Page 32 - 2026 January February Magazine

TACOMAPROBONO COMMUNITY LAWYERS
BY LAURIE DAVENPORT, COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR
FSP Rocked 2025 -
2026 Brings Uncertainty…
On any given protection order or family
law calendar in Pierce County, most
parties appear without counsel—in cases
where safety, custody, and housing literally hang in the balance.
During a single week in October 2025, Pierce County courts
scheduled 404 family-law-related hearings, including 144
domestic violence protection order matters. Of those DV
protection order cases:
87%
involved no attorney
on either side
Only 19
cases included any
legal representation
For practitioners and commissioners, these statistics
translate into seemingly never-ending continuances due to
service defects, longer hearings, greater judicial explanation,
inconsistent outcomes, and orders that are difficult to enforce.
The Family Safety Project (FSP) is Tacomaprobono
Community Lawyers’ response to that reality.
FSP provides trauma-informed civil legal services to survivors
of domestic and intimate partner violence, representing clients
in civil protection order proceedings and related family law
matters, while also offering intensive legal coaching to litigants
who must proceed pro se. FSP helps survivors navigate the
maze of high-stakes hearings, urgent timelines, incomplete
records, and courts asked to make consequential decisions
in cases involving safety, custody, housing stability, and
enforceable orders. FSP exists to improve how their cases are
presented, decided, and implemented—benefiting survivors,
opposing counsel, and the court alike.
FSP works in close partnership with trusted community
advocates, recognizing that while the legal system plays a
critical role in survivor safety, it is only one component of a
broader response. FSP staff attorneys in 2025 provided not
only intensive coaching to clients, education and leadership to
partner organizations and training for domestic violence and
sexual assault advocates, but larger presentations to benefit our
local legal community:
» Our Pro Bono Night program in October 2025 focused on
the sustained and growing relationship between the Family
Safety Project, Limited License Legal Technicians (LLLTs) and
the Crystal Judson Family Justice Center, which has fostered
powerful community cooperation and increased services to
clients. FSP’s dedication to the long-term goal of expanding
capacity to move beyond short, one-time advice sessions,
along with a timely increase in funding from Pierce County
and other sources, has led to an increased trial practice and
improved utilization of staff and volunteer LLLTs to triage each
case referred and provide continuity to appropriately support
critical client needs -- FSP’s investment in these vital working
relationships has improved our shared understanding of the
legal system and how we work within its complexities, which
directly benefits our partners, the courts, and the families we
serve.
» FSP also presented a CLE at the TPCBA’s 2025 Bar
Convention, addressing issues such as reforms to RCW
26.09.191; changes to order to surrender weapons procedures
among Washington State counties; interplay between different
case types and court jurisdictions; how to best serve clients
who are historically disadvantaged, have barriers to access to
justice and yet who the court expects to have
the same knowledge and skill as a licensed
attorney; and last but not least the intricacies of
ICWA/WICWA -- with the hope that TPCBA
members who practice family law would have
an opportunity to see how important our
shared work is, and others to better understand
the complexities their clients might face
if involved in a simultaneous family court
proceeding.
Photo, Bobbi Saldaña and Lauren Romero
speaking at Pro Bono Night 2025.
Photo from left Nadia Van Atter, Interim Director of Crystal Judson Family Justice Center; Abi McLane, new Executive Director of YWCA Pierce County,
Michelle Parret, Operations Director and Laurie Davenport, Communications Director for Tacomaprobono Community Lawyers, Andrea Saunders, Managing
Attorney, Family Safety Project and Britt Jones, Managing Attorney, Tacomaprobono Community Lawyers’ Native American Legal Aid Program.
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