Rochester lawyer to co-chair effort to help domestic violence victims

Empire Justice Center Senior Attorney Amy Schwartz will co-chair a new initiative to improve access to legal services for domestic violence victims announced by the New York State Bar Association and the Women’s Bar Association of the State of New York.

Schwartz will share the leadership role with Judy Harris Kluger, a former New York City Court judge and the executive director of Sanctuary for Families in New York City.

“Amy is the perfect choice to co-chair this new effort. We are honored that the state and the Women’s Bar associations recognize her leadership and we’re very excited to see where this goes,” said Anne Erickson, president and CEO of Empire Justice Center.

Nationally, almost 25 percent of women and 10 percent of men are estimated to have suffered sexual violence by an intimate partner, and more than 22 percent of women and 14 percent of men are estimated have been subjected to at least one act of severe physical violence in an intimate relationship, according to a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The New York State Domestic and Sexual Violence Hotline receives about 8,800 calls annually. Most are from New York City and Long Island, the state’s most densely populated areas. But for the rest of the state, 10 percent of the calls came from Erie County and 6 percent were from Monroe County.

Every year, the National Network to End Domestic Violence collects data for a single day from programs that help domestic violence victims. On Sept. 16, 2015, data was collected from 99 of the 102 identified programs in New York state. During that sample 24-hour period, 6,950 victims were served, but there were 956 unmet requests for help because of a shortage of funds, or staff or other resources.

Limited resources

Women and men who leave abusive relationships often have limited financial resources, but an acute need for legal help to get orders of protection against abusers and to deal with other issues such as housing, child custody, support and visitation, and divorce.

“Despite tremendous efforts by legal services lawyers and pro bono volunteers, the need dwarfs the available resources,” New York State Bar Association President Claire P. Gutekunst said in a news release announcing the new initiative.

“Of course there are services available, but the Legal Aid Society, a dedicated provider of legal services to victims of domestic violence here locally, along with the private bar and the Public Defender’s Office, they still have waiting lists. They still can’t take every case that knocks on their door,” Schwartz said.

In addition to simply recruiting more pro bono attorneys, the initiative will also involve education and training for attorneys in legal specialties most frequently needed to help domestic violence victims.

“Rochester, as opposed to other jurisdictions, may have more resources, but this is a statewide initiative and there are many parts of the state where the legal services providers and, to some extent, the pro bono services, can really just barely provide the real number of services that are warranted,” she said.

Working with bar associations

The new initiative will help raise awareness of domestic violence and offer training to pro bono and legal service attorneys; work with local bar associations and others in the legal community to recruit more pro bono attorneys and develop pro bono programs for underserved communities across the state; and devise recommendations about legislation to strengthen protections for victims of domestic violence.

Schwartz said a group of experts from around the state will gather in October to start work.

“We’re going to be looking at what the challenges are for different providers from around the state. We’ll be looking at some of the existing pro bono providers and finding out how they’re doing, what draws volunteers in the door, what they’re finding works, and perhaps bringing some of those really successful models to other parts of the state that don’t have large pools of volunteers upon which to draw,” she said.

“This is a statewide initiative, so we have to get folks from all over the state in a room to connect and hear about what they’re successes and challenges are. We don’t want to make assumptions about what’s working in one community and what may work in another. We have a lot of learning to do, but we’re looking to hit the ground running as soon as possible,” said Schwartz, who has overseen the Empire Justice Center’s Domestic Violence Unit for more than a decade.

Schwartz’s background

In 2015, she was the first recipient of the Ally Windsor Howell Champion of Diversity Award given by the Greater Rochester Association for Women Attorneys. She also was the first recipient of RESOLVE’s 2014 Resolutionary Award, which recognizes vision, leadership and determination toward ending and preventing violence against women.

Schwartz serves on the Board of Trustees for the Monroe County Bar Association and is a former president of the Greater Rochester Association for Women Attorneys. In 2014, she helped to found, and is now currently a member of, the MCBA’s LGBT Committee.  She is also a member of Women’s Bar Association of New York’s new LGBT Committee.

She also co-founded the Domestic Violence Committee for the Greater Rochester Association of Women Attorneys in 2003 and has served as its co-chair for many years.

Schwartz earned her bachelor’s degree at Drew University in Madison, N.J., and her law degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo School of Law.