Jones Day secures trial victory for client in domestic violence case

Client(s) Client D

In February 2012, the client left the abuser after an incident in which the abuser physically assaulted the client while she held her three-month-old daughter. The client filed for and obtained a temporary restraining order against her abuser. However, the abuser retained counsel who sought to pressure the client to dismiss her application for a permanent restraining order.

The client turned to the LACLJ, who brought in Jones Day to represent the client at trial. During the two-day bench trial, Jones Day associate Smitha Prabhuswamy conducted the direct examination of the client, and Jones Day associate Meen-Geu Oh cross-examined the abuser. At the conclusion of the trial, the court granted the client’s application for a permanent restraining order and required the abuser to enroll in a 26-week batterer intervention program. In its 25-minute-long ruling from the bench, the court commented at length that it found our client’s testimony credible and that it rejected the abuser’s contrary testimony.

Los Angeles associates Meen-Geu Oh and Smitha Prabhuswamy conducted the trial, with support from associates Jason Liang and Akhi Johnson, supervised by Los Angeles partner Brian Hershman.