School of Law to host major conference on domestic violence

Lawyers and advocates will have an opportunity to gain a rich, multidisciplinary understanding of the history and current best practices for legal interventions in family violence at a forum being held this month at the UB School of Law.

Participants in the conference on developing approaches to keeping domestic violence victims safe will learn about current practices and gain knowledge of new evidence-based methods aimed at curtailing the most serious cases of family violence.

“Domestic Violence Update: Where We Were, Where We Are Now, & the Work Ahead” will take place Nov. 18 in 106 O’Brian Hall, North Campus. The daylong event is sponsored by the New York Chapter of the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts along with the law school; the School of Social Work; the New York State Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence; the Office of Attorneys for Children; New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Fourth Judicial Department; and the Family Violence and Women’s Rights Law Clinic. It will be moderated by Hon. Jane Pearl, a New York County Family Court judge.

The conference will bring together scholars and practitioners from the fields of mental health, substance abuse, alternative dispute resolution, domestic violence prevention and the judiciary.

“The University at Buffalo School of Law is proud to be the location for such an important conference about domestic violence,” says Kim Diana Connolly, professor of law and director of the school’s clinical legal education program. “Its messages will amplify the direct service work being done for DV victims by the Family Violence and Women’s Rights Law Clinic, headed by newly hired Professor Judith Olin.

“Professor Olin brings a wealth of experience to the long history of the law school’s commitment to legal support for those facing family violence, and supports students eager to do on-the-ground learning while making a difference,” Connolly says, noting that grants from New York’s Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence help support this work.

The keynote speaker for the conference is Peter Jaffe of the University of Western Ontario, a well-known authority on domestic violence who directs that university’s Centre for Research & Education on Violence Against Women & Children. Jaffe will speak on “The Impact of Domestic Violence on Victims, Perpetrators & Children & the Implications for Developing Parenting Plans.”

Also featured will be Melissa L. Breger, professor at Albany Law School and author of the authoritative two-volume “New York Law of Domestic Violence.” Her address is titled “How the Legal System Has the Potential to Change a Culture of Domestic Violence.”

Olin is also among the speakers, co-presenting with Lynette Reda, chief of the Erie County District Attorney’s Office Domestic Violence Bureau, on “The Erie County Domestic Violence High Risk Team: A Multidisciplinary Collaboration for Dangerous Cases.”

“This is a multidisciplinary team that uses evidence-based tools to improve victim safety and offender accountability,” Olin says. “The goal is to reduce domestic violence homicides and near-lethal assaults. It uses three basic approaches: early identification of high-risk cases, engagement of a multidisciplinary team and creation of individualized intervention plans.”

A high-risk team is being funded in Erie County under a three-year grant, she says. It involves members of law enforcement, victim service agencies, the district attorney’s office, the Erie County Probation Department and the International Institute of Buffalo, providing technical assistance in working with high-risk survivors of domestic violence who have limited English proficiency.

Also among the presenters will be Lisa Bloch Rodwin, ’85, an Erie County Family Court judge, who will speak on “Advocacy in Domestic Violence Cases: A View from the Bench.”