Cory Hernandez

Senior Managing Attorney

Pronouns: they/them

Cory returned to FVAP in 2020, and holds a bachelor’s of science degree in political science and American studies from MIT (2014), a master’s of science degree in political science from MIT (’14), and a juris doctor from UC Berkeley Law (’17). Cory helps run FVAP’s Legislative and Policy Advocacy Program, including leading FVAP’s sponsorship of 2022’s AB 2369 (Salas), which made it easier for survivors to get attorney’s fees in DVRO cases, and harder for respondents.

In 2025, Cory was selected as a one-year fellow of the California Academy of Appellate Lawyers. In 2024, Cory volunteered as a contributing editor for the Continuing Education of the Bar (CEB)’s new chapter on the Domestic Violence Prevention Act, published in 2025 as part of its family law practice treatise. Cory was also quoted in the LA Times (Apr. 12, 2024) on CA’s court reporter shortage crisis, and has worked on FVAP’s lawsuit on the shortage and electronic recording. In 2023 Cory was part of the legal team (for City and County of San Francisco v. H.H. (2022) 76 Cal.App.5th 531), which won a 2023 CLAY (California Lawyer of the Year) Award from the Daily Journal.

Cory is a member of the Alameda County Bar Association (ACBA) and California Lawyers Association, Family Law Section, and also serves on:

• the California Judicial Council’s Family & Juvenile Law Advisory Committee, Protective Order Working Group, Violence Against Women Education Project Subcommittee, and Ad Hoc Access to Visitation Grant Program Application Review Group (since ’19); and
• ACBA Judicial Appointments Evaluation Committee (JAEC) (since ’23).

Further, Cory volunteers as a manuscript reviewer for three journals:

• Violence Against Women (VAW) (since ’19);
• Journal of Family Trauma, Child Custody & Child Development (since ’23); and
• Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma (since ’23).

In addition, while at FVAP, Cory has helped present the following trainings:

• “5th Annual Domestic Violence Updates,” live webinar for Alameda County Bar Association, Apr. 29, 2025;
• “Unclear DV Issues: A Panel of Perspectives,” live webinar for Alameda County Family Violence Council, Oct. 25, 2024;
• “SB 741, Discovery, & the DVPA,” webinar recorded, Jan. 18, 2024;
• “AB 2369 & DVPA Attorney’s Fees,” webinar recorded for LAAC, Mar. 16, 2023;
• “Domestic Abuse Is More than Physical Violence: Examining the Role of Coercive Control,” webinar recorded for Judicial Council & Supervised Visitation Network, June 3 & Oct. 26, 2021;
• “Utilizing SB 1141, California’s ‘Coercive Control’ Bill: A Training For Practitioners,” webinar recorded for LAAC & CEB, Jan. 20 & 22, 2021;
• “Helping LGBTQIA+ Survivors Get Help with Appeals,” live webinar for LA LGBT Center, Dec. 14, 2020;
• “Housing and Employment Legal Protections for Domestic Violence Survivors,” live webinar for SF LGBT Center, Dec. 11, 2020;
• “Parentage & the DVPA,” webinar recorded, Feb. 16, 2018;
• “How to Lay a Record for Appeal in Family Law and Domestic Violence Cases,” webinar recorded, Dec. 2, 2017;
• “Requesting Statements of Decision in Family Law and Domestic Violence Cases,” webinar recorded, Sept. 21, 2017.

Moreover, while at FVAP, Cory has helped write the following publications:

• Hernandez, Domestic Violence, Litigation Abuse, and California’s New Laws on Vexatious Litigants (AB 2391) and Attorney’s Fees (AB 2369) (Feb./Mar. 2023) 28 Domestic Violence Report 33, 37;
• Lemon & Hernandez, Daily Journal, “Coercive Control” Domestic Violence Bill: Well-Intentioned, But Needs to Be Reworked (June 11, 2020);
• Smith et al., Recent Developments in California Domestic Violence Laws (2016) 38:4 Family Law News, State Bar of California Family Law Section.

Cory previously worked as a law clerk (’16) and post-grad legal fellow (’17-’18) for FVAP, and as a staff attorney for Family Violence Law Center (FVLC) (’18-’20). During law school, Cory clerked for Justice Jon B. Streeter of the California First District Court of Appeal, Division Four (’17); FVLC (’16); FVAP (’16); and East Bay Community Law Center (EBCLC) (’15); and also volunteered as a certified rape crisis counselor for Bay Area Women Against Rape (BAWAR) (’15-’16).

Interesting quotes:

• “She got a right to look over the world in whatever company she choose. Just cause I love her don’t take away none of her rights.” – Alice Walker, The Color Purple. 
• “And the worst I wish the law is that [its] eye may be opened by experience—by experience.” – Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist.
• “Days and days and days / That’s how it happens . . . Everything is balanced and serene / Like chaos never happens if it’s never seen.” – Lisa Kron & Jeanine Tesori, Fun Home.
• “[H]ow do you measure a year in the life? / How about love?” – Jonathan Larson, Rent. 
• “Another affordable way to add a drop of loveliness to the world [i]s not to change it but to change how one s[ees] it.” – Viet Thanh Nguyen, The Sympathizer.