Akerman Attorneys Help Domestic Violence Survivor Win Final Protective Order

Emilie Winckel

At this year’s Above & Beyond Pro Bono Achievement Awards and Benefit, Sanctuary for Families is honoring Akerman associates Steven Cordero and Vanessa Garcia for their pro bono work on behalf of Sanctuary client “Ms. C.”

At this year’s Above & Beyond Pro Bono Achievement Awards and Benefit, Sanctuary for Families is honoring a team of Akerman attorneys for their pro bono work on behalf of Sanctuary client “Ms. C,” a survivor of domestic violence.  Akerman associates Steven Cordero and Vanessa Garcia worked tirelessly on a difficult family-court trial that lasted eighteen months.  In July 2016, they ultimately prevailed, obtaining for Ms. C a five-year final order of protection against her abuser. 

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Securing the protective order

For years Ms. C has been struggling with a rare degenerative illness, while also suffering from on-going abuse by her husband.  Ms. C sought help after a particularly frightening incident in 2014, which culminated in her husband threatening to kill her. Her husband was arrested, but the criminal court only granted Ms. C a two-year protective order. Fearing what could happen to her after the order expired, Ms. C reached out to Sanctuary, and Sanctuary reached out to Akerman.

Akerman associates Steven Cordero and Vanessa Garcia met Ms. C in January 2015, and, with the assistance of Amanda Norejko, Director of Sanctuary’s Matrimonial and Economic Justice Project, immediately began preparing for a trial in Family Court to seek a five-year protective order so that Ms. C would still have an order of protection in place after the two-year criminal order expired.

Amanda nominated Steven and Vanessa to receive the Above & Beyond award because of their incredible dedication to their client:

“Steven and Vanessa devoted many hours to preparing for trial to ensure Ms. C received the longest possible order of protection.  They introduced compelling evidence and carefully prepared Ms. C. for her testimony. The client was extremely nervous about testifying, but they did an excellent job working with her to be able to present a very solid case.  They skillfully represented a very anxious client with incredible sensitivity and understanding. They took all the client’s concerns into consideration and answered her many questions with great care and patience.”

The family court ultimately granted Ms. C a five-year final order of protection in July 2016.  The team was thrilled with the court’s ruling—it is difficult to win a protective order of such length because it requires specific factual findings by the court that aggravating circumstances (for example, serious physical injury) exist.

Going above and beyond

In addition to their exceptional legal representation, Steven and Vanessa have truly gone above and beyond for Ms. C.  Domestic violence victims often have to wait around the courthouse for long periods of time following each court appearance, in order to get their temporary orders of protection from the court clerk.  This experience is made even more uncomfortable and scary for victims by the fact that their abusers are also present at the courthouse waiting for the orders. But Steven and Vanessa always went the extra mile to ensure that Ms. C felt safe, by waiting as long as two hours with her to receive her temporary orders of protection, and walking her out of the courthouse.  In addition, Vanessa is continuing to assist Ms. C. with her other legal needs.

Ms. C is incredibly grateful to Steven and Vanessa:

“I am so grateful for all the time, effort, and skill that Steve and Vanessa have put into my case over the past two years. Steve and Vanessa worked tirelessly to prepare me properly for my court appearance.  They also gave me the reassurance and comfort I needed throughout the process to persevere.  Thanks to their remarkable ongoing efforts before, during, and after each court appearance—not only from a legal point of view, but also in terms of their kindness, compassion, and sense of humor—Vanessa and Steve helped make this unpleasant process as pleasant as possible.”

Fighting for a worthy cause

Reflecting on his experience working with Ms. C, Steven explained that this case showed him that domestic violence is an issue that touches people of all walks of life, regardless of social-economic status.  He also appreciated that representing a domestic violence survivor in a case that would help protect her from harm gave him an opportunity to use his legal skills to fight for a good and worthy cause.

“It is very rewarding to have such a close client relationship, and to have someone like Ms. C put her trust in you,” Vanessa added.  In addition, “the pro bono work has given me the opportunity, even as a junior associate, to really get involved in a case and see it through.”

Both associates expressed their appreciation for Akerman’s support of its attorneys’ pro bono work, and their excitement about the firm’s recently expanded pro bono practice.

Join us at our Above & Beyond celebration on October 19, 2016 at the Highline Ballroom as we honor Steven and Vanessa’s outstanding pro bono work.  You can buy tickets here.  If you can’t join us, but would like to support Sanctuary for Family’s work, please consider making an Above & Beyond donation here.

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Emilie Winckel is a white-collar associate at O’Melveny & Myers LLP and currently represents a Sanctuary client in connection with a federal criminal case.  She is also a member of Sanctuary’s Pro Bono Council. 

