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Management Assistance Program

Trauma Informed Lawyering: What It Is and Why It Matters

By Jim Calloway

It is impossible to teach everything we lawyers need to know in law school. Lawyers involved in domestic practice often deal with emotional and unhappy clients. I’m sure the law schools do a better job today, but I received little training on client counseling and certainly there was no discussion of the impact of trauma on some clients’ ability to communicate, reach decisions or even protect their own interests. Even the way you phrase your questions may be important in unlocking information. But the issue is not limited to domestic clients or abuse survivors. The client injured in an automobile accident may be traumatized by the wreck or the inability to return to work quickly.

Trauma-Informed Lawyering: What It Is and Why It Matters is an excellent post on the Texas Bar Practice Blog which is easy to read and includes links to many other resources, including a lengthy piece in the Clinical Law Review.