October 2026 Highlight: St. Louis nonprofit providing free attorneys for survivors of abuse seeking Orders of Protection

In April 2023, he launched St. Louis Survivors Legal Support. It’s a nonprofit that provides attorneys for free to survivors of abuse to stand by them and represent them in court during order of protection proceedings and other family-court related matters.

“Our mission is simple: no victim of Intimate Partner Violence should ever walk into court alone,” he said.

Since then, the organization has served more than 900 survivors and helped keep about 600 children safe from domestic violence situations.

“Almost 65% of our clients get orders of protection that last for more than two years,” Burton said.

The organization relies on local attorneys to volunteer their time, such as Paul Brusati of Armstrong Teasdale. His expertise is appellate and commercial litigation, but he says attorneys don’t need experience in family law to learn what survivors need to prevail.

“What you need to know can be done in the course of weeks,” Brusati explained.

The organization depends on more than 100 volunteer attorneys. SLSLS also partners with other nonprofits that offer wrap-around services to survivors such as mental health support. The average time commitment per case is 6 to 8 hours, including preparation and court appearances. Volunteer attorneys are asked to commit to one docket every other month, which are Monday mornings and afternoons, Wednesday mornings and Thursday mornings and afternoons. Each docket includes one to three cases.