Lawyers Manual - Unified Court System

432 Contributors
Kristine Herman is a J.D./M.S.W. with more than twelve years experience in
the fields of domestic violence and sexual offenses. She is currently serving a
year as the Gender and Human Rights Liaison for the American Bar Association
in Azerbaijan. Prior to her work in Azerbaijan, Ms. Herman worked for the
Center for Court Innovation where she assisted in the creation of the nation’s
first Youthful Offender Domestic Violence Court.
Dorchen A. Leidholdt is the Director of the Center for Battered Women’s Legal
Services at Sanctuary for Families in New York City. She also serves as Co-
Executive Director of the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women (CATW),
which she helped found in 1988, and teaches Domestic Violence and the Law
at Columbia University School of Law.
Betty Levinson is a partner in Gulielmetti Levinson, P.C. Her three decades
of law practice include counseling and litigation in divorce, custody, support,
paternity, and adoption matters in traditional and non-traditional families, with
special expertise in protecting the rights of battered women.
Elizabeth Murno is a family law attorney with extensive experience advocating
on behalf of domestic violence victims. Most recently, Ms. Murno served as Legal
Director for Safe Horizon’s Domestic Violence and Immigration Law Projects.
Stephanie Nilva is the founder and Executive Director of Day One, an
organization that partners with New York City youth to end dating abuse and
domestic violence through community education, legal advocacy, supportive
services and leadership development.
Judy Reichler is a Town Justice in New Paltz. She has been a Support
Magistrate and a Referee in New York City Family Court and sits on the
Unified Court System’s Task Force on Family Violence.
Emily Ruben is the city-wide supervisor of The Legal Aid Society’s Family
Law Practice and co-supervisor of its Domestic Violence Project.
Amy E. Schwartz is the Coordinator of the Domestic Violence Legal Program
for the Greater Upstate Law Project in Rochester, where she provides legal
technical assistance, support, and training to domestic violence attorneys and
advocates throughout New York State.
Lauren Shapiro is the Director of the Family Law Unit at South Brooklyn
Legal Services and specializes in advocacy on behalf of domestic violence
survivors in Family and Matrimonial Courts and parents in child protective
cases. She is the co-chair of the Kings County Family Court Domestic Violence
Working Group.