How It Works/Requirements
You’re part of a growing network of legal advocates creating safety and stability for survivors and children. Everything you need to take your next case or clinic shift starts here.
Questions? Contact volunteer@volunteerlegaladvocates.org.
STEP 1: REGISTER
Submit your volunteer registration form.
STEP 2: TRAIN
Join a live or on-demand training.
STEP 3: EXPLORE
See our current volunteer opportunities.
STEP 4: VOLUNTEER
Get started!
Required Trainings
Volunteer Legal Advocates is committed to ensuring our volunteers feel fully equipped to represent clients. Before you’re assigned a case or clinic, be sure to complete the required trainings below, and explore our professional development opportunities in the next tab to enhance your skills further.
STEP ONE
Complete the Trauma & Cultural Humility Training below.
Clients often have varying priorities when involved in the legal process and frequently face difficult decisions on how to proceed with their cases. This training will teach volunteers to navigate such situations in a trauma-informed manner. This training is open to volunteers working with or interested in working with clients across our practice areas.
STEP TWO
Explore our training library by practice area below, or click here to register for an upcoming in-person training.
Learn how to help Domestic Violence clients obtain a Protective Order in Montgomery County, Maryland.
After the training, please complete the required comprehension check here.
Learn how to provide legal advice at DCVLP’s community-based clinic on Protective Orders and Family Law matters in Montgomery County. Covered topics include:
- Provide a framework for assisting clients at our in-person clinic
- Learn about the dynamics of domestic violence
- Learn the basics of the law and procedures regarding protective orders, divorce, custody, and child support in Maryland
- Learn how to interview and advise clients in an effective and trauma-informed way
After the training, please complete the required comprehension check here.
Learn about the impact of domestic violence on custody and divorce cases, Maryland family law basics, Montgomery County court procedures, and how to represent survivors in custody or divorce cases. Covered topics include:
- How domestic violence can affect custody and divorce cases
- The basics of the law regarding custody, child support, and divorce in Maryland
- The rules of procedure and how to handle custody and divorce cases in the Montgomery County courts
- How you can sign up to represent a survivor in a custody or divorce matter
Required for those volunteering at Civil Protection Order clinics
Obtaining a Civil Protection Order, or “stay-away” order, is often the first step for a domestic violence survivor to find immediate safety from an abuser. In this training, volunteer attorneys and paralegals will learn to:
- Help prepare survivors for an upcoming Civil Protection Order (CPO) trial by providing brief advice on their case
- Assist survivors with drafting pleadings, including Petitions for Civil Protection Orders, Motions to Continue, or Motions for Alternative Service through DC Superior Court’s online filing system
- Draft Amendments to Petitions for survivors who have an existing Civil Protection Order in place
After the training, please complete the required comprehension check here.
Required for those volunteering at Domestic Violence and/or Immigration Clinics.
Having the guidance of a lawyer on protection orders, custody, divorce, child support, and immigration matters helps survivors know their rights. It increases their chances of securing long-term safety and stability. In this training, volunteer attorneys will learn how to provide legal advice at Volunteer Legal Advocates’ community-based Domestic Violence, Family Law, and Immigration clinics.
Covered topics include:
- Overview of Volunteer Legal Advocates clinics & intake process
- Overview of the types of DV and immigration relief Volunteer Legal Advocates can assist with
- Tips for an effective, trauma-informed client interview
- Mock legal clinic client consults
After the training, please complete the required comprehension check here.
Learn how to help domestic violence survivors find immediate safety from their abusers through a Civil Protection Order (CPO), or “stay-away” order. Covered topics include the basic dynamics of domestic violence, trauma-informed representation, the laws and procedures regarding civil protection orders in DC, and effectively representing CPO clients.
After the training, please complete the required comprehension check here.
Learn to help domestic violence survivors and their children find long-term safety and stability through a permanent custody and/or divorce order. Covered topics include the basic dynamics of domestic violence, trauma-informed representation, and understanding the law and procedures regarding child custody and divorce in Washington, DC.
After the training, please complete the required comprehension check here.
Volunteer Legal Advocates’ Policy & Appellate Advocacy Practice ensures legal precedent protects the interests of DV survivors. Learn about all aspects of the appellate process, including litigating appeals on behalf of our clients.
After the training, please complete the required comprehension check here.
Through our Child Advocacy Program, our volunteer attorneys serve as court-appointed GALs for vulnerable children ages 0 – 17 who are living in dangerous situations or experiencing significant trauma. This training will prepare you to conduct a thorough investigation of the child’s home life, review important records, attend hearings to present investigative observations, and make recommendations to the court regarding custody and visitation that are in the best interests of the child.
