Centro Legal de la Raza
Kaitlin Kalna Darwal
Immigration Managing
Attorney
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It will be important to familiarize yourself
with signs of trauma and understand how it
may manifest itself when interviewing your
client
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Isolation and Vulnerability
Language Barrier
Separation from Family
Cultural Differences
Fear of Deportation
Fear of Authority Figures
Feelings of Shame
Economic Insecurity
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Unsure of Self or Families
Future
Financial Insecurity
Lack of Formal education
Unfamiliarity with Law and or
Legal System
Possibly Confronting Multiple
Legal Issues
Experiencing Psychological
Trauma
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Language Barrier
◦ Clients may be discouraged to or uninformed of where
to address basic needs issues
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Separation From Family
◦ Being cut off from support systems add unique stresses
to an individual’s life
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Cultural Differences
◦ When interacting with the attorney a client may speak
very little, omit details perceived to be shameful, they
may say what they think the attorney wants to hear, or
may remain silent even though they have questions
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Fear of Deportation and Fear of Authority
Figures
Shame Due to Uncertain Legal Status or
Experienced Trauma
◦ Feeling shame may mean clients will not be
forthcoming about certain details related to their
life experience
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Economic, Housing, and Financial Insecurities
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Lack of Formal Education
◦ Clients may have difficulty reading and/or writing
◦ Clients may be illiterate
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Unfamiliar with Law and or Legal System
◦ Do not assume clients know their rights
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Survivors of Domestic Violence will be facing
additional barriers
It will be important to understand these
barriers and to develop an appropriate
attorney-client relationship
◦ Avoids exacerbating the individuals suffering
◦ Helps effectively receive helpful information for
client’s legal issue
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Client may still be in danger
These clients are physiologically traumatized
even after physical damages have healed
It is not fair or helpful to judge the victim for
being in an abusive relationship
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Client may still be in danger
◦ It will be important to establish a safe method of
communication
◦ It is not fair or helpful to judge the victim whether
or not they have successfully ended the abusive
relationship
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Client may have seriously restricted ability to
travel and or communicate
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The events the client recounts may be
inconsistent
Client may jump around chronologically
Client may forget important details such as
dates or important details of abuse
Client may discuss highly emotional facets of
her experience with little emotion
Client may develop a deep blank stare or
absent look
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Interviewing a survivor of trauma is a special kind
of interview requiring more time, humility, and
sensitivity than interviews for other legal issues
Develop a basic understanding of trauma-related
and mental health conditions and how they affect
the interview process
Establish an appropriate attorney-client culture
◦ Essential in order to respect the individual
◦ Essential in order to extract the information necessary
for their case
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Attorney should acknowledge the interview will
be hard
◦ Explain that breaks can be taken as needed
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Reassure the client that all information will be
kept confidential
Use open-ended questions to facilitate
information sharing
Listen carefully and emphatically and
demonstrate you have both interest and desire to
help the client
Employ reflective listening: clarify what the client
has said by repeating what you heard her say or
rephrasing
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Be aware of nonverbal cues displayed by client
Give client the space to recount his/her story
from his/her own perspective
Allow client to vent emotions if needed
After listening to client vent, help the client calm
down
◦ It may be difficult to understand client while he/she is
still upset
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Pay attention to the manner in which client
speaks and try to understand the client’s needs,
fears, and concerns
Keep in mind this may be the first time the client
has recounted these events
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Survivor Centered
Culturally Competent
Sensitive to the many barriers the client is
confronting
Conscious that recounting these events to a
stranger will be painful for the client.
Take active steps to not exacerbate harm,
risks, or pain suffered
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Speak directly to and look and the client as
the interpreter translates and actively look at
and listen to the client as she speaks.
◦ Conveys respects and will allow you to evaluate
client’s body language
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Give the interpreter time to interpret by
framing questions in short sentences,
speaking slowly and pausing often
Plan to double the amount of time normally
needed to conduct an interview
Give the interpreter breaks as needed