Expert witnesses in domestic violence cases play a critical role in explaining the complex realities of abuse, including trauma responses, coercive control, and counterintuitive survivor behavior. Their testimony can strengthen criminal defenses, inform custody and protective order decisions, and help courts understand abuse that isn’t always visible—leading to safer, more just outcomes for survivors.

In civil litigation involving trafficking survivors, expert witnesses are essential to explaining trauma’s impact on memory, behavior, and decision-making. They help clarify survivor experiences, support damages claims, and educate judges and juries about the realities of coercion and exploitation—ensuring survivors are more accurately understood and justly represented throughout the legal process.

In criminal cases involving human trafficking survivors, expert witnesses play a critical role in explaining complex survivor behaviors, identifying coercive control, and contextualizing forced criminality. Early involvement of a qualified expert can inform defense strategy, educate judges and juries, and support motions for vacatur or post-conviction relief—leading to more just, survivor-centered outcomes.

Coercive control—psychological abuse through manipulation, isolation, and domination—is often hidden yet deeply relevant in legal cases across family law, criminal defense, immigration, and beyond. This article explains what coercive control is, where it shows up, why it matters legally, and how attorneys can better recognize and respond to it. Understanding these dynamics is critical to advocating for survivors and ensuring just outcomes.

Trauma-informed lawyering isn’t just compassionate—it’s essential for ethical, effective advocacy. This article outlines five key principles every attorney should know, including how trauma impacts client behavior, why client-centered approaches matter, and how to protect yourself from vicarious trauma. Practicing with greater awareness and intention helps attorneys build stronger relationships, achieve better outcomes, and create a legal system that supports, rather than retraumatizes, survivors.

Attorneys and law students working with trauma survivors are at high risk for vicarious trauma and compassion fatigue—emotional impacts that can erode wellbeing, judgment, and advocacy over time. This article breaks down what these challenges are, why legal professionals are especially vulnerable, how to spot the warning signs, and practical strategies for building resilience. Protecting your own mental health isn’t optional—it’s essential to sustaining a career rooted in justice and care.

Despite growing awareness, human trafficking remains widely misunderstood. This article debunks five of the most common myths—including the ideas that trafficking only happens overseas, always involves kidnapping, or only relates to sex—and highlights the complex realities survivors face. By challenging misconceptions and centering survivor experiences, we can create more trauma-informed, effective responses to trafficking.