that the information is clearly understood. This also frees up the attorney's time to do what must next be done to pursue the client's legal interests.

This collaboration makes the law less mysterious to the client and more accessible in a real, usable format. There are fewer boundaries and barriers in the advocate-survivor relationship than in the attorney-client relationship. The emphasis on support by the advocate also makes for a closer relationship than the goal oriented fact-finding that the attorney must do in order to adequately represent the client. 

There also is something less tangible but very comforting for the survivor in having the advocate present during these proceedings. A client may have family in court along with her lawyer, but an advocate plays another role. As an observer to the public process, the advocate is like a Greek chorus, reflecting back to the client what occurred, whether good or bad. The client has the comfort of not being alone in a public forum, of having an ally in the proceedings, another human presence who can bear witness to the process and understand, validate and support the survivor's efforts.

CLINICAL TRAINING PROGRAM

Law students who have taken the prerequisite Family Law class and who are enrolled in the Domestic Violence class at the law school are eligible for the clinic. They are largely a self-selected group who are highly motivated to provide the service, since the academic credit they receive for the Clinic is proportionally less than the time they put into it, relative to other law school courses. These students, along with volunteers and any new staff, receive training by the local domestic and sexual violence shelter and advocacy programs. The Clinic's supervising attorney coordinates ongoing training and monitoring of the student's work with assistance from other Legal Aid and Clinic attorneys, the local bar, judiciary, and community service providers.

Over a dozen experts in various fields of law and service provision have presented to the Clinic's law students and staff attorneys. These speakers include several judges, family and juvenile law specialists, child abuse experts, domestic violence prosecutors, an Assistant U.S. Attorney specializing in the Violence Against Women Act, mediators, an attorney specializing in appellate work, and community specialists in areas such as cross-cultural competence, the role of drug and alcohol abuse in domestic violence, and the impact of domestic violence on children.

Experienced community educators from Womenspace and SASS comprehensively train the law students in domestic violence and sexual assault. While the attorneys and law students are addressing a great legal need, they also are receiving some great training (or consciousness raising) from the advocates and service providers in how to deal with a person in trauma with multiple needs. 

The supervising attorney at the Clinic has published a manual, which is required for the students, and the law school has developed the Domestic Violence class curriculum. The manual contains approximately 200 pages of information, including the dynamics and impact of domestic violence and extensive information on how to represent clients most effectively pursuant to Oregon statutes. The DV class curriculum was developed, used and revised by Professor Weiner. The Clinic manual was designed for all who work at the Clinic including students, advocates and attorneys. The curriculum was designed specifically for the DV class at the law school to complement the clinical experience of the students. 

In response to student feedback, the law school DV class requirements have been modified and the Clinic is relaxing some of its training requirements to better fit student schedules. 

We have added another layer of services by providing an Advanced Clinic. Third year students who participate in the Clinic in the fall semester are eligible to continue with the Clinic in their final semester. This allowed two students last academic year to take on more difficult cases as they drew upon their training and experience from the first semester. We hope to take advantage of the first term experienced students to expand our service provision. 

Law student evaluations of the Clinic have been extremely good, with students saying that the Clinic was their most instructive exposure to the law and most positive learning experience in law school. Students leave the clinic with a heightened sensitivity to violence against women, the impact of domestic abuse on children, stalking and sexual assault. We hope this consciousness will follow the law students throughout their careers.

IMPACT OF THE PROJECT

Simply reporting numbers does not reveal the actual difference the Clinic has made to the community. This is a thriving and productive entity that never existed before in Lane County. It is a known presence in the community and occupies a unique place in the legal system. The Clinic brochure has been disseminated all over the community; the majority of clients come to the Clinic as referrals from the courts and from direct service providers.

The most tangible impact of the DV Clinic has been on local victims of domestic violence. By increasing the capacity of legal services through the use of law students, the Clinic has been able to make a broad range of civil legal assistance readily available. In its first 14 months, the DV Clinic provided services to 420 victims of domestic violence who would not have received assistance otherwise. Law students and attorneys obtained and upheld protective orders, custody orders, dissolutions and/or modifications. Advocates assisted in safety planning, resource referral, peer counseling, crisis intervention, intake and screening, (DV) education, agency advocacy. Because the highest priority of the Clinic is to respond to women in danger, the safety of battered women is increased through the strategy of assigning both a student/attorney and advocate to each case. 

The impact on the entire legal system is quite significant. There is enthusiasm for the DV Clinic by advocates, judges, the district attorney's office, and the local bar. They have offered tangible support by mentoring and training students. The DV Clinic and its offering of comprehensive civil legal services raises awareness of the needs of battered women within the courts, criminal justice, law enforcement and social service arena. The Clinic creates confidence that needed services are available and that battered women are connected with social resources. The way the legal system responds to the civil legal needs of battered women has changed and service provision encompasses a far more holistic approach.

Through our effective representation of battered clients, we are able to further educate and inform the judiciary on these issues. Because we take these cases seriously, we utilize the full range of legal procedures in our cases when often these matters are otherwise truncated in court. Expert testimony may touch on areas that judges have not fully understood previously. We are hopeful that our representation affects not only the immediate case we are working on, but also the public policies that provide a foundation for adjudication of these cases.

According to Clinic supervising attorney Marlene Drescher, "Our biggest success is in forging effective collaborations with direct service providers while earning the respect of the courts by providing effective legal representation." A student wrote, "The best part of it all was feeling like I really helped my client". On their written evaluations, nine out of ten clients reported being satisfied and very pleased with Clinic services. Law Professor Merle Weiner reports that, "The students in the Clinic describe it as one of their best, if not the best, experience while at law school. I think students appreciate having their learning matter in a very real way."

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