Milbank LLP Secures Divorce for Survivor After 4-Year Litigation Battle

At this year’s Above & Beyond Awards, Sanctuary will honor will honor SA’s dedicated team of Milbank attorneys who have repeatedly achieved remarkable outcomes over the course of their 4 years representing SA in his initially uncontested divorce.

At this year’s Above & Beyond Awards, Sanctuary for Families will honor SA’s dedicated team of Milbank attorneys who have repeatedly achieved remarkable outcomes over their 4 years representing SA in his initially uncontested divorce.

SA’s Milbank team consists of associates Ashley A. Satterlee, Elizabeth Hamilton, Morgan M. Williams, Alisha Gupta, and Leslie Irwin and partner Stacey J. Rappaport.

While living in Nigeria, where it is unlawful to be gay, SA’s abuser engaged in many methods of abuse, including forcing SA to engage in polyamory despite SA’s protests and to be on heavy medication which dulled SA’s senses.  The abuser constantly threatened to tell SA’s family and friends in Nigeria about SA’s sexuality, which would have put SA’s life at great risk. Subsequent to their marriage, the abuser also attempted to use the United States’ immigration system to control SA.

Lauren Patel of Sanctuary filed for the uncontested divorce in 2020 which turned into a complicated case as a result of the abuser’s litigation tactics.  After the abuser filed multiple interlocutory appeals in 2022, Milbank then offered to co-counsel to help SA.   Over the last two years, Milbank and SA have had to bat away constant filings – including extraordinarily lengthy requests to file counterclaims alleging fraud and demands for punitive payment, and multiple motions and appeals – all part of the abuser’s attempts to abuse the justice system to continue to assert power and control over SA.  These verbose filings (many over 100 pages long) are riddled with insulting jabs at the court and SA’s attorneys and contain slanderous allegations designed to humiliate SA.

However, as Milbank associates Morgan and Elizabeth explained, “The courts have seen straight through the abuser and that he is using the courts to abuse” SA.  SA and his Milbank team have succeeded in opposing a significant amount of relief sought by the abuser, and in February 2024, obtained a judgment of divorce for SA.

Milbank’s team was initially engaged to assist with an interlocutory appeal, but ultimately helped complete the divorce in chief and has remained on to represent SA in multiple subsequent filings including three appeals.  Because the abuser is pro se, the papers and arguments are difficult to understand.  As described by Lauren, Milbank’s pro bono team “constantly goes above and beyond to respond to each and every argument, motion, and paper to zealously advocate and protect SA against this abuse.  It has required a significant amount of legal research, time, and drafting to be able to continue to knock down each attempt, and they continue to be dedicated to doing so.”

The diversity of experience across Milbank’s incredible pro bono team allowed them to jump right in on SA’s case.  Each member of the team is passionate about working with SA: as Elizabeth noted, “everyone puts their whole hearts into it.” Morgan added “Sanctuary has been so amazing, Lauren is such an amazing resource in helping understand this case.”

Though the constant litigation has been arduous for SA and his lawyers, Morgan explained that she has learned a lot about drafting and client advocacy along the way.  She explained it recently occurred to her how much professional growth she’s had while working on SA’s case.  While drafting an outline, Morgan realized “when I was first added to the case, it would have taken me months to draft this,” and now she is able to put papers together much more quickly.  Morgan also said that working on SA’s case has strengthened her understanding of the importance of advocacy for Sanctuary clients.  Elizabeth explained that the team has continued to not only work with SA to defeat the abuser’s constant frivolous filings, but to help work with SA to stay safe by ensuring that SA’s whereabouts and contact information are kept away from the abuser, consistent with the confidentiality order in place in the case.

The Milbank team and SA continue to fight SA’s abuser and plan to defeat him in his third appeal.  Morgan explained that the abuser “might file something wild or crazy, but we are ready to fight it vigorously.” She further provided, “Our firm is committed to pro bono work – the firm recognized us for this case last month.”   Elizabeth added, Milbank knows it’s important to “fight for a righteous cause and take care of other people who need someone to stand up for them.”   Now that the team secured the judgment of divorce this February, Milbank and SA continue to work together on the third appeal, and expect oral argument to be held in October.

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

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Anastasia Regne is a member of Sanctuary’s Pro Bono Council.

Milbank Attorneys Help Trafficking Survivor Reunite with Her Daughter

At this year’s Above & Beyond Awards, Sanctuary is honoring two attorneys from Milbank LLP for their persistent advocacy on behalf of their client “Chelsea” in her efforts to be reunited with her 12-year old daughter.

