WilmerHale Team Secures Parole for Incarcerated Survivors

Tushna Gamadia

At this year’s Above & Beyond Awards, Sanctuary is honoring a team from WilmerHale for their tireless, inspired, and compassionate work helping Sanctuary for Family’s incarcerated clients obtain parole and live a new life full of hope for the future.

At this year’s Above & Beyond Awards, Sanctuary for Families is thrilled to honor Susan Schroeder, Kyrie Graziosi, and Meghan Wingert of WilmerHale LLP for their tireless, inspired, and compassionate work helping Sanctuary for Family’s incarcerated clients obtain parole and live a new life full of hope for the future.

The WilmerHale team first represented one of Sanctuary for Families’ incarcerated clients in connection with her successful parole hearing in March 2023. After that inspiring experience, they went on to help two other Sanctuary clients obtain parole in October 2023 and April 2024. Though each client’s situation was unique, all are survivors of severe gender-based violence. Their parole hearings were the first step toward a new future for each client.

Susan, Kyrie, and Meghan worked closely under the guidance and mentorship of Ross Kramer, Isabelle Demenge, and Kayla Abrams of Sanctuary to prepare each client. Since counsel cannot be present at the parole hearing, the goal of the team was to help each client become an effective self-advocate before the parole board. Isabelle noted that the WilmerHale team was patient, honest, and friendly with the clients from the outset, and quickly formed a relationship of trust with each of their clients. The clients in turn were open and engaged with the process since they trusted their legal team, which enabled Susan, Kyrie, and Meghan to really delve into the facts and circumstances of the underlying crimes, the work that each woman had done on herself during her incarceration, and their attempts to help others despite personal challenges.

Once the WilmerHale team got to know each client, the team worked collaboratively with them to prepare an individualized parole packet for submission to the parole commissioners. A parole packet typically includes things like advocacy letters; a personal statement from the client; apology letters to the victims; support letters from the client’s friends, family, and community; and evidence of the client’s accomplishments during incarceration.  In one client’s case, for example, the team spoke at length with the client’s sponsor and friends from the AA community to ensure that the client’s continuing recovery and sobriety would be addressed after her release. The team spoke to over twenty individuals to ensure that just the right letters were included in the client’s packet.

Susan, Kyrie, and Meghan also worked tirelessly to help each client prepare for the rigors of the hearing by holding in-person mock hearings and helping the client think about and craft the best possible answers to the questions she could be asked at the hearing. The WilmerHale team was in constant contact with their clients, speaking to each at least once every week in the months leading up to the parole hearings. Kyrie noted that this close client contact was one of the most rewarding aspects of the case.

The WilmerHale team went “above and beyond” in every sense. The team felt a tremendous sense of responsibility towards their clients, who have survived severe violence, abuse, and trauma. The team understood they were entrusted with helping these women gain their freedom. Parole is granted in New York state in less than 28% of all cases that go before a parole board. Sanctuary for Families and their pro bono attorneys have had a remarkable 94% success rate (one case has an appeal pending), including the WilmerHale team’s 100% success rate.

Each of the cases the WilmerHale team worked on had their own unique challenges. For example, one of the clients had already been denied parole twice; another client’s sentence was considered to be too short to typically be granted parole. Most important, however, the team focused on helping each client build her self-confidence and giving her hope for a better future by believing in the client. Susan, Kyrie, and Meghan formed a strong bond with each client, and because of their unwavering belief in her, each client began to internalize their message: that she was not defined by her crime, that she could use her experience to help others, that she was intelligent, strong, resilient and capable, and that together they could succeed in winning her freedom. Even more critical, they impressed on each client that she deserved the chance to start her life again and could live a full, happy and meaningful life going forward.

Through their trauma-informed, compassionate, and skillful work, the team made a tremendous impact in each client’s life that will echo far into her future and that of her community.  The WilmerHale legal team, in turn, feels that as a result of their work with these clients, they have gained new insight and a fresh perspective on keeping an open mind and listening closely to a client which have made them better lawyers and people. They encourage other pro bono lawyers to take on cases like these even if it is outside of the scope of their day-to-day work, as it is such a rewarding experience.

