II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1515 

To establish a domestic violence volunteer attorney network to represent 

domestic violence victims. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 24, 2007 

Mr. BIDEN (for himself and Mr. SPECTER) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To establish a domestic violence volunteer attorney network 

to represent domestic violence victims. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Domestic Vio5 lence Volunteer Attorney Network Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act, the terms ‘‘dating partner’’, ‘‘dating vio8 lence’’, ‘‘domestic violence’’, ‘‘legal assistance’’, ‘‘linguis9 tically and culturally specific services’’, ‘‘stalking’’, and 

10 ‘‘State domestic violence coalitions’’ shall have the same 


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1 meaning given such terms in section 3 of the Violence 

2 Against Women and Department of Justice Reauthoriza3 tion Act of 2005 (Public Law 109–162). 

4 SEC. 3. NATIONAL DOMESTIC VIOLENCE VOLUNTEER AT5 TORNEY NETWORK. 

6 Section 1201 of the Violence Against Women Act of 

7 2000 (42 U.S.C. 3796gg–6) is amended by adding at the 

8 end the following: 

9 ‘‘(g) NATIONAL DOMESTIC VIOLENCE VOLUNTEER

10 ATTORNEY NETWORK.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 

12 ‘‘(A) GRANTS.—The Attorney General may 

13 award grants to the American Bar Association 

14 Commission on Domestic Violence to work in 

15 collaboration with the American Bar Associa16 tion Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service 

17 and other organizations to create, recruit law18 yers for, and provide training, mentoring, and 

19 technical assistance for a National Domestic Vi20 olence Volunteer Attorney Network. 

21 ‘‘(B) USE OF FUNDS.—Funds allocated to 

22 the American Bar Association’s Commission on 

23 Domestic Violence under this subsection shall 

24 be used to— 


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1 ‘‘(i) create and maintain a network to 

2 field and manage inquiries from volunteer 

3 lawyers seeking to represent and assist vic4 tims of domestic violence; 

5 ‘‘(ii) solicit lawyers to serve as volun6 teer lawyers in the network; 

7 ‘‘(iii) retain dedicated staff to support 

8 volunteer attorneys by— 

9 ‘‘(I) providing field technical as10 sistance inquiries; 

11 ‘‘(II) providing on-going men12 toring and support; 

13 ‘‘(III) collaborating with national 

14 domestic violence legal technical as15 sistance providers and statewide legal 

16 coordinators and local legal services 

17 programs; and 

18 ‘‘(IV) developing legal education 

19 and other training materials; and 

20 ‘‘(iv) maintain a point of contact with 

21 the statewide legal coordinator in each 

22 State regarding coordination of training, 

23 mentoring, and supporting volunteer attor24 neys representing victims of domestic vio25 lence. 


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1 ‘‘(2) AUTHORIZATION.—There are authorized to 

2 be appropriated to carry out this subsection 

3 $2,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2008 and 

4 2009 and $3,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 

5 2010 through 2013. 

6 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBILITY FOR OTHER GRANTS.—A re7 ceipt of an award under this subsection by the Com8 mission on Domestic Violence of the American Bar 

9 Association shall not preclude the Commission from 

10 receiving additional grants under the Office on Vio11 lence Against Women’s Technical Assistance Pro12 gram to carry out the purposes of that program. 

13 ‘‘(4) OTHER CONDITIONS.— 

14 ‘‘(A) PROHIBITION ON TORT LITIGA15 TION.—Funds appropriated for the grant pro16 gram under this subsection may not be used to 

17 fund civil representation in a lawsuit based on 

18 a tort claim. This subparagraph shall not be 

19 construed as a prohibition on providing assist20 ance to obtain restitution. 

21 ‘‘(B) PROHIBITION ON LOBBYING.—Any 

22 funds appropriated under this subsection shall 

23 be subject to the prohibitions in section 1913 of 

24 title 18, United States Code, relating to lob25 bying with appropriated moneys.’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. DOMESTIC VIOLENCE VOLUNTEER ATTORNEY RE2 FERRAL PROGRAM. 

