On August 10, 2026, the California Supreme Court issued its ruling in Family Violence Appellate Project, et al. v. Superior Courts of California, et al. (Case No. S288176). In a sweeping victory for Petitioners and civil litigants across the state, the Court held California courts have a mandatory duty to provide "meaningful access" to an official verbatim record of proceedings, including by electronic recording if an official court reporter is unavailable. 

According to Jennafer Dorfman Wagner, Director of Programs at FVAP, "Today's decision is a major victory in the fight for equal access to justice for all litigants, regardless of financial means. We are committed to working with the legal community and the Superior Courts to ensure the Court's ruling is implemented to its fullest."

This victory belongs to everyone who believed equal justice was worth fighting for. Now we have the authority to build it - but building takes resources. Donate now to help us finish what this win started.

Pictured: Erica Ettinger (CLA SoCal), Jessica Wcislo (BayLegal and former FVAP law clerk), Brenda Adams (BayLegal), Sonya Winner (Covington), Jennafer Dorfman Wagner (FVAP), Ellen Choi (Covington), Sarah O'Farrell (Covington), and Eva Dorrough (Covington)

We can't have the immense impact we have on survivors' lives without you. Every case FVAP handles depends on volunteer attorneys willing to step in - and you don't need any background in domestic violence law to make a real difference. We bring the subject-matter expertise; you bring the time and skill. Our pro bono opportunities are structured to fit a busy practice: defined in scope, clear on timeline, with few out-of-pocket costs.

All of our pro bono attorneys receive a comprehensive training manual covering the basics of domestic violence and family law and California appellate procedure and access to FVAP’s legal resource and social science libraries. FVAP attorneys who are subject matter experts co-counsel with pro bono attorneys and are always available to answer questions and provide support.

If you’re interested in contributing pro bono hours to support survivors of family violence, contact us at info@fvaplaw.org for more information.

Survivors seeking protection from courts must overcome many obstacles including fear of facing their abuser in court, getting time off work, arranging childcare, and navigating transportation. Too often courts force survivors to repeatedly endure this process—continuing cases over several hearings for months on end—because abusers allege the prospect of a criminal prosecution should delay civil restraining order cases.

That is not what the 5th Amendment's Constitutional protection demands, and in nearly all other areas of law courts simply allow the civil case to proceed without forcing testimony from someone facing potential prosecution. In upcoming oral argument at the 1st District Court of Appeal, FVAP's co-counsel from Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP will be arguing the same standard that applies in other cases should apply in domestic violence restraining order cases. Survivors seeking protection should get their day in court without delay!

Argument is scheduled for September 17th at 9:30 a.m. A live link to watch the argument will be available here shortly before arguments begin.  

The final report on this year’s Battle of the Bands has been released, with a final fundraising total of $133,777 raised by our rockstar attorneys and their fans to support survivors of intimate partner violence.

Get the full recap here and thank you again to everyone who performed, volunteered, donated, and sponsored!

This month, FVAP prevailed in an emergency writ case securing a survivor a second chance at justice in a mutual domestic violence restraining order (DVRO) case. The trial court granted both a DVRO protecting our client and a DVRO restraining her. In granting both orders, the court neglected to apply a critical law that demands it conduct a careful analysis of such mutual requests. Mutual DVROs are designed to be the exception, not the default or expedient response to dueling requests because they are less protective for survivors and in fact can put them at greater risk by creating ambiguity for law enforcement about who needs protection. 

When the courts issue competing DVROs, they fail to send a message that abuse must stop, and compound the personal harms by an abuser with structural harms from the legal system survivors rely on for relief. With every day that passed, our client was forced to live with those dangers and consequences, and an appeal—which could take over a year, possibly past the DVROs’ expiration date—was not an adequate solution. 

We filed a writ petition on the survivor’s behalf at the beginning of April, and the appellate court issued an order commanding the trial court to overturn the mutual DVROs, hold a new hearing, and restore our client's temporary protection pending that hearing in May, meaning the ongoing harm from the wrongful decision was addressed in weeks instead of months. The emergency writ process gave our client an opportunity to challenge injustice and advocate again for her protection on the fast-paced timeline she needed. With that second chance, the trial court in early August reached the outcome our client had been fighting for all along: the protection of a DVRO without the real and serious harms of a wrongly issued mutual restraining order.

This petition built on FVAP's successes in the broader appellate program. We were able to frame this as a clear legal error for purposes of a writ petition because of two prior FVAP cases, K.L. v. R.H. (2021) 70 Cal.App.5th 965 and Melissa G. v. Raymond M. (2018) 27 Cal.App.5th 360, plus a case FVAP didn’t present but whose publication we argued for, In re Marriage of Hoch (2026) 119 Cal.App.5th 80. Decisions like these empower survivors to hold trial courts to the correct legal standard, encouraging judges to learn and apply new case law as soon as it is published.

Interested in learning more about writ petitions, or how you can schedule a training for your team? Contact info@fvaplaw.org for more information!

California and federal laws protect survivors from discrimination when they are applying to housing.

Join us on Wednesday, September 2nd at 2 pm for FVAP’s Monthly Housing Call. During the call, FVAP answers advocates’ housing questions and provides information about housing legal rights. FVAP’s Monthly Housing Call is on the first Wednesday of each month. The call is limited to advocates and attorneys who advocate for survivors of gender-based violence.

Right now, so much feels unpredictable—but your support doesn’t have to be. Sustainers Circle members give on a recurring basis, creating a strong foundation that keeps life-saving legal services available to survivors, no matter what’s happening in the world. Spreading your donation out across an entire year is easy on your budget, and a big boost to ours: a $5 monthly donation generates $60 over the course of a year to support survivors fighting for justice at the appellate level.

Your ongoing support gives FVAP the freedom to focus on impact—not uncertainty.

Join the Sustainers Circle and make your support count every day of the year.