A key aspect of Sanctuary’s parole assistance program is that it does not end once the client is released. Re-entry after release is challenging and therefore Sanctuary continues to provide services, such as counseling, guiding clients to apply for the benefits they are entitled to, and participating in Sanctuary’s Economic Empowerment Program, which provides job training for clients to gain employment and succeed in the workplace. The WilmerHale team and the Sanctuary team keep in close contact with their clients after release. With the love of their family and friends, Sanctuary’s support services, and the caring work of their legal teams, each of the clients is now thriving and looking forward to a future full of dignity, happiness, and the opportunity to give back to her community. One of the clients has settled at home, and has opened her own barbershop in Rochester. Another client is completing a paralegal certification and plans to attend law school and give back to others as a lawyer. WilmerHale’s third client was only recently released, and is enjoying time with her family and has already secured employment.

We thank Susan, Kyrie and Meghan and are pleased to honor them for their dedication and generosity in volunteering their time and talents to such tireless, empowering and trauma-informed representation of Sanctuary’s clients.

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Join us at our Above & Beyond Awards Ceremony on October 8, 2024, as we honor WilmerHale’s outstanding pro bono work.

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Tushna Gamadia is a partner in the Real Estate Group at Morrison & Foerster LLP, works with Sanctuary for Families’ clients on pro bono cases, and is a member of Sanctuary for Families’ Pro Bono Council.

Weil Team Honored for Vacating Over 20 Convictions in Groundbreaking Sex Trafficking Case

Irina Sivachenko

At this year’s Above & Beyond Awards, Sanctuary is honoring a team from Weil, Gotshal & Manges for their outstanding work in securing a vacatur of over twenty criminal convictions in a sex trafficking matter.

At this year’s Above & Beyond Awards, Sanctuary for Families is thrilled to honor a team from Weil, Gotshal & Manges for their outstanding work in securing a vacatur of over twenty criminal convictions in a sex trafficking matter. The matter lasted over 8 years and took the team to Manhattan, Queens, and Bronx boroughs. The star team included Special Pro Bono Counsel Richard A. Rothman, as well as former Weil attorneys Nicole E. Prunetti, Artem Khrapko, Megan McKinley, and Alexandra Jung.

Anne* was failed by multiple systems throughout her life. Seeking to escape abuse at home and with no support from those around her, Anne met her trafficker when she was still a child. He pretended to love her but instead manipulated, abused, and trafficked her. His abuse lasted for over fifteen years; Anne accumulated over twenty criminal convictions in New York as a result of his exploitation of her. For years, the criminal justice system failed her and no one offered help. She was never told that being a victim of sex trafficking could be a defense, instead, she was always told to plead guilty and avoid the police. These convictions limited Anne’s job opportunities and housing options, and were a painful reminder of the years of abuse she suffered.

Sanctuary for Families and Weil worked together to clear Anne’s record. The process started back in 2016 and was finalized this year, when the last conviction was removed from Anne’s record. The work began under the law passed in 2010 that granted New York courts the power to vacate prostitution-related convictions that were the result of the person having been trafficked. Initially, the statute only allowed vacatur of convictions in which the arresting charge was for prostitution or loitering and the defendant’s participation was a result of having been a victim of sex trafficking. The law was expanded in 2021 under the START Act, allowing survivors to seek vacatur of any convictions where the defendant’s participation in the offense was a result of having been a victim of sex or labor trafficking.

Over the years, the Weil team painstakingly collected documents – some dating back nearly thirty years – needed to advocate for Anne. After years of diligent work, the last conviction was removed. During this time, Anne has received an associate degree and is now working together with her grown-up son.

The case was challenging but inspiring. Artem, who worked on this matter while at Weil, noted, “now, over 20 years after escaping from her trafficker, [Anne] can finally put her past behind her, and I am very grateful for being a part of that process.”  Nicole added, “I’m profoundly grateful to have had the opportunity to work on this case. We were able to vacate our client’s entire criminal record, giving her some amount of closure and the opportunity to continue to move forward with her life.” Nicole noted that the matter – spanning three boroughs and over three decades of legal records – was a massive undertaking: it was a “true team effort – everyone from our incredible partners at Sanctuary to our team of paralegals, managing attorneys, and executive assistants played an important role in making our client feel supported and helping us put forward the strongest motions possible to vacate our client’s record.”

