Do I need a lawyer — or can I do this myself?

So let's build the map. Once you can see the different kinds of help and what each one is for, the question "who do I even call?" gets a lot smaller.

First: you may need an advocate before you need a lawyer

A lot of people think the first call is to a lawyer. Often it isn't. The first call is frequently to an advocate — and advocates are free.

An advocate doesn't give legal advice or represent you in court. What they do is help you make a safety plan, understand your options, prepare for what's coming, and walk beside you through the process — including going to court with you. For many people, an advocate is the person who makes the rest of it survivable.

There are two kinds, and the difference between them matters more than almost anyone tells you:

• Community-based advocates work at nonprofit organizations (domestic-violence and sexual-assault programs, victim-service agencies). In many states, what you tell them is confidential — protected, private.
• System-based advocates — often called a "victim-witness advocate" — work inside a prosecutor's office or police department. They help you through the criminal case, but because they work for the government, what you tell them is generally not confidential the way it is with a community advocate.

Both are genuinely helpful. Just know which one you're talking to, especially before you share something you'd want kept private.

When you do need a lawyer — which kind?

"Lawyer" isn't one thing. The right kind depends on what you're trying to do:

• Civil legal aid — free legal help, usually for people under an income limit. Here's the part worth knowing: in many places, survivors of domestic violence and victims of crime are exempt from the income limits for cases related to what happened to them. Civil legal aid handles things like protective orders, custody, divorce, housing, immigration relief, and public benefits. What it generally does not handle: cases for money damages, or criminal cases.
• Private attorneys (paid) — sorted by what you need. Family law for restraining orders, custody, and divorce. Civil litigation if you want to sue the person who harmed you for damages. Employment law for workplace harassment. Immigration for protections like a VAWA self-petition or a U-visa.
• The criminal-case reality — this one surprises people. If there are criminal charges, the state prosecutes the case, not you. You're the victim and witness, not a client who hires their own criminal lawyer. So for the criminal track, your people are the prosecutor's office and a victim-witness advocate — you usually don't need to go hire a criminal attorney yourself.

A glossary term worth holding onto: pro bono means a private lawyer taking a case for free. Many areas have programs that match survivors with pro bono lawyers, and most local or state bar associations run a lawyer referral service that can connect you with a private attorney, often with a low-cost first consultation.

So — can you do parts of this yourself?

Yes, more than you'd think — especially the documentation, which is what this platform is built to help with, and often the early steps of a protective order, which many courts have self-help forms for. But "I can start this myself" and "I should do all of it alone" are different sentences. Use the free help. It exists for exactly this.

Where to find the right help

These are neutral, national finders — government and national-nonprofit directories that route you to local, vetted help in your specific situation. We point you here on purpose: nobody pays to be listed, and a finder knows your state and your circumstances far better than any single name we could give you could.

• OVC Directory of Crime Victim Services — the U.S. Department of Justice's searchable directory of victim-service programs, for any crime, filtered by location and type. (ovc.ojp.gov/directory-crime-victim-services)
• WomensLaw.org — plain-language, state-by-state legal information (protective orders, custody, stalking, immigration, and more) plus a find-a-lawyer directory that includes legal aid and lawyer-referral services in your state. (womenslaw.org)
• LawHelp.org — finds free, nonprofit legal aid organizations in every state and territory. (lawhelp.org)
• ABA Free Legal Answers — if you have a low income, you can ask a civil legal question online and a volunteer lawyer answers it. (It doesn't handle criminal questions.) (freelegalanswers.org)
• VictimConnect — call or text 855-484-2846 for confidential referrals for victims of any crime.

A few honest boundaries

This is a map, not legal advice — and it isn't a recommendation of any specific lawyer or firm. Which kind of help fits your situation is exactly the thing to work out with an advocate or a lawyer, not with a webpage. Use the finders above to reach someone who can look at your actual facts.

And if you are in immediate danger right now, start there — call 911 or your local emergency number, or see the crisis resources, before anything else.

Before you go

Not knowing how this system works isn't a gap in you — it's a system that was never explained to the people it's supposed to serve. You're allowed to ask for help navigating it, and the help that exists is mostly free. Start with one call. The map gets clearer from there, and you don't have to walk it alone.