Tulane Law School Domestic Violence Clinic
Encyclopedia
The Tulane Domestic Violence Clinic is a United States clinical legal-education program
with an established record of providing holistic services to survivors of domestic violence
and filling important gaps in the existing legal services in the Orleans and Jefferson
parishes of New Orleans. The Clinic helps clients who would otherwise have to seek out separate lawyers for each of their legal needs, accepting clients with varied legal issues, including highly contested custody disputes, public benefits, housing, crime victim compensation and unemployment claims. The Clinic’s approach is unique in the region and includes aggressively litigating economic issues that affect the safety and long-term financial stability of its clients.
It is a part of Tulane University Law School
. Third-year law students enroll in the Clinic and represent clients as "student attorneys" while closely supervised by two experienced attorneys, Clinic Director Tania Tetlow and Deputy Director Becki Kondkar.
The Clinic provides leadership within the region for systematic change, including organizing strategic planning, preparing a kit to help pro se petitioners obtain protective orders, organizing and hosting training events for domestic violence service providers, and publicizing information about the widespread effects of domestic violence and how to address domestic violence.
The Tulane Law School Domestic Violence Clinic has been instrumental in changing the face of domestic violence law in and around New Orleans, Louisiana
.
in 1995 and clerked for Judge Dennis
on the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. After four years practicing commercial litigation at Phelps Dunbar law firm, Tetlow became an Assistant United States Attorney
in New Orleans, focusing in violent crime and narcotics cases. Tetlow served as the Violence Against Women Act coordinator for the office and prosecuted federal domestic violence and stalking
cases. She received the Victim and Witness Association award for Top Prosecutor of the Year, and never lost a trial. Tetlow's current scholarship focuses on jury discrimination against crime victims by race or gender. She published "Discriminatory Acquittal" in the October 2009 William and Mary Bill of Rights Journal and "Criminal Justice Collapse: the Constitution After Katrina" in the Duke Law Journal, co-authored with UVA Professor Brandon Garrett. Tetlow was on the cover of New Orleans Magazine in 2008 as a "Top Ten Woman" for her work in domestic violence policy and rebuilding New Orleans public libraries after Katrina. She serves on the Louisiana State Bar Association Board of Governors, on the Governor's Commission on Women and Policy, and as chair of the Louisiana State Library Board. She coordinates a University wide faculty workgroup on interdisciplinary approaches to gender-based violence.
Professor Becki Kondkar is the Deputy Director of the Tulane Law School Domestic Violence Clinic, where she trains law students who represent survivors of domestic violence in a variety of civil legal issues. She has litigated hundreds of domestic violence cases in trial and appellate courts in eleven states. She first represented battered women and children in custody, visitation, child support, and restraining order cases in a high-volume practice legal services practice. Later, she entered private practice and litigated nationally, specializing in complex child custody litigation in which victims of domestic violence or protecting parents had lost custody of their children to abusers. She is a national educator who has trained hundreds of attorneys, judges, domestic violence advocates, child welfare workers, and custody evaluators.
Clinic Fellow Kati Bambrick focuses on projects that help to organize the New Orleans community’s response to domestic violence, as well as assisting in the representation of clients. In 2009, Bambrick graduated from Tulane Law School, where she was a student attorney with the Tulane Law School Domestic Violence Clinic. After graduating summa cum laude from Tulane University
in 2003, Bambrick did human rights field reporting in Sierra Leone
, where she interviewed government, tribal and community leaders, and used this information to author the report “Silent Victims, Young Girls at Risk” on gender-based violence in post-civil-war Sierra Leone. This report was published by the UNDP-funded Sierra Leone Encyclopedia and has been cited by Amnesty International. After Hurricane Katrina
, as a volunteer with the Student Hurricane Network, Bambrick coordinated responses to hundreds of volunteer inquiries to create relationships between prospective volunteers and non-profit organizations, and authored a newsletter that kept over 1,500 members informed about legal volunteer opportunities and Gulf Coast recovery. While in law school, Bambrick received an Equal Justice Works Katrina Summer Corps Education Award to work with New Orleans Legal Assistance Corporation in their domestic violence and family law division as a summer law clerk.
