by Joseph L. Roth

In 2020, O’Melveny & Myers LLP partnered with Human Options, an Orange County-based nonprofit dedicated to ending the cycle of relationship violence. Relationship violence—also known as domestic violence or intimate partner violence—increased dramatically in the United States in 2020, including in Orange County. The Orange County Sheriff’s Department reported a 25% increase in domestic violence calls in April 2020 compared to the same time the prior year. Human Options, which provides critical real-time services to domestic violence victims in Orange County, including a 24-hour hotline and an emergency shelter, received as many calls for legal support in the first half of 2021 as it typically receives in an entire year. The simple, heartbreaking fact is that there is an increasing number of people, including here in Orange County, who live in fear in their own homes and communities.

I learned from Sara Behmerwohld, Human Options’ Legal Advocacy Program manager, that—in addition to its emergency, education, and counseling services—Human Options has a legal advocacy program that offers support to victims in areas including housing, immigration, family law, and restraining orders.

Domestic violence restraining orders provide relationship violence victims and their families security from their abusers, and not surprisingly, many of Human Options’ clients seek them. Domestic violence restraining orders, however, are not easy to obtain. In California, the domestic violence victim has the burden of persuasion. Absent legal representation, victims must gather and present evidence themselves, despite usually not knowing how to do so, and all the while in fear of their abusers. A victim also may not understand the legal definition and scope of domestic violence, which is not limited to physical injury, but includes conduct such as sexual assault and the threat of serious bodily injury as well. Representation can make all the difference, not only in resolving the case, but also in providing critical emotional support. Domestic violence victims need to feel supported and know they have advocates who are fighting for them.

Through the partnership with Human Options, a team of O’Melveny attorneys attended a half-day virtual training session hosted jointly by Sara Behmerwohld and Joanna Wong, an attorney with the Public Law Center. The training not only provided a fulsome background on the applicable law and mechanics of the legal system but emphasized the human aspect of the work and the need to provide trauma-informed care. Following the training, Human Options began referring restraining order cases to O’Melveny.

My first case with Human Options demonstrated that there can be no substitute for on-the-ground legal representation. The client was an undocumented woman with no income and three small children whose ex-boyfriend, the respondent, had subjected her and her children to repeated physical violence, all the while controlling her through money and by threatening to report her undocumented status. She had taken refuge at her mother’s home and filed for a domestic violence restraining order. She initially did not have counsel, but the respondent did, and his counsel was sending her correspondence and had filed a competing paternity petition for custody of their children. When I joined as counsel, the client was completely relieved; she was mentally drained and terrified of the respondent.

There was simply no way this client could have handled the required papers and advocated well on her own. I communicated with the respondent’s counsel and convinced them to postpone serving my client with the paternity petition until the date of the restraining order hearing. When a third overlapping petition was filed by the Orange County Department of Child Support Services seeking child support for my client from the respondent, I corresponded with the case worker there as well. I met with the client regularly, sometimes two or three times a week, where we discussed the facts, gathered evidence and witnesses, and prepared for the hearing. I also empathized with the client and helped her discuss her goals. For example, she had initially requested the court to provide no visitation, but upon deep reflection and discussion, determined she was open to visitation if it would be safe because she wanted her kids to know their father. As I prepared for the hearing on my own time, I was grateful for the guidance and support that the Public Law Center provided, as they also partnered with O’Melveny and Human Options on these types of cases.

The hearing in my case further underscored the need for domestic violence victims to have proper legal representation. Less than two days before the hearing, the court removed the restraining order case from the family court to the civil court, with a brand new judge and a different set of rules. Moreover, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the new judge required the parties to appear remotely despite our prior expectation that we would be appearing in person. The client was particularly distressed at having to appear remotely as her children would be at home, and she feared they would overhear her testimony, which would discuss the violence and threats she had endured.

When the remote hearing began, I moved the court to hear the case in person, and thankfully, the judge granted the request. However, the judge ordered that we appear in court in thirty minutes to begin the case! We barely made it, and the client was stressed, so it was important that I helped her to maintain her composure. At one point, security did not allow the client’s support person, her sister, to enter the building, but I raised this issue with the judge and she was ultimately granted access. The client told me she had not realized these sorts of issues could be raised with the judge. Absent our legal advocacy, she would not have spoken up at all, and her children may have had to hear the traumatizing testimony at home. I wonder how many other victims out there have been disadvantaged in these sorts of ways because they lack access to legal counsel and do not know the “ins and outs” of the legal system.

Another case, taken by an O’Melveny colleague, involved a low-income Spanish-speaking client with minor children, whose ex-boyfriend had committed repeated past acts of physical violence. The boyfriend’s whereabouts were unknown, but the client was petrified that he was out to get her as she had seen him driving by her residence. Not knowing where he was, she had no idea even how to begin to stop him. We were able to effectuate “service by posting” by mailing the papers to his last known address and posting them at the courthouse. At the hearing, the judge granted the restraining order to the client. There are likely so many others without legal representation who are not successful.

Human Options needs more legal partners to offer volunteer services to domestic violence victims. These services can literally make the difference in whether a victim obtains physical safety, a basic need for everyone. I urge you to please call upon fellow attorneys and firms to get involved and lend their voices to these survivors who deserve to be seen and heard. If you are interested in offering your services to Human Options, or would like to discuss its legal advocacy program, please contact Human Options’ Sara Behmerwohld at sbehmerwohld@humanoptions.org. To find out more about Human Options as a whole and the services the organization provides, please visit humanoptions.org.

Joseph (“Joe”) L. Roth is a litigation associate for O’Melveny and Myers LLP, a legal firm in Newport Beach, which has been critical in offering pro bono services to victims and survivors of domestic violence. He can be reached at joeroth@omm.com.

Peek at Pro Bono is an occasional column that offers insight into meaningful pro bono work being done by an Orange County lawyer.