The Protective Order Project
by Kathleen Portman ’09(with Megan Matuska ’10)
As students on the path to becoming “a different kind of lawyer,” many of us seek ways to be a different kind of student. The Protective Order Project is one way that a small group of us are quietly making a small difference in the lives of domestic violence survivors in our community, even without the much coveted bar card.
The Protective Order Project was born out of a unique partnership between the Law School’s Pro Bono Project and the Family Justice Center of St. Joseph County (FJC). The FJC is an amazingly diverse resource offering civil, legal, medical, and social services to survivors of domestic violence, all under one roof. This “one-stop-shop” is a centralized effort to protect survivors, and it provides a remarkable transformation from the previously fragmented and uncoordinated services of the past. The FJC is one of only 15 collaborative centers nationwide, and it was opened with a grant funded by the U.S. Department of Justice. The Law School’s involvement with the Family Justice Center began in the spring of 2008 with 20 student participants, including me.
The Protective Order Project gives law students the opportunity to interview clients, prepare protective order petitions, make small group presentations on legal matters, and research topics with an eye toward training other attorneys and law enforcement officers. Students who are certified legal interns will also be able to assist pro bono attorneys at client hearings. While all of this gives you the general idea of what we do at the FJC, the best way to illustrate the Protective Order Project is to walk you through a “typical” day.
Many of our clients learned of the FJC through referrals by other agencies or by word of mouth. Either as walk-in clients or scheduled appointments, our survivors come to us by bus, by car, or by foot, all seeking help from the wide variety of resources available at the FJC. Some clients are in the midst of an emergency and flee to our building for protection from a relentless assailant outside. It is in these situations that the power of the FJC comes alive. In one such situation, we were able to provide the client with safe harbor, set up an immediate police interview, counsel her about ways to stay safe, and provide her with resources for the future.
When we are not dealing with an emergency, the process begins when one of our intake advocates conducts an initial interview to determine what services the client would require and whether a protective order is needed. If the client is in need of a protective order, she then participates in a second interview, this time with an ND law student. During the school year, law students working with the Protective Order Project generally work in pairs, listening and taking down the client’s story and obtaining the information necessary to complete the petition and supplemental documents. One student will take detailed notes and the other will be the primary interviewer, asking questions, eliciting a narrative, and clarifying details. Once the client interview is over, the team meets together and completes the petition and any other related court documents. A final meeting is conducted with the client, this time making sure that the petition accurately and faithfully represents her story and circumstances. The client then signs the petition and in most cases files the petition with the court.
While the paperwork for protective orders has been carefully designed to be accessible to pro se litigants, many of our clients still have questions about the consequences of filing for a protective order. We provide reassuring and informative answers to all the clients’ inquiries. Another part of leading the client through petition involves explaining different outcomes and options for relief that she could request and helping her plan for a hearing where she would have to stand face to face with her abuser in court.
Each client’s situation is unique and poses different legal questions about the appropriateness and type of relief requested in the petition. It is a valuable learning experience to have so much client contact and to see how legal actions and petitions can make a positive impact on a person’s self-confidence and safety. However, the Protective Order Project represents much more to law students than a mere application of our legal education. It represents a commitment we share to the members of our community, and our dedication as members of Notre Dame Law School to becoming “a different kind of lawyer.”
What is also not depicted in the process is the reward a law student receives by sitting face to face with a survivor of domestic violence. The power of the law is revealed when it enables a woman to protect herself and her family from an abusive situation. Such a feat is a marvel to witness and it cannot help but change the life of the law student who helps to make it possible.
