Lawyers’ Interviews with Clients about Family Violence
University of New South Wales Law Journal, Vol. 33, No. 3, pp. 929-944, 2010
17 Pages Posted: 3 Feb 2011
Date Written: January 31, 2011
Abstract
39 Australian family lawyers, 20 women and 19 men, were asked about whether they routinely interviewed clients about domestic violence as part of their initial consultation with clients seeking advice on family law issues. Only just over half indicated that they routinely explored this issue, with a trend for female lawyers to be more likely to do so than male lawyers. Other lawyers, who did not routinely ask about violence, relied on intuition, assumptions about their clients based upon socio-economic status or appearance, or cues within the interview. This article argues that lawyers need to ask about family violence routinely in initial interviews with both male and female clients.
Keywords: Family Law, Domestic Violence, Legal Profession, Parents, Children
JEL Classification: K10, K14, K30
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation