Family Violence Appellate Project

Giving survivors a second chance at justice

While FVAP is open and our services continue to be available, as of March 9, 2020, in order to ensure the safety and well-being of clients and FVAP staff, we are meeting with visitors only by appointment until further notice. Please call our office line at 510-858-7358 to make an appointment or if you have any questions.
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Announcements

FVAP joins legal services community to work with CA Dept. of Real Estate to publish DV-informed guide on tenants’ and landlords’ rights and responsibilities

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In collaboration with other legal services providers and the California Department of Real Estate, we had the opportunity to contribute to the newly released guide on residential tenants’ and landlords’ rights and responsibilities. Our work focused on including the legal rights and responsibilities of survivors and landlords as they relate to survivors obtaining and maintaining safe housing.

Unfortunately, survivors of domestic violence face discrimination by landlords because landlords are not always informed of the special housing rights that survivors have in order to stay safe. We hope that this updated guide will curb the discrimination we have been seeing.

New Report on Convening of CA Domestic Violence Service Providers

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In collaboration with the Los Angeles Center for Law & Justice (LACLJ), last June we facilitated two working sessions with domestic violence service providers in California to determine the impact of changes made to domestic violence laws in the past five years and to identify areas of improvement to focus on in the future. We were glad to find improvements in court outcomes, for example, but there are still key areas that make getting justice harder for survivors, such as a need for better language access and judicial education on domestic violence issues.
Read the report to learn more: Pathways Pre-conference Report 2019

 

FVAP Law Clerk Openings Spring 2021 – Remote

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Law Clerk Job Openings – Spring 2021– includes options for working remotely

FVAP is seeking 1-3 part-time law clerks to join our small but exceptional and dynamic team in our Oakland, California office for Spring 2021.  Please note that due to COVID-19 we are currently working remotely.  At this point we do not know if the office will be reopened in the Spring 2021 or in what circumstances so we are accepting applications for clerks who would work remotely.  We value diverse experiences and backgrounds.  FVAP’s clientele is extremely diverse, and we serve individuals and advocates throughout the state, including rural, suburban, and urban populations.  The ideal candidate will bring skills and experiences enabling the candidate to serve these diverse populations adeptly in the context of domestic violence and appellate litigation.

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Legal Victory for Indigenous Women in Oklahoma

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Domestic Violence Advocates supporting Indigenous Women in the U.S. celebrated last Friday, as the United States Supreme Court upheld expansive tribal court jurisdiction in Sharp v. Murphy, in which FVAP joined an amicus brief filed by National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center. This decision enables the Creek Nation in Oklahoma to prosecute non-Indians for domestic violence and other serious crimes committed on the vast majority of their tribal territory. This is a huge victory since current rates of violence against Indigenous women constitute a crisis.

String of Requests for Publication Granted to Benefit Survivors!

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We’re excited to share about a string of legal victories for survivors of domestic violence. We successfully obtained publication of 3 cases that will benefit domestic violence survivors in court. Issues covered in these cases include move out orders as part of restraining orders, overcoming the presumption that foster care is in the best interest of a child, and justifications for a restraining order because of coercive and controlling behavior.

Read the opinions via the links above, or you can read FVAP’s description of these cases in the Cases You Can Use section of our website.

 

FVAP Article Opposing Problematic Coercive Control Bill Published in the Daily Journal

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We’re excited to announce “‘Coercive control’ domestic violence bill: well-intentioned, but need to be reworked” written by FVAP’s Legal Director, Nancy K.D. Lemon, and FVAP Staff Attorney, Cory Hernandez, advocating that Senate Bill 1141 not be passed was published in the Daily Journal yesterday. Unfortunately, the Bill introduces new barriers that will make it harder for many survivors to protect themselves. Our hope is that the Bill does not become law unless it is substantially amended to address its current issues.