The Family Violence and Women’s Rights Clinic: 30 Years of Confronting Family Violence
Published April 13, 2022
The University at Buffalo School of Law is proud to offer an array of Experiential Learning opportunities for law students to take advantage of. Clinical Legal Education is one such program that provides the community access to justice while teaching students to be “excellent, ethical, and engaged lawyers”. Upper-class and LL.M students are eligible to apply for these “clinics” and, if accepted, will work closely with skilled supervising attorneys and professors on real-world cases.
One such clinic here at UB Law is the Family Violence and Women’s Rights Clinic. The clinic was created and founded in 1992 by then co-directors, Suzanne Tomkins '92 and Dr. Catherine Cerulli '92. In April of this year, 2022, the clinic will celebrate 30 Years of Confronting Family Violence. To learn more about the clinic, its support of students, and the community, we spoke to the Clinic’s director, Professor Judith Olin.
Professor Judith Olin joined the UB School of Law faculty in 2016 to direct the Family Violence and Women’s Rights Law Clinic. Her legal career has been dedicated to advocacy on behalf of victims of family violence. In her years as a legal services attorney, she focused on the representation of victims of domestic violence in divorce and child custody cases and initiated impact litigation leading to reform in the Buffalo Police Department’s policies in domestic violence cases.
Olin went on to become an Erie County prosecutor specializing in domestic violence, child abuse and sexual assault cases. As Director of the Lee Gross Anthone Child Advocacy Center, Olin led a multidisciplinary team that coordinated child abuse investigations for Erie County. Olin chairs the Domestic Violence Committee of the Women’s Bar Association of Western New York and serves on The Erie County Coalition Against Family Violence and the local Rape Crisis Advisory Board.
Professor Judith Olin
A Q&A with Professor Judith Olin
For those unfamiliar with UB Law’s clinics, could you tell students what your clinic is about and highlight its unique attributes?
Student Attorneys in the Family Violence Women’s Rights Clinic, FVWRC, represent individual clients in civil family law disputes involving domestic violence, and work on project and policy work in the area of family violence. We strive to represent clients who “fall through the cracks,” i.e. who earn too much to qualify for no-cost legal assistance, but do not earn enough to hire their own counsel.
What current projects is your clinic working on?
The Clinic is involved in four projects at this time: the creation of a domestic violence court watch community collaboration project, updating our teen dating violence prevention education materials and coordinating with community partners on the best schools to deliver a teen dating violence awareness presentation, participation in a family offense work group with other civil legal services providers and victim advocates, educating stakeholders on the intersection between mandatory child abuse/neglect reporting and its impact on mothers who experience domestic violence.
What role do students play in the clinic?
Students provide actual client representation including screening, interviewing and counseling clients, drafting all court related documents, and appearing in court including at hearings and trials, all under the close supervision of Clinic supervising attorneys.
How did your clinic celebrate its 30-year anniversary?
The Clinic held a daylong conference entitled, “Pearls of Wisdom: 30 Years of UB Law Clinics Confronting Family Violence in Western New York and Beyond.” Nationally recognized speakers gave presentations on a wide range of topics including gender bias in custody litigation, representing underserved populations who experience family violence, and The Domestic Violence Survivor’s Justice Act. The conference brought together attendees from different professions such as law, social work, and victim advocacy, as well as undergraduate and law students.
