Above & Beyond: Sanctuary For Families Honors Pro Bono Attorneys

Sanctuary for Families, New York State’s leading advocate and service provider for survivors of domestic violence, sex trafficking, and related forms of gender violence, honored members of the legal profession for their extraordinary efforts as counsels and advocates on behalf of Sanctuary’s clients at the 2019 Above & Beyond Pro Bono Achievement Awards and Benefit. The 17th annual benefit took place on November 12, 2019 at the Rumi Event Space.

Lawyers from 12 leading New York City law and financial firms were presented with Above & Beyond Awards for Excellence in Pro Bono Advocacy. These pro bono lawyers, who worked closely with Sanctuary’s Legal Center attorneys, provided crucial legal assistance for domestic violence and trafficking survivors in cases involving immigration and asylum issues; orders of protection; and child abduction, custody and support.

Hon. Judy Harris Kluger, Executive Director of Sanctuary for Families, said, “We are grateful to our pro bono lawyers and their firms for the hundreds of hours they selflessly give to help our clients navigate the legal system. They are true agents of change whose time, compassion, effort, and exceptional professional skills enable Sanctuary for Families to offer our clients the hope of second chances and lives of safety and security.”

The 2019 Above & Beyond Pro Bono Award recipients are:

BARCLAYS and O’MELVENY & MYERS LLP

Barclays Vice President Carolyn Baek; Former O’Melveny Associate Richard Spatola (now at IBM) O’Melveny Partner Sung Pak; O’Melveny Associate Matthew T. Murphy; and O’Melveny Staff Attorney Grace K. Lee are culturally and linguistically competent attorneys. Their ability to navigate legal issues with acumen, combined with the sensitivity and understanding needed to assist two of Sanctuary’s immigrant clients, resulted in the securement of T-Visas for the two trafficking survivors.

THE GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP, INC. and PAUL HASTINGS LLP

Under the extraordinary leadership of Susan Wade, Of Counsel at Paul Hastings; Justin Capozzi, Associate at Paul Hastings; Colleen M.O’Brien, Vice President and Associate General Counsel at Goldman Sachs; and Juan Castano, Legal Analyst at Goldman Sachs, a group of dedicated volunteers from both firms teamed up in April 2019 at a clinic at Paul Hastings LLP to help 14 Sanctuary for Families clients and their family members adjust their status from U Nonimmigrant Status to permanent resident status before their U-visas expired.

CAHILL GORDON & REINDEL LLP and DAVIS POLK & WARDWELL LLP

In August 2019, the combined talents, skills and persistence of Dara L. Sheinfeld, Pro Bono Attorney at Davis Polk; Chui-Lai Cheung, Associate at Davis Polk; Jonathan D. White, Associate at Cahill; and Dan R. LeCours, former Associate at Cahill, enabled Sanctuary’s client to gain full custody of her children, a final order of protection against her abusive husband, and a fair and appropriate child support order after seven years of advocacy.

CLEARY GOTTLIEB STEEN & HAMILTON LLP

The skillful representation and trauma informed advocacy of Pro Bono Practice Director Jennifer L. Kroman, and Associates Sharon L. Barbour, Jessica Dwinell, and Michael Athy-Plunkett transformed the life of a young, transgender survivor of sex trafficking. As an immigrant who had been repeatedly arrested for prostitution-related offenses, with a prior immigration proceeding, this Sanctuary client was in a uniquely precarious position. Undeterred, the Cleary team jumped at the opportunity to educate USCIS about the devastating impact of sex trafficking. The team worked tirelessly with Sanctuary’s client to overcome the many hurdles the case presented and prevailed, securing a T-Visa.

DAVIS POLK & WARDWELL LLP

Special Counsel for Pro Bono Sharon Katz and Associate Joshua Sills and former Davis Polk associate David J. Robles’ incredible advocacy gave a transgender sex trafficking survivor who had been arrested for prostitution a chance at a life free from violence. Thanks to the Davis Polk team, the Sanctuary client was able to vacate two outstanding criminal warrants, obtain a law enforcement “certification” from the Brooklyn Human Trafficking Intervention Court, and ultimately secure a T-Visa.

