Trauma Informed Law

Legal problems are not root problems. Legal problems are a result of underlying human issues.

Hurt people, hurt people!

Charles Inch, the owner and founder of Inch Law, has spent extensive time learning and developing his skill sets. He prides himself on being a problem solver above all else. To this end, he has become trauma-informed and has developed theories and mechanisms to help better understand why it is important to have a trauma focus when trying to resolve all manner of legal issues. Mr. Inch is known to be a fighter and to aggressively defend his clients. Trauma Informed law means that he and his staff will see you as a human being that is struggling, rather than a “bad person.”

Mr. Inch believes this is the way to put “counselor” back into the phrase “legal counselor”. The legal process in all aspects can be very dehumanizing to all those who experience it. He treats his clients like valuable human beings and helps them overcome the difficulties that make them feel like their life is “out of control”.

• What is trauma? Trauma is an event or experience that an individual experienced or witnessed that negatively affected that individual and continues to influence the way the individual perceives future experiences and events, even seemingly unrelated events and experiences. Another way to think of trauma is that it is an event or experience the prevents the experiencer from being wholesomely vulnerable. Developmental trauma, experienced before an individual’s 18th birthday, can be very influential in the individual’s lifelong reactions to stimuli. This developmental trauma is referred to as “Adverse Child Events” and can be graded using the “ACEs” tests easily found online. There has been extensive research done on ACEs scores and it is continually referenced and used in many fields, not just trauma.

• What is Ego? Charles Inch has adopted the following definitions:

  • Ego: “I am who I think you think I am.” He breaks Ego into these three stages:

    • Passive: “I think you think I am THIS, therefore, I am THIS.”

    • Active: “If I do THAT, I think you will think I am THAT, therefore, I will do THAT.”

    • Passive-Active: Active Ego has been operating long enough that the individual loses sight of the original reason they started doing THAT.

• Is trauma informed a type of law? No. It is a way to interact. Trauma-Informed Care seeks to meet six criteria in regards to the client for their particular legal issue/concern. Clients are not required to engage in a trauma-informed approach to their legal situation. Not all clients wish to explore what is causing their legal/interpersonal problems and wish only to resolve the legal problem at issue. This is perfectly acceptable and can be accommodated without pressure or conflict with Inch Law. Trauma-informed means that we will always try to meet the listed six criteria below.

• Why should a lawyer take a Trauma-Informed approach?

  • Safety: To represent a client well, the client must feel comfortable sharing their most intimate or shameful experience. In order to do that, the client must trust that their lawyer won’t shame them, berate them, or share that information in a way that will bring them harm.

  • Partnership: To represent a client well, the client must feel that the lawyer is working WITH them, not against them or for some other party involved in the legal dispute. Without a feeling of partnership, the lawyer becomes ineffective.

  • Voice/Choice: To represent a client well, the client must feel that they have agency or an ability to make choices. A good lawyer explains which decisions are the client's to make and which are the lawyer’s. This should be done early in the process so that the client does not feel hoodwinked in a critical moment of representation.

  • Transparency: To represent a client well, the client must feel that the lawyer is being open and honest and is actually looking out for the client’s best interests. This means the lawyer must anticipate situations that will tend to make the client feel distrustful due to appearance, among other things.

  • Empowerment: To represent a client well, the client must feel that the work the lawyer asks them to do will actually affect the case in a positive way. To do this, a lawyer should help by creating empowering belief systems for the client in ways the client may not naturally do for themselves.

  • Re-Traumatization: When lawyers interact with a client that has experienced trauma, many times it is necessary to talk about the event that caused the trauma. Lawyers should do their best to keep that experience from becoming a new traumatic experience.

If a client or their loved ones desire to have a different legal approach that can help the client take back control of their life, then Inch Law is the place and legal professional for them.