Legal clinic
The phrase legal clinic may refer to any private, nonprofit law practice serving the public interest. In the academic context, these law school clinics provide hands-on experience to law school students and services to various clients. Academic Clinics are usually directed by clinical professors...
with an established record of providing holistic services to survivors of domestic violence
Domestic violence
Domestic violence, also known as domestic abuse, spousal abuse, battering, family violence, and intimate partner violence , is broadly defined as a pattern of abusive behaviors by one or both partners in an intimate relationship such as marriage, dating, family, or cohabitation...
and filling important gaps in the existing legal services in the Orleans and Jefferson
Jefferson Parish, Louisiana
Jefferson Parish is a parish in Louisiana, United States that includes most of the suburbs of New Orleans. The seat of parish government is Gretna....
parishes of New Orleans. The Clinic helps clients who would otherwise have to seek out separate lawyers for each of their legal needs, accepting clients with varied legal issues, including highly contested custody disputes, public benefits, housing, crime victim compensation and unemployment claims. The Clinic’s approach is unique in the region and includes aggressively litigating economic issues that affect the safety and long-term financial stability of its clients.
It is a part of Tulane University Law School
Tulane University Law School
Tulane University Law School is the law school of Tulane University. It is located on Tulane's Uptown campus in New Orleans, Louisiana. Established in 1847, it is the 12th oldest law school in the United States....
. Third-year law students enroll in the Clinic and represent clients as "student attorneys" while closely supervised by two experienced attorneys, Clinic Director Tania Tetlow and Deputy Director Becki Kondkar.
The Clinic provides leadership within the region for systematic change, including organizing strategic planning, preparing a kit to help pro se petitioners obtain protective orders, organizing and hosting training events for domestic violence service providers, and publicizing information about the widespread effects of domestic violence and how to address domestic violence.
The Tulane Law School Domestic Violence Clinic has been instrumental in changing the face of domestic violence law in and around New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
.
Events and accomplishments
- The Clinic sponsored a speech by Former Attorney GeneralAttorney GeneralIn most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general, or attorney-general, is the main legal advisor to the government, and in some jurisdictions he or she may also have executive responsibility for law enforcement or responsibility for public prosecutions.The term is used to refer to any person...
Janet RenoJanet RenoJanet Wood Reno is a former Attorney General of the United States . She was nominated by President Bill Clinton on February 11, 1993, and confirmed on March 11...
, "Ending Violence Against Women." - The Clinic hosted two mandatory trainings on prosecuting domestic violence cases for Assistant District Attorneys in Orleans Parish.
- The Clinic is a leader in training local professionals on domestic violence. Recent trainings include: a free CLE and CEU training which trained over 100 lawyers and social workers, an interdisciplinary class and keynote lecture with Dr. Evan Stark, national expert on domestic violence and author of Coercive Control, a training for first year medical students at Tulane University School of Medicine by Dr. Anne Flitcraft, a pioneer in medical analysis of domestic violence and co-author of the seminal book Women at Risk, trainings on the basics of prosecution and probation of domestic violence offenders, and a training at the Family Violence Prevention Fund conference on domestic violence and sexual assault in the wake of disasters,
- Clinic Director Tania Tetlow has advised domestic violence clinics in RwandaRwandaRwanda or , officially the Republic of Rwanda , is a country in central and eastern Africa with a population of approximately 11.4 million . Rwanda is located a few degrees south of the Equator, and is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo...
, ChinaChinaChinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, and EgyptEgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
. - Becki Kondkar, Deputy Director of Tulane Law School's Domestic Violence Clinic, was awarded LSU’s “Esprit de Femme” award for “prestigious distinction” on March 29, 2010. Becki was recognized “for her exceptional efforts towards the advancement of women and for her commitment to enriching the lives of all.” Last year’s recipient was Louisiana Supreme CourtLouisiana Supreme CourtThe Supreme Court of Louisiana is the highest court and court of last resort in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The modern Supreme Court, composed of seven justices, meets in the French Quarter of New Orleans....
