Information About the Project

Overview

The Legal Empowerment & Advocacy Project is a new project to be conducted in partnership by the North Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCCADV) and WomensLaw.org, which will provide victims of domestic violence throughout North Carolina with better legal information, trained representation, and support. The Legal Empowerment and Advocacy Project will build on a successful six year collaborative relationship between the two organizations and will respond to the high demand for services from WomensLaw.org and NCCADV.

Project Activities & Goals

The primary activity of The Legal Empowerment and Advocacy Project is to establish a Staff Attorney, who will be employed by WomensLaw.org and will work in the NCCADV office. Specific goals are: 1) to create and maintain accessible legal materials for victims; 2) to provide comprehensive technical assistance to domestic violence advocates and lawyers in the state; and 3) to conduct trainings for lawyers and advocates around the state to increase their capacity to assist victims of domestic violence; and 4) to initiate and coordinate a pro bono attorney project with the goal of obtaining attorneys to volunteer to take 1 to 2 cases per year to represent victims of domestic violence. These goals will be carried out primarily by the new Staff Attorney who will:

• Manage the NC content on WomensLaw.org, keeping the current information up to date and adding new information based on priorities determined in collaboration with the Public Policy Director and Executive Director at NCCADV.
• Answer emails sent into the WomensLaw.org Email Legal Hotline from victims, friends and family members, and advocates in NC.
• Conduct legal trainings for local domestic violence organizations throughout NC, giving first priority to organizations in rural areas, member programs of NCCADV, and Legal Aid of North Carolina.
• Assist the NCCADV Public Policy Director to answer technical assistance calls regarding legal questions that come in from local advocates and allied professionals throughout NC.
• Support the research needs of the Public Policy team at NCCADV by compiling legal statutes and case law from NC and surrounding states.