At this year’s Above & Beyond Awards, Sanctuary is honoring two attorneys from Milbank LLP, Cathy Zhu and George Zhang, for their persistent and creative advocacy on behalf of their client “Chelsea” in her efforts to be reunited with her 12-year old daughter, “Sarah,” who remained in China without proper guardianship during the pandemic.

When Cathy and George started working with Chelsea, she was not a new client for Milbank. Prior Milbank teams had helped Chelsea, a trafficking survivor, become a lawful permanent resident of the United States. Although she was well on her path to a new life in the United States, one important piece of the puzzle was missing: her youngest daughter, Sarah, who Chelsea had not seen in person since leaving China several years before. With her immigration status settled, in August 2019, Chelsea began working with Cathy Zhu to bring then 10-year-old Sarah to the U.S.

Although Sarah was eligible for an immigrant visa as Chelsea’s minor daughter, there remained a number of hurdles to overcome, including an interview with the U.S. State Department at a local consulate. Securing an interview at a U.S. consulate in China from abroad is challenging under any circumstances, but when the pandemic began in early 2020, the process ground to a halt. On January 31, 2020, the Trump administration imposed restrictions on travel and immigration to the U.S. from China.

Throughout this time, Sarah had been living with her father and his girlfriend in China. Although Chelsea did not think Sarah’s father was providing Sarah with the level of care and nurturing she deserved, Chelsea felt that Sarah was at least safe, and knew her father would assist with the visa process. But even that small bit of consolation ended when, in January of this year, Chelsea learned that Sarah’s father had been arrested in China and sent to jail.

Panicked, Chelsea called Cathy at Milbank and explained the renewed urgency to get Sarah out of China. The girlfriend was not interested in caring for Sarah, and Sarah was essentially left to fend for herself in Shanghai. To ensure that Sarah had adequate nutrition, Chelsea sent Sarah meals through a delivery service—a necessary stopgap, but nothing close to a solution to the problem. Chelsea was determined to reunite with Sarah, and started planning a trip to China, despite the risks of getting stuck and jeopardizing her own U.S. residency.

Cathy sprang into action. She recruited fellow Milbank associate George Zhang, and the two pursued a relentless campaign to get through to a U.S. consulate in China. In February, they finally made contact with the U.S. consulate in Guangzhou, China, only to be told that the consulate could not help in light of President Trump’s 2020 proclamation. Cathy and George impressed upon the consulate staff the urgency of the situation—while attempting to avoid having Sarah sent into foster care, which would further complicate her immigration proceedings—and began developing legal arguments in support of Sarah’s application.

Kathy Lu, the Sanctuary for Families attorney who worked with Cathy and George, noted how remarkable their efforts were:

“Cathy and George were advocating for their client in a period of unprecedented challenges, and they faced those challenges with determination and a deep empathy for the emotional toll the situation was taking on their client.”  — Kathy Lu, Sanctuary Attorney

Little did they know that relief was close at hand. On February 24, 2021, the Biden administration lifted the restrictions imposed by the January 2020 executive order, which allowed Sarah’s application to proceed quickly, due to the work that had already been done. Working with the International Organization for Migration, Cathy and George got Chelsea on a flight to China, armed with the necessary paperwork, and worked to obtain an interview appointment at the U.S. consulate on the first possible day Sarah could get there, taking into account travel time—Chelsea had to fly to Shanghai to pick up Sarah and accompany her the long distance to the consulate in Guangzhou—and strict quarantine guidelines in China.

The plan worked. Chelsea was reunited with Sarah and accompanied her to the interview in Guangzhou. Two weeks after her interview, Sarah was granted a visa to come to the U.S., and mother and daughter boarded a flight back to the U.S. together. When they arrived, Cathy was at the airport waiting for them.

“It was very touching,” Cathy reflected. “Chelsea had spoken so much about her daughter and was clearly so happy to be with her. She could not get over how tall her daughter had grown in their time apart. She was beaming.”


Join us at our Above & Beyond virtual celebration on Oct. 26, 2021, as we honor Cathy and George’s outstanding pro bono work. Click here to RSVP for free.

If you can’t join us, but would like to support Sanctuary’s work, please consider making an Above & Beyond donation here.


Colleen is a member of Sanctuary’s Pro Bono Council. She is a Vice President and Senior Counsel at Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC.