Essential Tools for Adopting A Trauma-Informed Lawyering Approach in Domestic Violence Cases and Beyond

Jennifer Friedman is a lawyer, advocate, and activist with over twenty-five years of experience in the movement to end gender-based violence.  In 2018 she rejoined Sanctuary for Families, where she is the Director of Family Law and Policy for the agency’s practices in the Bronx and Manhattan Family Justice Centers.  Previously, when Friedman graduated from law school with an Equal Justice Works public interest fellowship, she created, and for ten years directed, the Courtroom Advocates Project (CAP) at Sanctuary for Families, which remains one of the largest and most successful pro bono domestic violence programs in the country.  Prior to returning to Sanctuary, Friedman served as the Managing Director of the Center for Legal Services at My Sisters’ Place in Westchester County, where she supervised a family law and immigration legal practice providing representation and advocacy to survivors of domestic violence and human trafficking. Before joining My Sisters’ Place, Jennifer worked at Pace University School of Law, where she served as the Founding Executive Director of the Pace Community Law Practice (PCLP), an innovative legal services center dedicated to representing low and moderate income immigrants, and training recent law graduates for legal practice.  Prior to that, she served as the Director of the Public Interest Law Center at Pace, where she created and managed pro bono and public interest career development programs for law students.  Ms. Friedman is a 1993 graduate of Columbia College, and a 1998 graduate of Columbia Law School, where she was a Kent and Stone Scholar.   Ms. Friedman is the recipient of many honors and awards, including the New York City Bar Association’s 2008 Katherine McDonald Award for Service to the Family Courts, and the Columbia Alumna Association’s 2003 Alumna Achievement Award. 

Karla S. George is the Deputy Director of the Family Law Project in the Bronx at Sanctuary for Families.  She earned her Juris Doctorate from New York Law School in 2010.  Karla received her Bachelors of Science in Legal Studies in 2004 and a Masters of Arts in Sociology in 2005 from St. John’s University.

Prior to working at Sanctuary for Families, Karla was Managing Partner at Brown and George, LLP, which was previously known as The Law Office of Karla S. George.  In addition to being responsible for the management and operation of Brown and George, she focused on family and matrimonial law.  Karla also served as litigation of counsel to many solo practitioners throughout New Your City and New Jersey.

Throughout Karla’s legal career, she stayed committed to assisting survivors of domestic violence.  She often took pro bono cases from Sanctuary for Families and assisted her own clients who are survivors by offering sliding scale fees.

Karla is an active member of many bar associations including the Bronx Women’s Bar Association.  She is also a member of the New York State Bar Association, New Jersey State Bar Association, and Lawyers Committee Against Domestic Violence (“LCADV”).  

Karla is duly admitted in New York and New Jersey.