Jessica-Wind Abolafia, Senior Program Director of the Anti-Trafficking Initiative at Sanctuary noted, “to serve and support Anne in her legal journey has been a privilege for all of us on her legal team. The team at Weil was unrelenting in its pursuit of a just outcome, while at all times centering Anne in the process. Anne is extraordinarily resilient and bright and was a collaborative and critical partner in achieving her positive legal outcome. On that final day in court, Anne delivered powerful remarks into the record, noting that while her cleared record cannot alleviate the pain she suffered as a child and adult at the hands of her abuser and the system that failed her, it was a monumental and important step in her healing. We are thrilled and honored to have been able to assist in achieving this outcome.”

Rich Rothman, who led this matter at Weil, reflected that this matter was a remarkable collaboration between Weil and Sanctuary.

“[Anne] came to Sanctuary over twenty years ago and being with her at the hearing in the Bronx in 2024 when her last conviction was removed was one of the most moving experiences in my entire career.” – Rich Rothman

*Not a real name

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Join us at our Above & Beyond Awards Ceremony on October 8, 2024, as we honor Weil’s outstanding pro bono work.

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Irina is a Senior Attorney at Ropes & Gray and a member of the firm’s Anti-Corruption and International Risk practice. She focuses on cross-border investigations and anti-corruption diligence and her work so far spanned over 20 countries. She is also a member of Sanctuary’s Pro Bono Council and a Co-Chair of this year’s Above and Beyond Pro Bono Awards and Benefit.

Skadden Team Wins Landmark International Child Abduction Case for Sanctuary Client

JoJo Adler

At this year’s Above & Beyond Awards, Sanctuary is honoring a team from Skadden for securing an amazing and life-changing win for a Sanctuary client in a federal Hague Convention on International Child Abduction case.

At this year’s Above & Beyond Awards, Sanctuary for Families is excited to honor Betsy Hellmann, Counsel, International Litigation and Arbitration, and her team at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP with the Above & Beyond Pro Bono Award for the incredible efforts made on a case closed earlier this year. Betsy and associates Yunyi Chen, Joseph L. Choe, Matthew M. Jang, Spurthi Jonnalagadda, and Sonia Qin worked quickly and strategically with compassion and tenacity to secure an amazing and life-changing win for a Sanctuary client in a federal Hague Convention on International Child Abduction case.

The casework for which the Skadden team is being honored revolves around their representation of Morin Golan in a complicated Hague Convention on International Child Abduction (“Hague Convention”) case in the United States District Court, Eastern District of New York. The case began in 2018 when Morin’s sister, Narkis Golan, fled Italy with her then-two year old son to escape severe domestic violence perpetrated by her husband and the father of her child. Her husband filed a Hague Convention petition in the United States. The main issue in the case centered on whether the District Court should force Narkis’ son to return to Italy, despite the dangers there. Narkis and her pro bono team took the case all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court, which remanded the case to the District Court. You can read more about that case here.

In October 2022, while the case was still pending, Narkis suddenly passed away. With this new and heartbreaking development, the legal team had to re-strategize everything while grieving the loss of their client. It was during this difficult time that Betsy and her team were asked to represent Morin Golan, Narkis’ sister, who had immediately stepped in to care for her nephew after her sister’s passing. They got to work right away.

After the client’s death, the child’s father sought to use his status as the only surviving parent to rush the child to Italy with him. Betsy and her team used what little time they had to get up to speed on years of case history and prepare for a District Court appearance that was scheduled soon after Narkis’ death. The team faced a hostile judge who had ruled against the child’s mother several times in the course of the multi-year litigation. There was very little precedent to guide the team—and the Court—on handling a case with facts as unique as these were, so the Skadden team had to pave their way in these unusual circumstances.

The Skadden team received a number of discouraging decisions from the District Court during the 15 months it took to get a final decision, but they persevered. Never defeated and always hopeful, with each setback they strategized another avenue to try to obtain safety for Morin’s nephew. Ultimately, they persuaded the Court to deny the father’s petition to force the child’s return to Italy, showing that the risks posed to the child by a return to Italy did not simply disappear because of the death of his mother. If anything, there was more uncertainty about how the child would be safe if he were to be returned to Italy without the protection of his mother. The father did not appeal this decision, so the child is able to stay in the United States with his aunt, in a major win for the family.

