On February 17, 2022, I celebrated my first year as a Regional Attorney Coordinator for the Crime Victims Legal Network at Empire Justice Center. What an incredible year filled with:
• Fear as I jumped into a new legal world surrounded by experienced civil attorneys and victim advocate providers, who fight every day to bring equality and safety for crime victims,
• Gratitude to all those individuals (and there are a lot) who have shared their knowledge and have helped me thrive during this past year,
• Frustration at the flaws in our legal system, and
• Pride in my role within the Crime Victims Legal Network and my contributions to this amazing community.
Before joining Empire Justice Center, my legal career has been filled with questions, most of which concerned criminal defendants. As a prosecutor, I asked: can I prove the elements of a crime, and can I establish beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant committed the charged crimes? As an appellate court attorney, in criminal cases, I analyzed transcripts and stipulated records filed by defendants, who were appealing their judgment of conviction, and answered the questions that were presented in the parties’ briefs, such as, did the defendant receive a fair trial and did the defendant receive meaningful representation?
Then in February 2021, I became part of the legal world dedicated to the representation of crime victims with their civil legal needs. As I joined this world through team meetings and webinars, I met and listened to victim advocate providers and civil legal attorneys throughout New York State. The information that they have provided me has been essential in deconstructing erroneous perceptions. In the past, I may have viewed a victim who refused to work with law enforcement as uncooperative. By acknowledging my privileges and my limited understanding of the barriers experienced by the vulnerable and marginalized victim populations, I now see the negativity of this faulty perception. A victim can be unable or unwilling to work with law enforcement for many reasons, such as safety needs, distrust of the legal system, or the impact of trauma. Learning about the effects of trauma has been an important part of my journey, and I am more aware of how our actions can reactivate a victim’s trauma.
Another milestone from this past year has been understanding how to establish and maintain boundaries and why they are important. The role of an attorney who assists crime victims with their civil legal needs involves explaining to the victim in an easy-to-understand manner the positive and negative aspects of their legal situation, presenting the victim with options, and achieving the most favorable outcome for the victim based upon the decisions that the victim has chosen. Boundaries can help attorneys identify their own limitations, which can aid in managing the expectations of the victim and yourself. A civil legal attorney in the Crimes Victim Legal Network does not have to be everything to their client; you are part of a state-wide partnership of organizations of other civil legal attorneys and victim advocate providers, who share the collective goal of connecting victims of crime with civil legal information, resources, and assistance. Victim advocate providers can offer the extra support and assistance that your client may need, and together, we can provide holistic support to victims of crime.
This year strengthened my belief that our legal system needs to encourage us to continue to ask questions, expose the status quo in the world around us and create improvements for crime victims. But not everyone can or is able to voice their questions. As an attorney, I will continue to ask the uncomfortable questions and advocate for victims’ rights. Today, my questions are: How do you manage a victim’s expectations of a flawed legal system? How can you empower a victim? What can you do to avoid reactivating a victim’s trauma? How can you educate the governmental and private entities and the legal community about the multiple civil needs a crime victim has? What is meaningful representation to a crime victim?
I wonder what next year’s questions will be?