3 (a) PILOT PROGRAM.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—For fiscal years 2008 and 

5 2009, the Office on Violence Against Women of the 

6 Department of Justice, in consultation with the Do7 mestic Violence Legal Advisory Task Force, shall 

8 designate 5 States in which to implement the pilot 

9 program of the National Domestic Violence Volun10 teer Attorney Referral Project and distribute funds 

11 under this subsection. 

12 (2) CRITERIA.—Criteria for selecting the States 

13 for the pilot program under this subsection shall in14 clude— 

15 (A) equitable distribution between urban 

16 and rural areas, equitable geographical distribu17 tion; 

18 (B) States that have a demonstrated ca19 pacity to coordinate among local and statewide 

20 domestic violence organizations; 

21 (C) organizations serving immigrant 

22 women; and 

23 (D) volunteer legal services offices 

24 throughout the State. 

25 (3) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the pilot pro26 gram under this subsection is to— 


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1 (A) provide for a coordinated system of en2 suring that domestic violence victims through3 out the pilot States have access to safe, cul4 turally, and linguistically appropriate represen5 tation in all legal matters arising as a con6 sequence of the abuse or violence; and 

7 (B) support statewide legal coordinators in 

8 each State to manage referrals for victims to 

9 attorneys and to train attorneys on related do10 mestic violence issues. 

11 (4) ROLE OF STATEWIDE LEGAL COORDI12 NATOR.—A statewide legal coordinator under this 

13 subsection shall— 

14 (A) be employed by the statewide domestic 

15 violence coalition, unless the statewide domestic 

16 violence coalition determines that the needs of 

17 victims throughout the State would be best 

18 served if the coordinator was employed by an19 other statewide organization; 

20 (B) develop and maintain an updated data21 base of attorneys throughout the State, includ22 ing— 

23 (i) legal services programs; 

24 (ii) volunteer programs; 


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1 (iii) organizations serving immigrant 

2 women; 

3 (iv) law school clinical programs; 

4 (v) bar associations; 

5 (vi) attorneys in the National Domes6 tic Violence Volunteer Attorney Network; 

7 and 

8 (vii) local domestic violence programs; 

9 (C) consult and coordinate with existing 

10 statewide and local programs including volun11 teer representation projects or statewide legal 

12 services programs; 

13 (D) provide referrals to victims who are 

14 seeking legal representation in matters arising 

15 as a consequence of the abuse or violence; 

16 (E) participate in biannual meetings with 

17 other Pilot Program grantees, American Bar 

18 Association Commission on Domestic Violence, 

19 American Bar Association Committee on Pro 

20 Bono and Public Service, and national domestic 

21 violence legal technical assistance providers; 

22 (F) receive referrals of victims seeking 

23 legal representation from the National Domes24 tic Violence Hotline and other sources; 


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1 (G) receive and disseminate information 

2 regarding volunteer attorneys and training and 

3 mentoring opportunities; and 

4 (H) work with the Office on Violence 

5 Against Women, the American Bar Association 

6 Commission on Domestic Violence, and the Na7 tional Domestic Violence Legal Advisory Task 

8 Force to assess the effectiveness of the Pilot 

9 Program. 

10 (5) ELIGIBILITY FOR GRANTS.—The Attorney 

11 General shall award grants to statewide legal coordi12 nators under this subsection. 

13 (6) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

14 There are authorized to be appropriated $750,000 

15 for each of fiscal years 2008 and 2009 to fund the 

16 statewide coordinator positions and other costs asso17 ciated with the position in the 5 pilot program 

18 States under this subsection. 

19 (7) EVALUATION AND REPORTING.—An entity 

20 receiving a grant under this subsection shall submit 

21 to the Department of Justice a report detailing the 

22 activities taken with the grant funds, including such 

23 additional information as the agency shall require. 