Nicole Fidler, Senior Project Director and one of the Sanctuary attorneys working with the Skadden team on this case noted what a pleasure it was to work with Betsy.

“Betsy was incredibly collaborative and strategic. We had weekly strategy calls where Betsy always listened to everyone’s thoughts and advice, and then would brilliantly figure out where to go next in the case strategically. She was also a calming force for the team, remaining steadfast and resilient in the face of multiple judicial setbacks.” – Nicole Fidler, Sanctuary for Families

In talking about Betsy’s representation, Morin reflected that Betsy “put an incredible amount of heart into me, my nephew, and this case. She walked me through the most difficult time of my life.”

Betsy highlighted Skadden’s strong commitment to pro bono work “being as important as billable work; [it was] impressed from the start that you give the same level of service as that of billable clients.”

Betsy and her team did work beyond words to come out with a win for the client, and Sanctuary for Families could not be more honored to give the Above & Beyond Pro Bono Award to Betsy and her team.

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Join us at our Above & Beyond Awards Ceremony on October 8, 2024, as we honor Skadden’s outstanding pro bono work.

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Kasowitz Wins Asylum Case for Immigrant Survivor of Gender-Based Violence

Suzy Yaster

At this year’s Above & Beyond Awards, Sanctuary is honoring a team from Kasowitz Benson Torres LLP for their tremendous work and dedication in successfully representing “Ms. C” in an asylum case.

At this year’s Above & Beyond Awards, Sanctuary for Families is honoring a team from Kasowitz Benson Torres LLP for their tremendous work and dedication in successfully representing “Ms. C” in an asylum case. The outstanding Kasowitz team included attorneys Teresa Matushaj, Yeilee Woo, Marilyn Vaccaro and Karina C. Aiello Rocha, and legal assistant/interpreter Blanquita Gomezcoello.

For over a decade, Ms. C was the victim of severe persecution in Peru, which included verbal, physical, emotional, and sexual violence by her partner and father of her children. The Peruvian government was unable to protect her from this violence and local police discouraged her on several occasions from filing a police report against her abuser.

The Kasowitz team began working on Ms. C’s asylum claim just three months ahead of Ms. C’s scheduled individual hearing for asylum. Under tight time pressure before the hearing, the Kasowitz team worked with Ms. C to draft her affidavit and witness affidavits, schedule a psychological evaluation, hire an expert to prepare an expert report, conduct country conditions research, draft a memorandum of law, and prepare Ms. C for her testimony. The Kasowitz team worked tirelessly around Ms. C’s schedule in order to prepare everything, including work around the clock as needed. Pro bono teams handling asylum cases typically have more than six months to prepare for an individual hearing, so the Kasowitz team’s dedication in completing the necessary work and building the case for Ms. C in half that time is extremely impressive.

In addition to the team’s stellar legal work, what motivated Deirdre Stradone, Co-Deputy Director of the Sanctuary for Families Immigration Intervention Project, to nominate Kasowitz for recognition was their trauma-informed lawyering. Like the majority of Sanctuary’s clients, Ms. C suffered severe and sustained violence in her home country. The Kasowitz team was exceedingly patient with Ms. C, showing compassion and sympathy as they helped her to overcome her trauma and describe in detail the abuse she suffered. The Kasowitz team met with Ms. C frequently, and their efforts to build trust with Ms. C by providing her the space and opportunity to share her story was a huge factor in developing Ms. C’s claim for asylum.

The Kasowitz team assembled such an incredibly strong case for Ms. C. that at the individual hearing, the Department of Homeland Security attorney stipulated that Ms. C was eligible for asylum and that it would not oppose the application. As a result, Ms. C and her children were granted asylum at her hearing—news that was met with hugs and tears from Ms. C and the entire Kasowitz team. The Kasowitz team is now working hard to help Ms. C and her family members to adjust their status and begin their path to citizenship.
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Join us at our Above & Beyond Awards Ceremony on October 8, 2024, as we honor Kasowitz’s outstanding pro bono work.

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Suzy Yaster is a tax lawyer working in-house as a Tax Research & Planning Manager at Warner Bros. Discovery. Suzy is also a member of Sanctuary’s Pro Bono Council and is a Co-Chair of this year’s Above & Beyond Pro Bono Awards Benefit.