Rohan Law is committed to the Atlanta community and has a track record of supporting like-minded organizations like the AVLF (Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation). AVLF is a nonprofit organization that provides pro bono legal services for low-income families. The Atlanta community can seek assistance from AVLF for landlord/tenant disputes, domestic violence cases, and more. Rohan Law is pleased to support the AVLF as an official referral partner for the organization on cases that require the law firm’s experience in criminal law.
AVLF Program manager, Cynthia Padilla Pearson said, “In some instances, we have clients that have criminal cases related to their petition for a protective order and it is extremely helpful to have a firm we can refer out for criminal defense.” Rohan Law has agreed to provide referrals from AVLF, a free evaluation of their cases in order to support domestic violence survivors who are accused of crimes they either did not commit or committed in self-defense. Cynthia explained that a firm like Rohan Law can add tremendous value in cases of domestic abuse or disputes where the AVLF is bound by non-profit guidelines to refer out to private law firms like Rohan Law.
One common scenario that can occur in domestic violence situations happens after people in abusive relationships call the police for help. Often, because of a lack of training or experience, domestic violence survivors end up getting arrested along with their abusers. The police may not be sure who is the primary abuser and arrest both parties to the dispute or they may decide to take the victim into custody for wounding their attacker in an attempt to protect themselves. In other cases, there are protective orders in place to protect the victims, but abusers may violate the restraining orders and put the victim in a position to defend themselves before the police can get there.
In cases like these, victims who need financial assistance can hire a public defender. However, with a private Criminal Defense firm like Rohan Law, domestic violence victims can get a consultation right away, and receive a personalized legal strategy well before they have to appear in court. This is a far cry from what most get from the public defender’s office, who are often overburdened with hundreds of cases. “Some domestic violence survivors don’t even get to talk to their public defense attorney until just minutes before they have to plead their case,” said Cynthia.
“We believe that this referral relationship with the AVLF will help a lot of people in Atlanta, especially bilingual or Spanish speakers who may not know where else to turn. Helping people is part of the DNA of our law firm,” said Rohan Law founder, Doug Rohan. The law firm is committed to empowering others through resources and education about their rights and supports community organizations on a regular basis. Doug has also been a featured commentator on human interest stories for media outlets such as Fox 5 Atlanta, Telemundo Atlanta, and Univision 34.
Every year over 5,000 Atlantans receive free, first-rate legal services from the AVLF staff and the 500 professionals and students who volunteer for the organization. For more information on the AVLF, please visit www.AVLF.org to learn more about the AVLF. To learn more about Rohan Law’s criminal defense services, you can contact us online or call.