The Court of Appeals found that in cases in which a crime victim is seeking civil damages and where the victim obtained the U visa due to the underlying criminal activities committed by victims’ former attorneys against the victims as part of defendant lawyers’ egregious legal malpractice, defendant attorneys were entitled to obtain that information in order to prepare a defense. The Court observed that at the time the trial court ruled on plaintiffs’ motion for a protective order, plaintiffs had been granted both the U-visa and permanent-resident status based on the victims being U-visa holders, and any possible in terrorem effect due to the release of the U visa applications would be muted (Apr. 22, 2021).
National Immigrant Women's Advocacy Project