Established 27 years ago by Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, Sanctuary for Families, and Columbia Law School, the Abely Awards honor individuals who have made a difference in the lives of survivors of gender violence and who embody Maryellen Abely’s compassion, zeal, energy, and dedication.

This year, we are thrilled to present the 2024 Abely Pro Bono Award to Karen King.

INTRODUCING KAREN

A Partner at Morvillo Abramowitz Grand Iason & Anello PC, Karen King is a skilled trial attorney and advocate who has represented both institutional and individual clients in federal and state courts across the country.  Karen has been practicing for over 24 years, and began her legal career as an associate at Cravath, Swaine & Moore, and later as Counsel at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP.  Her regular practice focuses on complex commercial litigation, compliance and regulatory enforcement matters, securities litigation and regulation, internal investigations, and strategic advice.  Karen was named a “Distinguished Leader” by New York Law Journal in September 2022 and a “Notable Woman in Law” by Crain’s New York Business in June 2023. 

Throughout her legal career, Karen has prioritized pro bono service. She was the recipient of the American Bar Association Pro Bono Publico award in 2023, the Federal Bar Council’s Thurgood Marshall Award for Exceptional Pro Bono Service in 2019, as well as the Pro Bono award from the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association.  She is a member of the Second Circuit Pro Bono Panel and the Asian American Bar Association of New York’s Anti-Asian Violence Task Force.  She is a co-editor of two papers on the rise of hate and violence against Asian Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic.  She also successfully litigated a decade-long Title VII case on behalf of Asian-American police officers at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.  Her pro bono clients include victims of domestic violence, students with learning disabilities, victims of gun violence, and prisoners on civil rights issues.

Over the past six years, Karen provided dedicated, strategic, and trauma-informed legal representation in an exceptionally complex case under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction involving a young Orthodox Jewish mother fleeing domestic violence in Italy with her two-year-old son.  The case moved from federal court in the Eastern District of New York to the United States Supreme Court and back to the Eastern District. Not only did Karen argue and secure a unanimous decision before the Supreme Court in favor of her client—a ruling that will benefit numerous other survivors around the country—but her critical work on the case helped ensure the child was ultimately able to remain safely in the care of his aunt, even after the tragic, premature death of the mother during the protracted litigation. Karen now co-chairs the Narkis Golan Initiative, named in honor of her late client, which provides resources to advance the rights of domestic violence survivors in child abduction cases around the country.

Karen holds a bachelor’s degree from Yale University and a juris doctorate from Harvard Law School.

Established 27 years ago by Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, Sanctuary for Families, and Columbia Law School, the Abely Awards honor individuals who have made a difference in the lives of survivors of gender violence and who embody Maryellen Abely’s compassion, zeal, energy, and dedication.

This year, we are thrilled to present the 2024 Abely Leading Women and Children to Safety Award to the Honorable Madeline Singas.

INTRODUCING JUDGE SINGAS

Judge Madeline Singas was appointed to the New York Court of Appeals in 2021 after thirty years of public service and leadership advancing safety and justice for the most vulnerable crime victims – children, the elderly, immigrants, and survivors of domestic violence and sexual abuse.

Early in her legal career as an Assistant District Attorney in Queens County, Judge Singas specialized in combating domestic violence at a time when survivors had little faith in the criminal justice system. Working hard to change that perception and confronting the inadequacies suffered by gender violence survivors in the criminal justice system, Judge Singas focused on cases of domestic violence and sexual assault.

After joining the Nassau County District Attorney’s office in 2006, she established and served as Chief of its Special Victims Bureau assisting victims of elder abuse, sexual assault, child abuse, and domestic violence; created the County’s first Office of Immigrant Affairs to help immigrants access criminal justice protections; and challenged a status quo that undervalued the rights and needs of women. In 2011 she became Nassau County’s Chief Assistant District Attorney and in 2015, and again in 2019, was elected to the position of Nassau County District Attorney, where she became a vocal advocate of criminal justice and gun violence reform.

Judge Singas has carried her passionate determination to advance gender justice and be a voice for gender violence survivors to her service on the bench of New York State’s highest court.  During her tenure on the New York Court of Appeals, she has presided over landmark gender violence cases where she has brought to the fore with eloquence and urgency inequities faced by gender violence survivors in legal proceedings.  She has also developed the Judges for Career Opportunities for Refugees (J-COR) program to assist Afghan refugees, shining a bright light on the plight of women in Afghanistan’s legal system who have fled persecution by the Taliban and supporting them in resuming their professional lives in New York State’s court system.

After graduating from Bronx High School of Science in Bronx, New York, Judge Singas earned her bachelor’s degree from Barnard College at Columbia University and her law degree from Fordham University School of Law.