Events
Prev MonthPrev Month Next MonthNext Month
Girls in Crisis, Part III: Immigration Law and Trauma-Informed Lawyering
Thursday, April 22, 2021, 12:55 AM - 4:15 PM CDT
Category: Continuing Legal Education

Join us for an in-depth look at how immigration laws and practices are impacting young women and girls, and how emotional, physical, and mental trauma can affect the developing brain and manifest itself in juveniles. Attorneys with a basic level of practice experience in criminal law, child law, family law, or immigration law who have an interest in learning about and assisting girls in crisis and who attend this seminar will better understand:
  • How being held in detention can affect minors;
  • The types of treatment experienced by unaccompanied minors in immigration detention centers;
  • What to look for in your traumatized minor client and how best to respond to it;
  • What is being required of minors when attending court hearings and testifying at those hearings alone;
  • How to recognize the effects of trauma-based lawyering and deal with those affects in a healthy manner; and
  • Much more. 

Program Coordinators
Jessica R. Durkin, City of Chicago Department of Law, Chicago
Dina M. Ninfo, Illinois CMS Office of Legal Services, Chicago
Bridget L. Schott, Illinois Attorney General Office, Urbana

Program Moderators:
Cindy G. Buys, Southern Illinois University School of Law, Carbondale
M. Colleen Kilbride, National Immigrant Justice Center, Chicago


12:55 – 1:00 p.m. Welcome and Introductions

1:00 – 2:00 p.m. Current Immigration Laws and Practices Affecting Girls
The program opens with a look at the recent immigration laws and practices and how they impact girls, including the effect on minors of being held in detention. Panelists discuss how unaccompanied minors are required to attend court hearings and testify at those hearings alone despite age, the ability to communicate, or the ability to understand the circumstances they are in.
Marie Silver, National Immigrant Justice Center, Chicago
Kathleen M. Vannucci, Law Office of Robert D. Ahlgren & Associates, P.C., Chicago

2:00 – 3:00 p.m. Trauma-Informed Lawyering of Minor Girls*
This segment focuses on trauma-informed lawyering within the current immigrant system, as well as how trauma affects the developing brain and manifests itself in juvenile clients. Among other things, this segment explores the trauma faced by detained and released unaccompanied minors who are or were being held in immigrant detention centers.
Prof. Jennifer Brobst, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale
Hon. Jennie Giambastiani (ret.), Of Counsel, Katsivalis & Anderson Law, Chicago
Marie Silver, National Immigrant Justice Center, Chicago
Dr. Nicole St. Jean, Director, Kovler Child Trauma Center, Chicago

3:00 – 3:15 p.m. Break

3:15 – 4:15 p.m. How Trauma Affects the Lawyer*
Discover how representing traumatized minor girls – including those who are fleeing violence, sexual abuse, and human trafficking – can affect your mental state, as well as what steps can be taken to reduce the stress and effects of this type of lawyering has on your well-being.
Prof. Jennifer Brobst, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale
Hon. Jennie Giambastiani (ret.), Of Counsel, Katsivalis & Anderson Law, Chicago
Marie Silver, National Immigrant Justice Center, Chicago
Kathleen M. Vannucci, Law Office of Robert D. Ahlgren & Associates, P.C., Chicago



*Professional Responsibility MCLE credit subject to approval