Ethical dilemmas in domestic abuse cases often go unrecognized at worst
and unacknowledged at best. Both civil and criminal lawyers frequently fail to
recognize the special ethical problems of intimate partner abuse, specifically
those that place a survivor at an increased risk of harm.
This article explores ethical dilemmas and violations of lawyer professional
responsibilities from both criminal and civil perspectives. The overriding focus
of this article will not be so much on criminal cases involving domestic abuse,
but rather on the intersection of criminal law and criminal lawyering with civil
practice. Among other issues, this article reviews the nature of zealous advo
cacy and the elements of competency under the rules of professional conduct.
Others have ably written on ethical representation in domestic abuse cases,
sounding the alarm of ethical hazards. Those authors have made valuable con
tributions to the discourse, and many are cited herein. This article seeks to sup
plement those writings by blending both practical and scholarly perspectives on
what happens when criminal law and practices in abuse cases influence family
law matters and intimate partner abuse discourse. A primary focus of the ethics
discussion is the disruption of family law goals when abusive partners are rep
resented by lawyers who use criminal style tactics in family court matters.
When parties’ use criminal strategies—which have often-contradictory goals—
in family law matters, such approaches can harm opportunities for settlement
as parties become more polarized. This inability to reconcile goals can be both
financially and emotionally costly for both parties, as well as dangerous for the party who has been harmed. In addition, practitioners may be exposing them
selves to ethics complaints and malpractice claims.

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