Simpson Thacher Associate Caroline Gross Honored for Her Commitment to Sanctuary’s Anti-Trafficking Work

Jaclyn Neely

At this year’s Above & Beyond Pro Bono Achievement Awards and Benefit, Sanctuary for Families is honoring Simpson Thacher associate Caroline Gross for her outstanding commitment to supporting survivors of sex trafficking.

At this year’s Above & Beyond Pro Bono Achievement Awards and Benefit, Sanctuary for Families is honoring Simpson Thacher associate Caroline Gross for her outstanding commitment to supporting survivors of sex trafficking. Caroline was a key member of the Simpson Thacher team that worked to get Sanctuary’s Human Trafficking Intervention Court Pro Bono Project off the ground, and has been an incredible advocate for victims of trafficking identified through that Project. Caroline’s enthusiasm, warmth, and language skills have enabled her to gain the trust of women who have faced extreme hardship, and her continuing representation of these clients has made an incredible impact on their lives. 

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Launching the Human Trafficking Intervention Courts Pro Bono Project

caroline-grossIn 2013, the New York State judiciary launched the Human Trafficking Intervention Courts (HTICs), a pioneering initiative to help survivors of sex trafficking break the cycle of exploitation. Through the HTIC, survivors are connected to legal and social services including counseling, case management, public benefits advocacy, and housing assistance. The guiding principle of the HTICs is that individuals arrested on prostitution charges should not be treated as criminals, but as victims and survivors of commercial sexual exploitation, and screened for human trafficking.

Soon after the HTICs began operating, Sanctuary partnered with several law firms in New York City, including Simpson Thacher, to launch the Human Trafficking Intervention Court Pro Bono Project. Under Sanctuary supervision, pro bono attorneys from these law firms meet at the New York City Family Justice Center in Queens to provide in-depth immigration consultations to the large number of foreign-born defendants who pass through the Queens HTIC each month.

The success of Sanctuary’s HTIC Project in Queens is due in large part to the dedication of pro bono attorneys like Caroline. Since the Project’s inception, Caroline has been a critical advocate and organizer at Simpson Thacher—recruiting and coordinating numerous Simpson Thacher attorneys to participate, generating enthusiasm among her colleagues, and ensuring that the HTIC pro bono clinic in Queens is fully staffed by trained, compassionate pro bono attorneys.

Advocating for all

Caroline has conducted many screening interviews of HTIC defendants over the past two years, often in Spanish (in which she is fluent), and has had multiple clients open up about their experiences—something which is quite difficult to do with traumatized victims of trafficking who are caught up in a criminal justice system they may not understand or trust. Melissa Brennan, the Deputy Director of the Anti-Trafficking Initiative at Sanctuary, added that,

“Of the more than 200 lawyers who volunteer with Sanctuary’s Trafficking Intervention Pro Bono Project, Caroline stands out for her unwavering dedication to our work as well as her natural ability to build rapport with clients. Displaying great humility and compassion, Caroline has managed to win the trust of even the most fearful immigrant victims of sex trafficking.”

Securing “T nonimmigrant status”

Caroline’s commitment to assisting trafficking survivors extends well beyond the screenings she conducts through the HTIC Project. Presently, Caroline represents two clients that she identified through HTIC Project screening who are eligible for “T nonimmigrant status,” a form of immigration relief for undocumented survivors of trafficking who cooperate with law enforcement in the investigation and prosecution of their traffickers. Both clients confided in Caroline about their experiences during their intake interviews, and it became clear to her and Sanctuary that these clients had strong claims for immigration relief.  “It’s exciting when you’re doing the intake and can see that there is actually something you can do to help,” said Caroline.

Gender identity and name change

Caroline and others at Simpson Thacher have been working hard to prepare strong applications for both clients, and have assisted them with other legal issues that have come up. For example, when her transgender female client expressed interest in legally changing her name to reflect her gender identity, Caroline quickly agreed to assist.

Vacating fines and criminal charges

She also successfully advocated for the same client when she found out that the client owed a fine of several hundred dollars in connection with a prostitution-related offense in Florida, which was a direct result of her being trafficked. Caroline and her teammate’s advocacy led to the Florida judge waiving the outstanding fine and effectively erasing what had been a major stressor in this client’s life.

For another client from Mexico, Caroline and others at Simpson Thacher have been helping her navigate the process of having her criminal charges dismissed, as well as the process of trying to reunite her with her daughter who lives in Mexico and whom she has not seen in 8 years. For Caroline, being able to reunite this family is an exciting and incredibly rewarding part of her pro bono work.

“Working on pro bono matters with Sanctuary has provided me with opportunities to make a difference in the lives of individuals. I enjoy working with Sanctuary because of their dedication to helping clients in all facets of their lives.”

