Nashville’s lawyers fight domestic violence

In August 2015, the Metro Office of Family Safety and Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands partnered to improve access to free civil legal representation to victims of domestic violence.

Op-Ed (Tennessee)

Matthew R. Burnstein
Tennessean, The
October 31, 2016
READ THE FULL STORY HERE

Tags: Domestic Violence

Organizations mentioned/involved: Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands


DETAILS

Since its inception, the number of Nashville order of protection petitioners with an attorney has risen from 5 percent to 18 percent. This improvement is significant.

“Without an advocate present, it can be intimidating for a survivor to testify against her or his abuser in court,” said DarKenya Waller, managing attorney of Legal Aid Society’s Nashville office and coordinator of the CLA program. “Between Legal Aid Society and Waller, we have more than 30 volunteer attorneys and other legal professionals committed to volunteering their time to work with victims of domestic violence.”

The wonderful part of this program is that any attorney with a passion for justice can participate, even those who don’t practice family law.