24 (b) NATIONAL PROGRAM.— 


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1 (1) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the national 

2 program under this subsection is to— 

3 (A) provide for a coordinated system of en4 suring that domestic violence victims through5 out the country have access to safe, culturally 

6 and linguistically appropriate representation in 

7 legal matters arising as a consequence of the 

8 abuse or violence; and 

9 (B) support statewide legal coordinators in 

10 each State to coordinate referrals to domestic 

11 violence attorneys and to train attorneys on re12 lated domestic violence issues, including immi13 gration matters. 

14 (2) GRANTS.—The Attorney General shall 

15 award grants to States for the purposes set forth in 

16 subsection (a) and to support designated statewide 

17 legal coordinators under this subsection. 

18 (3) ROLE OF THE STATEWIDE LEGAL COORDI19 NATOR.—The statewide legal coordinator under this 

20 subsection shall be subject to the requirements and 

21 responsibilities provided in subsection (a)(4). 

22 (4) GUIDELINES.—The Office on Violence 

23 Against Women, in consultation with the Domestic 

24 Violence Legal Advisory Task Force and the results 

25 detailed in the Study of Legal Representation of DoVerDate Aug 31 2005 20:36 May 27, 2007 Jkt 059196 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1515.IS S1515

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1 mestic Violence Victims, shall develop guidelines for 

2 the implementation of the national program under 

3 this section, based on the effectiveness of the Pilot 

4 Program in improving victims’ access to culturally 

5 and linguistically appropriate legal representation in 

6 the pilot States. 

7 (5) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

8 There are authorized to be appropriated $8,000,000 

9 for each of fiscal years 2010 through 2013 to fund 

10 the statewide coordinator position in every State and 

11 other costs associated with the position. 

12 (6) EVALUATION AND REPORTING.—An entity 

13 receiving a grant under this subsection shall submit 

14 to the Department of Justice a report detailing the 

15 activities taken with the grant funds, including such 

16 additional information as the agency shall require. 

17 SEC. 5. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE FOR THE NATIONAL DO18 MESTIC VIOLENCE VOLUNTEER ATTORNEY 

19 NETWORK. 

20 (a) PURPOSES.—The purpose of this section is to 

21 allow— 

22 (1) national domestic violence legal technical as23 sistance providers to expand their services to provide 

24 training and ongoing technical assistance to volunVerDate Aug 31 2005 20:36 May 27, 2007 Jkt 059196 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1515.IS S1515

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1 teer attorneys in the National Domestic Violence 

2 Volunteer Attorney Network; and 

3 (2) providers of domestic violence law to receive 

4 additional funding to train and assist attorneys in 

5 the areas of— 

6 (A) custody and child support; 

7 (B) employment; 

8 (C) housing; 

9 (D) immigrant victims’ legal needs (includ10 ing immigration, protection order, family and 

11 public benefits issues); and 

12 (E) interstate custody and relocation law. 

13 (b) GRANTS.—The Attorney General shall award 

14 grants to national domestic violence legal technical assist15 ance providers to expand their services to provide training 

16 and ongoing technical assistance to volunteer attorneys in 

17 the National Domestic Violence Volunteer Attorney Net18 work, statewide legal coordinators, the National Domestic 

19 Violence Hotline and Internet-based legal referral organi20 zations described in section 1201(i)(1) of the Violence 

21 Against Women Act of 2000, as added by section 6. 

22 (c) ELIGIBILITY FOR OTHER GRANTS.—A receipt of 

23 an award under this section shall not preclude the national 

24 domestic violence legal technical assistance providers from 

25 receiving additional grants under the Office on Violence 


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1 Against Women’s Technical Assistance Program to carry 

2 out the purposes of that program. 

