Domestic violence survivors face a number of legal issues in both civil and criminal courts. These issues include victims’ rights, housing, family law, and many other disparate areas of the law. While there are highly qualified attorneys providing many of these services, often those lawyers are only familiar with the specific piece of the legal landscape that their clients must navigate. While this work is invaluable, attorneys can better serve their clients if they are able to understand the many legal issues domestic violence survivors face.
In this day-long CLE, NCVLI will be joined by experts in a variety of legal and mental health areas to provide an intensive “how to” day-long course to grow attorneys’ capacity to serve survivors’ legal needs. This training is primarily for attornerys serving domestic violence victims and topics covered will include victims’ rights, the use of experts to explain survivors’ sometimes “counterintuitive” behavior, the neurobiology of trauma and how that plays out in the context of intimate terrorism, and a panel discussion of survivors’ civil legal needs. At the end of the training, practitioners should have a deeper understanding of survivors’ legal needs in both the civil and criminal arena; be able to appreciate the science behind some survivors’ behavior; and have a working knowledge of the burgeoning field of crime victims’ rights.
Office on Violence Against Women Grantees are especially encouraged to attend, although all are welcome. This is a free training. 6.25 Oregon CLE credits pending.