In the Family Violence and Women’s Rights Clinic (FVWRC), students work towards attaining justice and safety for survivors of family violence.
Serving the unmet needs of local survivors in Western New York, the Family Violence & Women's Right Clinic seeks to fill the gap to ensure victims of violence receive the proper legal representation needed in many areas of the law, including family offense petitions, child support, custody, and visitation cases, and divorce.
Judith Olin
Director of Family Violence and Women’s Rights Clinic
Clinical Legal Education
Historically, Clinic students have engaged in community legally oriented training for groups of professionals in the domestic violence field and others. For many years, FVWRC students have trained students at area high schools in a Clinic-created teen dating violence prevention program.
Every semester, clinic students and faculty deliver trainings to new police recruits at the Erie County Central Police Services Training Academy on civil domestic violence legal issues. Clinic students and faculty regularly deliver petition drafting trainings to domestic violence advocates at non-profit agencies throughout Erie County.
Since 2015, student attorneys have delivered Teen Dating Violence Prevention trainings to students at public and private high schools in Western New York.
Since 2021, student attorneys and clinic faculty have regularly met with attorneys and advocates to discuss systemic problems faced by domestic violence survivors in order to develop strategies to improve systemic response.
In 2023-2024 student attorneys developed a presentation on Extreme Risk Protection Orders, (ERPOS,) which can be used to immediately remove guns from a dangerous person. FVWRC students also developed a presentation on technology safety for DV survivors. Both presentations were given at the Erie County Coalition Against Family Violence and other groups. The ERPO presentation has been updated and will be provided at the community trainings in Fall 2025.
In 2023, student attorneys began planning a project geared towards assisting low- income individuals seeking a divorce who do not have access to an attorney. The Clinic finalized a Memorandum of Understanding with Neighborhood Legal Services to jointly develop this important program which will help create access to justice for those unable to get divorced because they cannot afford an attorney, and/or are unable to access free legal services. Clinic students and NLS attorneys delivered two community presentations in the fall of 2024 and the spring of 2025, which provided information and forms to assist pro se litigants with uncontested divorce cases.
In 2024, the Clinic developed a partnership with the University at Buffalo Police about assisting with detecting and removing stalking-type tracking devices on clients' vehicles. The Clinic purchased equipment for the University Police who are now able to perform screenings on the cars of clients who suspect they are being tracked by their abusive partners.
Throughout the semester, student attorneys represent family violence survivors in Family and Integrated Domestic Violence courts. Most of the Clinics' clients are single, female, heads of household with young children. These survivors are struggling to emerge from the violence and rebuild their lives with adequate financial resources, and emotional support to care for themselves and their children.
Historically, Clinic students trained hundreds of high school students at area local public high schools in a Clinic-created teen dating violence prevention curriculum. More recently, the Clinic is exploring a partnership with Crisis Services of Buffalo and Erie County, a long-standing community educator on this topic. Clinic student attorney Julia Merante’s memo on the history of mandatory teen dating violence prevention legislation provides a sophisticated analysis of the newly enacted Erin’s Law, a child sexual abuse prevention statute mandating education for pupils in K-8 grades, and how New York’s law falls short compared to other states. [Download Erin's Law Memo]
Clinic students have participated in the annual Teen Dating Violence Summit organized by the Erie County Commission on The Status of Women. Clinic students have developed a domestic violence court watch toolkit, and are working with Zonta and The Erie County Commission on the Status of Women on implementation. [Download Court Safety Measures]
Every semester, clinic students and faculty deliver trainings on domestic violence legal issues to domestic violence advocates and law enforcement officers in Erie County.
Student Attorney Ashley Love created a white paper on the issue of the intersection between child protective services and domestic violence survivors, some of whom are reported for exposing their children to domestic violence. Love trained scores of mandated reporters, victim advocates and others throughout Western New York, advocating against findings of neglect for survivors. [Download Domestic Violence & Child Protective Services Mandated Reporting]
Student attorneys and Clinical faculty are currently working with a group of stakeholders, looking at the issue of improving timely service of temporary orders of protection.
Student Attorneys engage in legal research and other projects for domestic violence serving organizations, including the Violence Prevention Team at the University at Buffalo. Working in partnership with violence prevention specialists at UB, student attorneys created a guide to understanding the difference in standards of consent between Title IX and the NYS penal law. In an additional project, student attorney Jake Giovati received training in a new violence prevention program, “Rolling With Rejection,” a program geared towards helping men build awareness about and reject social norms of toxic masculinity. Mr. Giovati will work to deliver trainings in the fall. In collaboration with these allied stakeholders, students advocate for domestic violence systemic reform.
The Family Violence & Women’s Rights Clinic is proudly funded partially by the New York State Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence and generous donors of the FVWRC.
Professor Judith Olin and Student Attorney Shelby Majda '24 at the Tribute Garden.
Saturday, September 27, 2025 - 10th Anniversary of the Tribute Garden
Join the ECCSW to mark the 10th Anniversary of the Tribute Garden at Isle View Park. The ceremony will occur on Saturday, September 27, 2025, from 10am to 11:30am. The Tribute Garden was created to honor those impacted by domestic violence and to serve as a gathering place to reflect, share, and learn about the resources available to victims, survivors, and the community to stop violence. Please RSVP to Karen King by September 5, 2025 at karen.king@erie.gov
Saturday, October 25, 2025 - Domestic Violence Awareness Month at UB Bulls Game
On Saturday, October 25, 2025, student attorneys will be attending the UB Bulls home football game to promote Domestic Violence Awareness Month.