DEBEVOISE & PLIMPTON LLP

Associate Lisa Wang Lachowicz, a participant in Sanctuary’s Courtroom Advocates Program, under the direction of Supervising Counsel Wendy B. Reilly, overcame evidentiary hurdles to assist a client who was experiencing psychological abuse, threats of physical harm, and threats to post sexual images online at the hands of her partner. The law has since changed, but at the time of the hearing, New York State did not recognize cyber sexual abuse as a family offense. The team prevailed, obtaining a strong final two-year order of protection for Sanctuary’s client and her son. The final order included a provision prohibiting the abusive partner from posting, distributing or threatening to post or distribute any intimate images or videos of his ex-girlfriend.

HERBERT SMITH FREEHILLS LLP

In May 2018, Partner Thomas Riley and Associates Pamela K. Terry and Christopher Boyd

took on the representation of a Sanctuary client in related child support and child support violation proceedings against the abusive father of her two children. Their combined, relentless advocacy ultimately resulted in the execution of an incredibly favorable $5,000 per month child and spousal support order.

New York Managing Partner Scott S. Balber and former Associates Micaela McLean and Laura Paliani prevailed in a contested divorce, securing child support and equitable distribution of marital debt. In addition to legal acumen, this case required sleuthing skills in order to uncover and sift through the many, apparently unrelated, business endeavors that the client’s husband had pursued—on every continent except Antarctica—and the dearth of evidence documenting his income and how he supported himself.

SCHULTE ROTH & ZABEL LLP

Partner Taleah E. Jennings and Associates Thomas P. DeFranco, Thomas H. Przybylowski, and Elizabeth M. Sullivan and former Associate Cara David are being honored for their continuing efforts on behalf of Sanctuary’s client, who is seeking permanent custody of her children in particularly complex and challenging custody battle that reveals the procedural and systemic challenges of Family Court and the ability of abusive partners to manipulate the litigation process.

SKADDEN, ARPS, SLATE, MEAGHER & FLOM LLP

An incredible team consisting of former Associates Erin Simmons, Grace Jun and Donna Farag, Partners Lea Haber Kuck and Patrick Rideout, and Associates Mackenzie Newman, Christina Pryor, Maria da Silva, Christopher Fredmonski, Tamar Lisbona, Caitlyn Cheleden, Joshua Atkinson, Molly Brien, Belinda Huang, and Pippa Hyde leveraged their wealth of experience and worked tirelessly within an expedited time frame to help Sanctuary’s client, a survivor of domestic violence, secure a Dismissal with Prejudice in a contentious Hague petition abduction case.

WEIL GOTSHAL & MANGES LLP

Many of the older convictions of survivors of domestic abuse took place in an era when intimate partner violence wasn’t well understood, especially by the criminal justice system. The crimes committed by incarcerated survivors were often a byproduct of the trauma they suffered. Richard Rothman, Senior Counsel and Co-Chair of the Initiative for Incarcerated Survivors of Gender Violence, Nigar Shaikh, formerly an Associate at Weil and currently Counsel at Everytown for Gun Safety, and Associate Dori Y. Cohen, secured the parole of Sanctuary’s client, a woman who had endured horrific domestic violence and trauma, after more than 25 years in prison.

The Above & Beyond Pro Bono Awards, hosted by Sanctuary’s Pro Bono Council, were co-chaired this year by Victoria Abraham, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP; Justin Cohen, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati; and Irina Sivachenko, Latham & Watkins LLP. The award was established in 2003 to honor professionals in the legal field who provide outstanding pro bono advocacy and representation for clients of Sanctuary for Families. Awardees have represented survivors in a wide range of cases, from custody to gender-based asylum to legislative advocacy, and dedicated hundreds of hours of research, writing, trial preparation, and in-court representation.

For more information about Sanctuary for Families, visit www.sanctuaryforfamilies.org.