Page 105 - Impact: Collected Essays on Expanding Access to Justice

cases is the protection of vital rights, but also a complete shift in the terms of negotiation in the case, particularly important when so few cases go to trial .
We are one of the only organizations in town that provide free representation for low-income women in litigated divorce proceedings, for example . While people rarely think “social justice” when they hear divorce, our volunteer attorneys quickly learn that without their help, our poor often abused clients face destitution, loss of custody, and litigation that can last for years further draining them of resources and independence . Without a formal divorce, parties cannot take next steps with important interests in property and pensions; and especially in abuse cases, without court orders, victims of partner violence are challenged to ensure a safe situation for managing custody, visitation and child support . Many low-income victims of partner violence choose never to file for divorce out of fear – because of drawn-out litigation with the abuser and because of an inability to anticipate the economic outcome . That decision often leaves funds that they deserve – like child support – out of reach . Families often fall apart . When they do, the law can offer some protection .
In approximately half of the litigated divorce cases for which we provide representation, the parties discuss the possibility of imputing income to the moneyed spouse for determining support payments . Although our clients are poor, their partners regularly hide or under-value assets like businesses and off-the-books income . Many clients will tell us that they have no documents that prove their partner’s income, but they know about purchases made, lifestyle choices, and other actions that imply some stream of income . For those clients, child support calculated on declared income alone would seriously undervalue their partner’s ability to support their child . The court provides for a litigant’s ability to impute income to their partner, if they can provide evidence of expenses that show the income is higher than stated . Despite its availability as a tool, a concept like imputation is not one that unrepresented litigants would likely come to on their own . Alone, our clients would go forward on W-2’s or statements of net worth with no ability to challenge the statements of their partner . We find that once the specter of imputation is raised, in other words when the adverse party realizes that we will be able to show the actual income available, a favorable settlement is often close behind . Recently, through the assistance of volunteer investigators from a global financial services firm, we were able to show the income generated by a laundromat owned by the adverse party . He had declared his income at $7,000 annually . The investigator observed the business, identifying the number of customers and loads of laundry washed, compared this with other local businesses, and issued a report to the court . This kind of investigation is at a level of expertise rarely applied to family court litigation . In this case, rather than the $25/month minimum child support award that our client would have received based on declared income, the client received an award of over $500/month .
Our volunteer attorneys regularly achieve substantially increased financial awards for clients, awards that necessitate substantial discovery and expert analysis – resources that are not as uniformly available to legal services attorneys for this type of case . There is no question that the playing field is leveled in a powerful way when clients have such a high level of professional support behind them .
Connecting a volunteer attorney with this kind of case is one of our biggest challenges, and our greatest satisfaction . Because we know the need is so great, we try to mitigate the private attorneys’ hesitation . The availability of volunteer experts is a great help, as is in-house support for clients’ non-legal needs, and of course ongoing trainings and mentoring by our expert staff attorneys . The opportunity to appear in trial court; put on expert witnesses; conduct depositions; hold settlement
Alternative Models
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