By Samantha Westrum and Kristina Smith

Good lawyers help clients tell their stories. Great lawyers make the storytelling process an empowering one. But guiding clients through telling their stories of significant adversity and trauma—especially when those clients have been silenced for decades—takes work, skill, and compassion. Many Maryland attorneys have had to sharpen their trauma-informed lawyering skills in the last few months in light of the Child Victim’s Act (“CVA”).

In 2023, the Maryland General Assembly enacted the CVA. The CVA eliminated the statute of limitations for survivors of child sexual abuse to bring claims against their abusers and the institutions that failed to prevent, intervene in, or report known or suspected abuse. In April 2025, the General Assembly amended the CVA, which, among other changes, cut the damages cap in half for plaintiffs who file their cases after June 1, 2025. As a result, Maryland courts received a deluge of CVA filings in May 2025—by some estimates, nearly 4,000 cases.

Some of those 4,000 cases overlap in the time, location, and individuals or entities involved in the plaintiff’s abuse. Still, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution to managing clients’ trauma responses to litigation. Working with clients who are survivors of child sexual abuse, or any client who has endured significant trauma, requires an individualized approach to meeting the needs of that particular client given their trauma history, current support system, and any mental health diagnoses. Following a few general principles of trauma-informed lawyering can help develop a strong, safe attorney-client relationship. Michelle Simpson Tuegel & Maryssa Simpson, Building A Trauma-Informed Legal Practice, 61 Trial 30, 30 (2025). Here’s how our team at BGL is putting these principles into action, and how you can too:

Physical Safety

Clients who do not feel physically safe cannot be present and open in their representation. Checking on this safety can be as simple as asking the client at the beginning of a phone call: “Are you in a private place where you feel comfortable and safe talking to me today?” When meeting a client in person, allow that client the choice of keeping the door open, cracked, or shut. Before a client appears for an in-person deposition, mediation, or other case-related event, have the client come in early (preferably the day before or earlier) to get acquainted with the space, locate the restrooms and exits, reduce anxiety about parking or using public transit, etc. These small acts can help people with heightened sensitivities feel more at ease during what can be already stressful circumstances.

Emotional Safety

Honest, open communication up-front is always best. Waiting to talk to the client until litigation is underway about how taxing a lawsuit can be may upend the client’s expectations of the case and create unnecessary stress. Information clients should know up-front about litigation about includes the types of personal, sensitive information that will be asked of them, the possibility of their deposition or the depositions of family members, and the potential length of time until the case reaches a resolution. Pre-representation interviews are particularly important because it requires the survivor to reveal the entirety of their story in detail, sometimes for the first time in their lives. This is an opportunity for the attorney to set expectations, gain trust, and demonstrate trauma-informed practices early in the case.

Where possible, reduce time pressure. On one occasion, a client told me she thought she could only handle telling me her story in twenty-minute increments. So that’s what we did. She talked to me for twenty minutes, took a break for however long she needed (sometimes ten minutes, sometimes two hours), and called me back when she was ready for the next twenty-minute session. By allowing my client the time she needed to feel emotionally safe talking to me about her case, I was able to collect the information I needed while building her trust and ensuring that she felt respected in voicing what she needed.

Trustworthiness

Information leads to empowerment, which leads to trust. Depending on your clients’ needs, consider scheduling regular intervals for client calls (e.g., every two or three weeks), even if those calls are just a few minutes long. Discuss with the client what time of day works best for them and commit to reaching out during that time period. A regular check-in schedule helps demonstrate an attorney’s reliability, gives anxious clients a routine touchpoint with their legal representatives, and ensures they feel heard and respected throughout the process.

Set and enforce boundaries. Practicing boundaries can look like:

• Naming a boundary: “I’m going to log off at 6 p.m., but I’ll check my messages in the morning.”
• Acknowledging the trauma while redirecting recitation of previously disclosed traumatic events: “I can see how much this continues to weigh on you, and it makes sense that you want to revisit it. At the same time, I want to make sure we use our time to move the case forward in a way that gets you what you need. Let’s shift back to talking about the topic for our call today.”
• Clarifying the attorney’s role and offering outside support options: “My role is to advocate for you in the legal process. I’m not a mental health professional, and my expertise is limited to legal matters. It sounds like this is something you’re still really carrying. Would you be open to talking with a counselor or advocate who’s trained to help with the emotional side of things? I have other clients who find it really useful to have a big support system, so we can all work together to get you what you need.”

Importantly, boundaries should be framed not as rejections, but as commitments to sustainable, respectful relationships. When modeled consistently, they can also help clients learn to advocate for their own needs in other relationships.

Choice

Promoting client agency, dignity, and autonomy is central to trauma-informed lawyering. See Tuegel & Simpson, supra, at 35. Survivors of child sexual abuse were put in situations where they lacked control or did not have the ability to vocalize what they needed. Laken Gilbert Albrink, Trauma-Informed Legal Advocacy, 13 Wake Forest J.L. & Pol’y 67, 98 (2023). The attorney-client relationship may be the first relationship where the client has authority, particularly authority over their case’s objectives. Id. Where possible, attorneys should provide clients with both big and small choices. By allowing clients to choose where to sit in the room or whether a meeting happens over the telephone or Zoom, attorneys can give clients a sense of control.

Reinforce choice in settlement negotiations. While there are some aspects of litigation that the attorney drives, there are many aspects, such as settlement, where the client has the ultimate say in what happens and should feel empowered to make decisions. For example, remind clients that they are in the driver’s seat about whether, when, and on what terms to settle their case.

Empowerment

Be proactive with your client’s trauma response needs. Trauma-informed lawyers should help tailor the trauma response plan to the client’s specific needs and preferences. For example, to help a client complete a deposition, attorneys can speak with opposing counsel about allowing a client to:

• Hold and squeeze a stress ball or use another sensory item to help them regulate emotions;
• Take a short break to walk around, which may help a client self-regulate; or
• Bring a support person (mental health professional, family member, or friend) to accompany them to the deposition for comfort and support before and after the proceedings.

While opposing counsel may not be familiar with trauma-informed lawyering, advocates can frame these requests as professional courtesies grounded in the care for a vulnerable witness.

These recommendations are just a few examples of the ways trauma-informed attorneys ensure their clients feel safe and open to the litigation process, despite its inherent discomforts. By adopting trauma-informed practices, our team has been able to deepen our client relationships, progress litigation forward while minimizing client stress, and even empower clients in the pursuit of justice.

If you have questions regarding a legal matter, please contact us today to see if we can assist with your particular circumstances.

Samantha Westrum prioritizes client relationships and open communication in her legal representation. Listening to clients with compassion and honoring clients’ unique backgrounds and identities help Sam build trust in her advocacy. In doing so, she can let clients’ stories be heard in a way that is authentic to them: finding justice in the journey, not just the result. Learn more about Sam here.

This blog was co-authored by former BGL law clerk Kristina Smith. At the time of publication, Kristina is a fourth-year dual degree student at the University of North Carolina pursuing both a Juris Doctor (J.D.) and a Master of Social Work (M.S.W.). She serves as a student attorney at UNC’s Civil Legal Assistance Clinic, an editor for the North Carolina Banking Institute Journal, and a member of the Holderness Moot Court Team. In the summer of 2024, Kristina completed an internship at the Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice, where she worked on fair housing matters in the Housing & Civil Enforcement Section.