After the training, please complete the required comprehension check here.
- Representing Vulnerable Immigrants in DC
Learn to help immigrant survivors of violence and their families find relief through a variety of means. Covered topics include special risks for immigrant survivors, trauma-informed representation, and various forms of immigration relief.
CLICK TO VIEW - REQUIRED for U Visa Cases
Learn the U-Visa application process and requirements and the eligibility criteria, required documentation, and the benefits of obtaining a U-Visa.
CLICK TO VIEW - REQUIRED for SIJS Cases
Learn the law surrounding SIJS, steps to pursue SIJS, how to file the SIJS applications, and next steps after SIJS is granted.
CLICK TO VIEW
Professional Development
Looking to enhance your pro bono law expertise? Explore our special topics and practice-area trainings for volunteers.
This training covers the new laws that went into effect at the end of April 2021 under the Intrafamily Offenses and Anti-Stalking Orders Amendment Act of 2020. We discuss each law in detail and how each one will affect survivors of domestic violence in the District of Columbia. The new IFO and Anti-Stalking Order Amendments will affect eligibility requirements for Civil Protection Orders, the length of Civil Protection Orders, and more.
Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPOs) were enacted in 2019 by the DC Council to create a new form of protection aimed at preventing gun violence. Like most “red flag” laws, this measure permits law enforcement to seek a protection order against an individual who would be a danger to themselves or others if they possess or purchase firearms. ERPOs can be filed by both members of the MPD and by other eligible parties, including current and former romantic partners. ERPOs are also unique in that warrants to search for firearms can be issued as part of the order. In this training, volunteer attorneys will learn how ERPOs can be used to protect domestic violence survivors by intervening to ensure that dangerous individuals do not have access to firearms.
This training explores the types of trauma commonly experienced by the children we represent and the long-term impacts of early trauma experiences, offers guidance on how to screen for trauma and encourage caregivers to engage in therapeutic services and interventions, and shares best practices for talking with children about traumatic experiences.
This training explores the definitions of suicidal ideations and self-harm and how they are different, offers guidance on how to respond if you have concerns about a child client, and reviews available resources in the region.
This training will explore the benefits available to third-party caregivers in DC. The discussion is led by Marla Spindel, Co-Founder and Executive Director, and Stephanie McClellan, Co-Founder and Deputy Director, of the DC KinCare Alliance.
This training focuses on strategies for writing compelling affidavits for immigrant survivors, including tips on interviewing the client, structuring an effective affidavit, and engaging in this process in a trauma-sensitive and culturally sensitive manner.
This training video will explore the important intersection between a Civil Protection Order (CPO) and a U-Visa. We will discuss how a CPO relates to immigration relief through a U-Visa. We will also provide information on how to properly document and submit evidence of a CPO when applying for a U-Visa.
This training video will provide volunteer attorneys with an overview of trauma-informed representation. You will learn how to recognize the signs of trauma in your clients, understand the impact of trauma on legal proceedings, and gain practical skills for providing sensitive and supportive representation to clients who have experienced trauma.
Learn the rules and procedures involved when issuing a subpoena in a Civil Protection Order case and Custody/Divorce case in DC Superior Court.
Before an exhibit can be offered into evidence, you must prove to the Court that it is authentic, which is known as laying the foundation. Learn how to effectively lay the necessary foundation to prove the authenticity of exhibits.
Develop skills to properly impeach or refresh the recollection of a witness when representing clients in protection order or family law cases.
In this training, volunteers will learn the essentials of courtroom objections and build skills to prepare for objections well before trial so that you can make and respond to objections with confidence, knowledge, and adequate preparation.
Having the guidance of a lawyer on protection orders, custody, divorce, child support, and immigration matters helps survivors know their rights. It increases their chances of securing long-term safety and stability. Learn about selected topics in family and immigration law and how to provide legal consultations at the community-based, pop-up legal clinic hosted by Volunteer Legal Advocates (then DCVLP) on July 29, 2023, in partnership with the Mayor’s Office of Latino Affairs and the D.C. Hispanic Bar Association.
In this training, Summer Associates will learn how to help domestic violence survivors find immediate safety from their abusers through a Civil Protection Order (CPO), or “stay-away” order. Major topics covered in this training include the basic dynamics of domestic violence, trauma-informed representation, the laws and procedures regarding civil protection orders in DC and effectively representing CPO clients.