Caroline particularly enjoys working with victims of trafficking because, “trafficking is such a huge issue facing our world today.” To work on these matters, Caroline says, is to be “reminded of why we wanted to be lawyers—to be involved in helping to change people’s lives for the better.”

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Join us at our Above & Beyond celebration on October 19, 2016 at the Highline Ballroom as we honor Simpson Thacher’s outstanding pro bono work. 

Jaclyn Neely is a litigation associate at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP.  She works on a number of pro bono matters with Sanctuary, including the Human Trafficking Intervention Court Pro Bono Project, and is a member of Sanctuary’s Pro Bono Council.

 

Davis Polk Team Achieves Tremendous Financial Victory for Mother of Two

Emily Suran

At this year’s Above & Beyond Pro Bono Achievement Awards and Benefit, Sanctuary for Families is honoring a team of Davis Polk attorneys for their for their pro bono work on behalf of Sanctuary client “Fiona.”

At this year’s Above & Beyond Pro Bono Achievement Awards and Benefit, Sanctuary for Families is honoring a team of Davis Polk & Wardwell attorneys for their pro bono work on behalf of Sanctuary client “Fiona,” a survivor of domestic violence whose abusive ex-husband owed thousands of dollars in child support arrears. The Davis Polk team of partner Joel Cohen and associates Daniel Spitzer, Nick DiMarino, and Rachelle Navarro, working hand in hand with Sanctuary lawyers, not only won a court order compelling the husband to pay $20,000 in overdue support, but also doubled the amount of child support that the children would receive going forward.

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When Fiona came to Sanctuary for Families several years ago, a pro bono team of Davis Polk attorneys helped her obtain a divorce judgment with a stipulation for child support.

In the divorce judgment, Fiona’s ex-husband stipulated to biweekly child support payments and the annual exchange of financial information so the child support order could be updated accordingly. After discovering that her ex-husband had secured a job making significantly more income than he had at the time of the divorce judgment, Fiona returned to Sanctuary for assistance in enforcing the judgment and increasing the child support payments. Once again, Sanctuary turned to Davis Polk for pro bono assistance, and once again, Davis Polk delivered. Partner Joel Cohen and associates Daniel Spitzer, Nick DiMarino and Rachelle Navarro deftly navigated complex procedural questions and obtained a huge financial victory for Fiona and her children.

Procedurally, this case presented “quite a thicket” said Joel Cohen, a litigation partner at Davis Polk. But “the great thing about working with Sanctuary,” he continued, “is that you’re working with experts.” He credited Sanctuary attorneys Dara Sheinfeld and Amanda Norejko with providing excellent guidance and advocacy as the Davis Polk team strategized how to get Fiona the best possible result. Rachelle, a litigation associate at the firm, concurred, adding that “it was wonderful and challenging to constantly be in discussions about the correct procedural path.”

The first filing in Family Court was a petition for enforcement of the divorce judgment, which was supplemented by a petition for modification a few months later. The Family Court granted the team’s request for modification of the amount of child support going forward but denied the petition to enforce and collect past arrears because it believed it lacked jurisdiction to do so.  The pro bono team then prepared an enforcement action in Supreme Court, where they ultimately negotiated an extremely advantageous settlement for Fiona and her children. As a result of their diligent efforts in two separate courts, Fiona now receives twice as much in biweekly child support payments as she did previously, and she was awarded $20,000 in child support arrears.

This was the first Sanctuary for Families case for these Davis Polk litigators, but it certainly won’t be the last. “The work [Sanctuary] does for its clients is broad-ranging and essential,” says Daniel, “and goes far beyond just providing legal services.”Fiona was a particularly engaging client, and the team agrees that the relationship they were able to develop with the client was the most rewarding part of working on her case. As for Fiona, she says she will be forever thankful to her wonderful attorneys:

“Thank you and please continue with your selfless help to other families such as ours. You have left such an indelible mark in our lives forever. We are truly grateful.”

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Join us at our Above & Beyond celebration on October 19, 2016 at the Highline Ballroom as we honor Davis Polk’s outstanding pro bono work.  

Emily Suran is a Project, Energy and Infrastructure Finance associate at Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP and currently represents a Sanctuary client seeking asylum. She is also a member of Sanctuary’s Pro Bono Council. 

 

Cleary Gottlieb Attorneys Seek Asylum for Survivor of Female Genital Mutilation

Erin Meyer

At this year’s Above & Beyond Pro Bono Achievement Awards and Benefit, Sanctuary for Families is honoring a team of Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton attorneys for their pro bono work on behalf of Sanctuary client “Ms. G.”

At this year’s Above & Beyond Pro Bono Achievement Awards and Benefit, Sanctuary for Families is honoring a team of Cleary Gottlieb attorneys for their pro bono work on behalf of Sanctuary client “Ms. G,” a survivor of female genital mutilation, sexual violence, and torture. The Cleary Gottlieb team of associates S. Ellie Norton, Clayton Simmons, Jessica Thompson, and Marion de Meslon have championed Ms. G’s asylum claim throughout three years of immigration proceedings to prevent Ms. G from being deported to her persecutors in Burkina Faso.

