Domestic violence is a societal problem of epidemic proportions. Experts estimate that 2 to 4 million American women are battered every year,(1) and that between 3.3 and 10 million children witness violence in their homes.(2) Battering affects families across America in all socioeconomic, racial and ethnic groups.(3) As information about the extent and impact of domestic violence emerges, it has been identified as a criminal justice issue, a public health crisis, and a costly drain on economic productivity.(4)
Domestic violence has a tremendous impact on the legal profession. Whether or not lawyers realize it, domestic violence permeates the practice of law in almost every field.(5) Corporate lawyers, bankruptcy lawyers, tort lawyers, real property lawyers, criminal defense lawyers, and family lawyers, regularly represent victims or perpetrators of domestic violence.(6)
Criminal and civil judges preside over a range of cases involving domestic violence as an underlying or a hotly contested issue. Failure to fully understand domestic violence legal issues threatens the competency of individual lawyers and judges, as well as the legal profession as a whole.
Legal professionals who are uninformed about domestic violence issues may endanger the safety of victims or contribute to a society which has historically condoned the abuse of intimate partners. In Maryland, for example, a victim was killed by her intimate partner after a judge refused to grant her a civil protection order.(7) Recently, another judge expunged a batterer's criminal record for wife abuse in order to allow him to join a country club; the judge reversed his ruling only in response to public outcry.(8) Still another judge modified a custody order and awarded custody of the child to the child's father, despite the fact that the father had abused the child's mother, and had been convicted of murdering his first wife.(9)
The vast majority of telephone calls received by the American Bar Association Commission on Domestic Violence indicate that lawyers, too, are not representing victims of domestic violence according to the standards dictated by the profession. Callers report that many family and criminal lawyers fail to address a client's safety needs where there is a history of domestic violence or refuse to introduce evidence of the violence in court, despite the legal consequences. This hesitation to handle domestic violence cases, or to address domestic violence issues when they arise, stems in part from a lack of legal training. It is time for law schools to fill this desperate gap in legal education by incorporating domestic violence law into core curricula courses, upper level courses, and clinical programs.
Integrating domestic violence issues into legal education may improve the ethical standards of the legal profession, as well as produce better representation for victims. Across the country, disciplinary committees and courts have already begun to address the professional consequences for lawyers who commit acts of domestic violence against their intimate partners.(10) This serious treatment of lawyers who perpetrate domestic violence upholds ethical standards and improves the system's ability to provide justice for victims of domestic violence.
The increasing intolerance for lawyers or judges who commit or condone domestic violence suggests that the legal system has begun to treat violence against intimate partners as a criminal matter. Despite this shift, however, many legal professionals have not been trained adequately on appropriate legal interventions for domestic violence. By integrating domestic violence issues into law school curricula, law schools can provide lawyers with the tools to assist victims effectively and to improve the legal system's response to family violence.
The recommendations in this report stem from a two-day meeting of experts conducted at the American Bar Association on December 9-10, 1996, with support from the Office for Victims of Crime. A select group of law school professors who teach domestic violence seminars or clinical programs attended the conference and provided information about current law school practices and recommendations for the future. Several victim advocates from communities which are currently underserved by law schools also attended the symposium in order to suggest ways that law schools might better serve the needs of all victims. Experts in intervention with perpetrators of domestic violence also attended and offered insights from that perspective. The following report could not have been produced without the invaluable assistance of these participants. We are also indebted to the many professors and practitioners across the country who have been representing victims and advocating for systemic reform for years.
ENDNOTES:
1. Antonia C. Novello, From the Surgeon General, U.S. Public Health Service, 267(23) Jama 3132 (June 17, 1992). See also, Ronet Bachman, Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Dep't of Justice, Violence Against Women: A Nat'l Crime Victimization Survey Report iii (1994).
2. Howard A. Davidson (reporter), The Impact of Domestic Violence on Children (ABA, 1994).
3. Mary P. Koss et al., No Safe Haven: Male Violence Against Women at Home, at Work, and in the Community 49-58 (1994).
4. See, e.g., Ted Miller et al., Nat'l Institute of Justice, U.S. Dep't of Justice, Victim Costs and Consequences: A New Look 18-19 (1996) (finding that domestic violence costs $67 billion a year in property damage, medical costs, mental health care, police and fire services, victim services, and lost worker productivity).
5. The Impact of Domestic Violence on Your Legal Practice: A Lawyer's Handbook (ABA, Goelman et al. eds., 1996).
6. Kathleen Waits, Battered Women and Family Lawyers: The Need for an Identification Protocol, 58 Alb. L. Rev. 1027, 1028 (1995).
7. See Civil Protection Order Transcript, Petitioner Helen Jenkins, District Court of Maryland, Prince George's County, Maryland, 1993.
8. Judge Rescinds Ruling That Cleared Man of Beating Wife; Impartiality Questioned, Chi. Daily L. Bull., Feb. 11, 1997.
9. Ward v. Ward, No. 95-4184, 1996 WL 491692 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App., Aug. 30, 1996); Amicus Curiae Brief In Support of Appellant at 9, Ward (No. 95-04184).
10. American Bar Association, Recommendation 120, in Reports with Recommendations to the House of Delegates (Aug. 5-6, 1996) (condemning lawyers or judges who commit acts of domestic violence or manifest approval of domestic violence in the course of their professional conduct); In re Magid, 655 A.2d 916 (N.J. 1995) (finding that a lawyer who assaulted his intimate partner was guilty of professional misconduct); In re Principato, 655 A.2d 920 (N.J. 1995) (finding that a lawyer who assaulted his partner should be disciplined to restore public confidence in the profession).