Domestic Violence Screening Tool for Consumer Lawyers

This document is a screening tool that consumer attorneys can use to determine when a client might be a survivor of domestic violence or currently in a domestic violence situation. This tool is useful for attorneys working in areas such as tax law, foreclosure defense, consumer debt, and more. The tool is important because an attorney who does not know that a client has suffered the effects of domestic violence may miss possible avenues for relief. Knowing a client’s domestic violence history also helps the attorney keep the victim safe (for example, by never having payments from an abuser sent directly to the client’s home address) and allows the attorney to refer the victim to domestic violence resources in the community. The focus of the tool is on helping attorneys obtain the information they need in a manner that is respectful of the client.