Finding Sanctuary

Ms. G was living in a crisis domestic violence shelter when she first met Ellie, Clay, Jessica, and Marion. She suffered from repeated infections and hospitalizations caused by the female genital mutilation (FGM) she was forced to undergo as a young child. She had also been kidnapped, tortured, and raped by political groups in her home country of Burkina Faso.

After fleeing to the United States, Ms. G suffered further physical, sexual, and emotional abuse by her husband. Undocumented and unable speak or understand English, Ms. G. understandably felt scared and alone. Without friends or family members to help her, she turned to her doctors who referred her to Sanctuary for Families. Sanctuary helped Ms. G find shelter and connected her to her pro bono team at Cleary Gottlieb for legal representation.

Certain that Ms. G’s life would be in danger if she were forced to return to Burkina Faso, the Cleary Gottlieb pro bono team quickly filed an affirmative application for asylum on Ms. G’s behalf.

The team advocated that Ms. G must be granted asylum in the United States because she had endured severe persecution and horrific human rights violations in the past and would face further persecution if returned to Burkina Faso, due to political violence and the high rates of FGM and gender violence against women in Ms. G’s ethnic group in Burkina Faso.

Claiming asylum

Ms. G presented a strong claim to asylum at her asylum office interview in 2014, but to the pro bono team’s surprise, the asylum officer rejected her application merely because it lacked a copy of her marriage certificate, which was in the possession of her abusive husband. Ellie explained:

“The only copy of Ms. G’s marriage certificate available in the United States was in the hands of her abusive husband, who refused to turn it over to us.”

Although the pro bono team attempted to procure another copy of Ms. G’s marriage certificate directly from Burkina Faso, it unfortunately did not arrive in time for the interview and the asylum officer was unwilling to wait.  As a result, Ms. G was directly placed into deportation proceedings.

Disappointed but undeterred, the Cleary Gottlieb associates began preparing Ms. G to present her asylum claim before an immigration judge. According to Clay:

“We tried to be sensitive to Ms. G’s emotions and give her as much support as possible because we knew that having to relive the traumatic experiences of her past by telling her story yet again would be very challenging for her.” 

Ms. G and the pro bono team were confident and ready to argue the merits of her case at her first scheduled immigration court hearing, but unfortunately the hearing was adjourned.

Moving forward

The merits hearing finally took place in 2016, nearly two years after her asylum office interview. At Ms. G’s merits hearing, opposing counsel made the surprising decision to defer to the judge for a decision without requiring Ms. G to testify.

The judge remarked that the team’s presentation of Ms. G’s asylum application was so strong he would grant it on the existing record alone, pending routine security clearances. The team is hopeful that Ms. G will finally be granted asylum at her next hearing later this year.

Sayoni Maitra, the Immigration Intervention Project Staff Attorney at Sanctuary for Families who worked with the Cleary Gottlieb pro bono team, shared that Ellie, Clay, Jessica, and Marion are being recognized because of the “great compassion, encouragement, and emotional support” that they provided to Ms. G “[t]hrough a long and arduous immigration process.” Sayoni added that “the team’s outstanding preparation of Ms. G’s asylum application was so impressive that even opposing counsel agreed to forego testimony, sparing Ms. G the trauma of retelling her painful past in court.”

When asked to reflect on the most meaningful part of their experience as Ms. G’s pro bono attorneys, the Cleary Gottlieb team marveled at Ms. G’s tremendous strength and growth as an individual. “Ms. G has remained resilient, calm, and composed throughout an extraordinarily difficult process,” said Jessica.

“She graduated from college in Burkina Faso and has since been taking additional classes in the United States to learn English and develop a career here. With counseling from Sanctuary for Families, Ms. G has gotten back on her feet. Seeing her remarkable progress over the years has been so rewarding.”

When asked to reflect on her experience working with the Cleary Gottlieb pro bono team, Ms. G said “I want to thank Clayton, Ellie, Jessica, and Marion for the work they did for my case. They were helpful in many ways in my life in the United States and I will always be grateful to them.”

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Join us at our Above & Beyond celebration on October 19, 2016 at the Highline Ballroom as we honor Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton’s outstanding pro bono work.  Learn more about the event here.  If you can’t join us, but would like to support Sanctuary for Family’s work, please consider making an Above & Beyond donation here.

Erin Meyer is the Pro Bono Manager at Proskauer Rose LLP and was formerly a senior associate at Hogan Lovells US LLP.  She is also a member of Sanctuary’s Pro Bono Council and Co-Chair of this year’s Above & Beyond event.