3 (d) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—In this section, an eligible 

4 entity is a national domestic violence legal technical assist5 ance provider that— 

6 (1) has expertise on legal issues that arise in 

7 cases of victims of domestic violence, dating violence 

8 and stalking, including family, immigration, housing, 

9 protection order, public benefits, custody, child sup10 port, interstate custody and relocation, employment 

11 and other civil legal needs of victims; and 

12 (2) has an established record of providing tech13 nical assistance and support to lawyers representing 

14 victims of domestic violence. 

15 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

16 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

17 $800,000 for national domestic violence legal technical as18 sistance providers for each fiscal year from 2008 through 

19 2013. 

20 SEC. 6. NATIONAL DOMESTIC VIOLENCE HOTLINE LEGAL 

21 REFERRALS. 

22 Section 1201 of the Violence Against Women Act of 

23 2000 (42 U.S.C. 3796gg–6) is amended by adding at the 

24 end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(h) LEGAL REFERRALS BY THE NATIONAL DOMES2 TIC VIOLENCE HOTLINE.— 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General may 

4 award grants to the National Domestic Violence 

5 Hotline (as authorized by section 316 of the Family 

6 Violence Prevention and Services Act (42 U.S.C. 

7 10416)) to provide information about statewide legal 

8 coordinators and legal services. 

9 ‘‘(2) USE OF FUNDS.—Funds allocated to the 

10 National Domestic Violence Hotline under this sub11 section shall be used to— 

12 ‘‘(A) update the Hotline’s technology and 

13 systems to reflect legal services and referrals to 

14 statewide legal coordinators; 

15 ‘‘(B) collaborate with the American Bar 

16 Association Commission on Domestic Violence 

17 and the national domestic violence legal tech18 nical assistance providers to train and provide 

19 appropriate assistance to the Hotline’s advo20 cates on legal services; and 

21 ‘‘(C) maintain a network of legal services 

22 and statewide legal coordinators and collaborate 

23 with the American Bar Association Commission 

24 on Domestic Violence. 


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1 ‘‘(3) AUTHORIZATION.—There are to be appro2 priated to carry out this subsection $500,000 for 

3 each of fiscal years 2008 through 2013. 

4 ‘‘(i) LEGAL REFERRALS BY INTERNET-BASED SERV5 ICES FOR DOMESTIC VIOLENCE VICTIMS.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General may 

7 award grants to Internet-based non-profit organiza8 tions with a demonstrated expertise on domestic vio9 lence to provide State-specific information about 

10 statewide legal coordinators and legal services 

11 through the Internet. 

12 ‘‘(2) USE OF FUNDS.—Funds allocated to 

13 Internet-based organizations under this subsection 

14 shall be used to— 

15 ‘‘(A) collaborate with the American Bar 

16 Association Commission on Domestic Violence 

17 and the national domestic violence legal tech18 nical assistance providers to train and provide 

19 appropriate assistance to personnel on referring 

20 legal services; and 

21 ‘‘(B) maintain a network of legal services 

22 and statewide legal coordinators, and collabo23 rate with the American Bar Association Com24 mission on Domestic Violence and the National 

25 Domestic Violence Hotline. 


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1 ‘‘(3) AUTHORIZATION.—There are to be appro2 priated to carry out this subsection $250,000 for 

3 each fiscal years of 2008 through 2013.’’. 

4 SEC. 7. STUDY OF LEGAL REPRESENTATION OF DOMESTIC 

5 VIOLENCE VICTIMS. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—The General Accountability Office 

7 shall study the scope and quality of legal representation 

8 and advocacy for victims of domestic violence, dating vio9 lence, and stalking, including the provision of culturally 

10 and linguistically appropriate services. 

