Manatt Appellate Partner Benjamin Shatz was quoted in an article in the San Francisco Chronicle about a new California Court of Appeals decision that expanded protections for domestic abuse survivors to cover economic damages.
The decision stems from a case in which a woman filed for a domestic violence restraining order (DVRO) in April 2022, claiming she had suffered physical, financial, verbal and emotional abuse by her husband. The trial court denied the plaintiff’s DVRO and, before hearing testimony from the defendant, granted the opposing counsel’s oral motion for summary judgment without having filed summary judgment papers. Manatt filed an amicus brief on behalf of the California Women’s Law Center in June urging the California Supreme Court to overturn.
The decision showed the justices’ interpretation of domestic abuse as defined by the state “includes physical abuse or injury, as well as acts that destroy the mental or emotional calm of the other party,” Shatz said.
Read the full San Francisco Chronicle article here.