Chief Justice Kitty KimballCatherine D. KimballCatherine D. Kimball is the Chief Justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court. She was also the first woman elected to the Louisiana Supreme Court, in 1992. Before that, in 1983, she was the first female judge in the 18th Judicial District.-Biography:Kimball was born in Alexandria, Louisiana, and is...
.
Clinic faculty and staff
Clinic Director Tania Tetlow joined the faculty of Tulane Law School in 2005 to direct the Domestic Violence Clinic and to teach Domestic Violence Law and International Women's Human Rights. In 2009, Tetlow received the University President's Award for Graduate and Professional Teaching, only the second law professor to win the award. Tetlow graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law SchoolHarvard Law School
Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...
in 1995 and clerked for Judge Dennis
James L. Dennis
James L. Dennis is a United States federal judge currently serving on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. His chambers are in New Orleans, Louisiana....
on the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. After four years practicing commercial litigation at Phelps Dunbar law firm, Tetlow became an Assistant United States Attorney
United States Attorney
United States Attorneys represent the United States federal government in United States district court and United States court of appeals. There are 93 U.S. Attorneys stationed throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands...
in New Orleans, focusing in violent crime and narcotics cases. Tetlow served as the Violence Against Women Act coordinator for the office and prosecuted federal domestic violence and stalking
Stalking
Stalking is a term commonly used to refer to unwanted and obsessive attention by an individual or group to another person. Stalking behaviors are related to harassment and intimidation and may include following the victim in person and/or monitoring them via the internet...
cases. She received the Victim and Witness Association award for Top Prosecutor of the Year, and never lost a trial. Tetlow's current scholarship focuses on jury discrimination against crime victims by race or gender. She published "Discriminatory Acquittal" in the October 2009 William and Mary Bill of Rights Journal and "Criminal Justice Collapse: the Constitution After Katrina" in the Duke Law Journal, co-authored with UVA Professor Brandon Garrett. Tetlow was on the cover of New Orleans Magazine in 2008 as a "Top Ten Woman" for her work in domestic violence policy and rebuilding New Orleans public libraries after Katrina. She serves on the Louisiana State Bar Association Board of Governors, on the Governor's Commission on Women and Policy, and as chair of the Louisiana State Library Board. She coordinates a University wide faculty workgroup on interdisciplinary approaches to gender-based violence.
Professor Becki Kondkar is the Deputy Director of the Tulane Law School Domestic Violence Clinic, where she trains law students who represent survivors of domestic violence in a variety of civil legal issues. She has litigated hundreds of domestic violence cases in trial and appellate courts in eleven states. She first represented battered women and children in custody, visitation, child support, and restraining order cases in a high-volume practice legal services practice. Later, she entered private practice and litigated nationally, specializing in complex child custody litigation in which victims of domestic violence or protecting parents had lost custody of their children to abusers. She is a national educator who has trained hundreds of attorneys, judges, domestic violence advocates, child welfare workers, and custody evaluators.
Clinic Fellow Kati Bambrick focuses on projects that help to organize the New Orleans community’s response to domestic violence, as well as assisting in the representation of clients. In 2009, Bambrick graduated from Tulane Law School, where she was a student attorney with the Tulane Law School Domestic Violence Clinic. After graduating summa cum laude from Tulane University
Tulane University
Tulane University is a private, nonsectarian research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States...
in 2003, Bambrick did human rights field reporting in Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone , officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north and east, Liberia to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and southwest. Sierra Leone covers a total area of and has an estimated population between 5.4 and 6.4...
, where she interviewed government, tribal and community leaders, and used this information to author the report “Silent Victims, Young Girls at Risk” on gender-based violence in post-civil-war Sierra Leone. This report was published by the UNDP-funded Sierra Leone Encyclopedia and has been cited by Amnesty International. After Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
, as a volunteer with the Student Hurricane Network, Bambrick coordinated responses to hundreds of volunteer inquiries to create relationships between prospective volunteers and non-profit organizations, and authored a newsletter that kept over 1,500 members informed about legal volunteer opportunities and Gulf Coast recovery. While in law school, Bambrick received an Equal Justice Works Katrina Summer Corps Education Award to work with New Orleans Legal Assistance Corporation in their domestic violence and family law division as a summer law clerk.