11 (b) SCOPE OF STUDY.—The General Accountability 

12 Office shall specifically assess the representation and ad13 vocacy of— 

14 (1) organizations providing direct legal services 

15 and other support to victims of domestic violence, 

16 dating violence, and stalking, including Legal Serv17 ices Corporation grantees, non-Legal Services Cor18 poration legal services organizations, domestic vio19 lence programs receiving Legal Assistance for Vic20 tims grants or other Violence Against Women Act 

21 funds to provide legal assistance, volunteer programs 

22 (including those operated by bar associations and 

23 law firms), law schools which operate domestic vio24 lence, and family law clinical programs; and 


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1 (2) organizations providing support to direct 

2 legal services delivery programs and to their volun3 teer attorneys, including State coalitions on domestic 

4 violence, National Legal Aid and Defender Associa5 tion, the American Bar Association Commission on 

6 Domestic Violence, the American Bar Association 

7 Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service, State 

8 bar associations, judicial organizations, and national 

9 advocacy organizations (including the Legal Re10 source Center on Violence Against Women, and the 

11 National Center on Full Faith and Credit). 

12 (c) ASSESSMENT.—The assessment shall, with re13 spect to each entity under subsection (b), include— 

14 (1) what kind of legal assistance is provided to 

15 victims of domestic violence, such as counseling or 

16 representation in court proceedings; 

17 (2) number of lawyers on staff; 

18 (3) how legal services are being administered in 

19 a culturally and linguistically appropriate manner, 

20 and the number of multi-lingual advocates; 

21 (4) what type of cases are related to the abuse, 

22 such as protective orders, divorce, housing, and child 

23 custody matters, and immigration filings; 

24 (5) what referral mechanisms are used to 

25 match a lawyer with a domestic violence victim; 


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1 (6) what, if any, collaborative partnerships are 

2 in place between the legal services program and do3 mestic violence agencies; 

4 (7) what existing technical assistance or train5 ing on domestic violence and legal skills is provided 

6 to attorneys providing legal services to victims of do7 mestic violence; 

8 (8) what training or technical assistance for at9 torneys would improve the provision of legal services 

10 to victims of domestic violence; 

11 (9) how does the organization manage means12 testing or income requirements for clients; 

13 (10) what, if any legal support is provided by 

14 non-lawyer victim advocates; and 

15 (11) whether they provide support to or sponsor 

16 a pro bono legal program providing legal representa17 tion to victims of domestic violence. 

18 (d) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

19 of enactment of this Act, the General Accountability Office 

20 shall submit to Congress a report on the findings and rec21 ommendations of the study required by this section. 

22 SEC. 8. ESTABLISH A DOMESTIC VIOLENCE LEGAL ADVI23 SORY TASK FORCE. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall estab25 lish the Domestic Violence Legal Advisory Task Force to 


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1 provide guidance for the implementation of the Study of 

2 Legal Representation of Domestic Violence Victims, the 

3 Pilot Program for the National Domestic Violence Volun4 teer Attorney Referral Project, and the National Program 

5 for the National Domestic Violence Volunteer Attorney 

6 Referral Project. 

7 (b) COMPOSITION.—The Task Force established 

8 under this section shall be composed of experts in pro9 viding legal assistance to domestic violence victims and de10 veloping effective volunteer programs providing legal as11 sistance to domestic violence victims, including judges with 

12 expertise on domestic violence, individuals with experience 

13 representing low-income domestic violence victims, and 

14 private bar members involved with volunteer legal services. 

15 (c) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The Task Force shall pro16 vide— 

17 (1) ongoing advice to the American Bar Asso18 ciation Commission on Domestic Violence, the Na19 tional Domestic Violence Hotline, and the Statewide 

20 Coordinators regarding implementation of the Pilot 

21 Program and the National Program of the Domestic 

22 Violence Volunteer Attorney Referral Project; 

23 (2) recommendations to the Office on Violence 

24 Against Women regarding the selection of the 5 sites 

25 for the Pilot Program; and 


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1 (3) attend regular meetings covered by Amer2 ican Bar Association Commission or Domestic Vio3 lence. 

4 (d) REPORT.—The Task Force shall report to Con5 gress every 2 years on its work under this section. 

6 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

7 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

8 $100,000 for each of fiscal years 2008 through 2013. 

Æ 


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