Day in Court

I spent the day in family court today with the Courtroom Advocates Project (CAP). CAP is a project in the NYC area that allows law students work together with attorneys to help battered men and women prepare their petitions for protective orders. 

I've been signed up to attend for a while, so when today arrived, I was somewhat nervous but mostly excited. The law students worked in pairs, and each pair was assigned to help someone prepare their petition. I kept looking around, expecting someone to see me and say, "Hey! You aren't qualified to be here! Who do you think you are?!?"

As I listened to the woman we were advocating for, I was so impressed with her courage. She has lived in an abusive relationship for many years, but finally decided that it wasn't good for her daughters to see her relationship as an example, so she began the process of getting the law involved to radically change their lives. We spent most of the day with her, helping her prepare her petition, helping her to make a safety plan for moving forward, then helping her prepare to see the judge, and then appearing before the judge by her side to get her protective order. Afterward, as she waited for her paperwork, I explained once more how she will proceed from here. We'll be in touch for the next few weeks as the details get sorted out, but most of the work will have to be done on her end, and some of it is kind of complex but crucial paperwork. She thanked me for making it all seem more simple. She said it was so complicated, and that she was glad to have someone to make it make more sense for her. I smiled, and thanked her for letting me have the opportunity to work with her today. 

She grabbed my hand, and said,

"You're going to be a wonderful attorney."

I hope she's right.