On February 18, 2022, Nicole King was featured in the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles (LAFLA) Pro Bono Spotlight for her work on a divorce action filed in the California Superior Court for Los Angeles County.
According to the article, the client had endured physical, sexual, and emotional abuse during her marriage. After escaping her husband, she sought a domestic violence restraining order (DVRO). The Venable team, which included Ms. King, represented the client in her DVRO case and secured a stay-away agreement for the client.
After resolution of the DVRO case, Ms. King and San Francisco partner John Worden successfully represented the client in her divorce case, which led to a two-day trial. Ms. King first-chaired the trial against a seasoned family law attorney with 24 years of experience. Ms. King “caught the petitioner in several lies on cross-examination, ensured key evidence was admitted into the record, and enabled our client to tell her story on direct examination.” The judge issued a judgment declaring the parties divorced, adopted the client’s date of separation, and ordered the ex-husband to make spousal support payments in accordance with the amount of time they were married.
“Regardless of whether a case is perceived to be winnable or not, I believe that every client deserves excellent legal representation,” said Ms. King. “Often, people from marginalized communities, such as people of color, women, senior citizens, and the LGBTQIA2S+, do not have the opportunity to receive such representation. I became a lawyer to change that. I am a first-generation lawyer and have witnessed, prior to law school, family and friends who lacked the tools and resources to advocate for themselves in pivotal stages of their lives. This drove me to become a lawyer, so that I could adequately advocate both for myself and for others who cannot do so for themselves. Volunteering for LAFLA enables me to continue to champion this mission.”
LAFLA seeks to achieve equal justice for people living in poverty across Greater Los Angeles. LAFLA changes lives through direct representation, systems change, and community empowerment. It has five offices in Los Angeles County, along with four Self-Help Legal Access Centers at area courthouses and three domestic violence clinics to aid survivors.