Recurring Questions Under the Domestic Violence Prevention Act

Alyce D. LaViolette and Warren R. Shiell

Alyce LaViolette is a pioneer in the field of domestic violence. She began working with victims of abuse in 1978, as part of her work with WomenShelter, and founded Alternatives to Violence. She has spoken nationally and internationally on domestic violence issues, serving on the United States Department of State’s speakers’ bureau and, most recently, traveled to Vietnam to work with local shelter programs, community groups and the Communist government on issues of domestic violence programs, fundraising and legislation. Ms. LaViolette co-authored "It Could Happen to Anyone: Why Battered Women Stay," and has also co-authored a parenting curriculum for the Administrative Office of the Court. She has developed a continuum of aggression and abuse that has been used in court cases and explained in the Journal of Child Custody.

Warren R. Shiell, CFLS, is a graduate of Oxford University. He started practicing as a solicitor in commercial and corporate law in the United Kingdom in 1988. After emigrating in 1992, he started practicing in New York with Legal Aid in the areas of family, disability, housing and administrative law. Since 2006, his practice in Los Angeles has been devoted exclusively to family law. He has been on the Family Law Executive Committee of the Los Angeles County Bar Association. He has appeared in jury trials, class actions and appeals in State and Federal courts in various jurisdictions.

Section 22 on Family Law Form DV-130 provides that the court has discretion to order that a party attend a fifty-two-week batterer program approved by the probation department. When is that appropriate and how should the party attend a batterer intervention program?