Pace Women's Justice Center: Decades of Impact

Lesly Sandoval was in a terrible bind.

Her ex-husband threatened her and failed to pay child support, but as a single mother and student in a full-time internship, she didn’t have enough money to hire a lawyer. So she turned to the Pace Women’s Justice Center.

“My experience with PWJC was life changing. Through their support, I was able to have a clear path moving forward with not only my life, but that of the most treasured people in my life: my children. PWJC’s representation made it possible for me to focus on what was most important during that time; my children, school, safety, and housing,” Sandoval said.

PWJC’s team of lawyers, paralegals, and staffers helped her obtain a court order of protection, as well as financial and even emotional support. “They created a safety net for my family, where our fears and anxiety related to the legalities of the situation were managed from a place of efficiency, knowledge, and experience. There was constant reassurance and support though every step of the process.” Sandoval, who now has a master’s degree, works for a New York state agency providing services for the developmentally and intellectually disabled. “I am forever grateful at the blessing that PWJC brought to my life. I am a changed and better person because of the care they took to ensure that my children and I were protected.”

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For decades, the PWJC, a nonprofit legal center serving Westchester and Putnam Counties, has provided free legal services to victims and survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and elder abuse. PWJC helps individuals navigate the legal system and obtain services related to divorce, custody, support, financial exploitation, public benefits, and housing.

Through outreach events and training programs the Center raises awareness, educates the community, and trains judges, police officers, attorneys, and social service providers on best practices when working with victims of abuse.

For those who have been victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, or elder abuse, PWJC offices and clinic provides legal services to help them pursue justice.

I am forever grateful at the blessing that PWJC brought to my life. I am a changed and better person because of the care they took to ensure that my children and I were protected.

PWJC’s many programs offer free legal assistance, free legal clinics open to the public, and training for professionals. It also has a robust program to recruit, train, and supervise volunteers. A dedicated team of volunteers include those who have some legal training -- such as lawyers, paralegals, and law students -- and those who bring other skills to Center programs, such as community members, and high school and college students.

Pro bono volunteers can review case histories, draft legal documents, prepare clients for oral testimony, and represent clients at court proceedings for orders of protection, conduct client interviews, handle calls on a legal helpline, arrange for service of papers on the defendant, file documents with the court, and assist attorneys in their cases. Through the PWJC’s Court Accompaniment, Respect and Empowerment (CARE) Program, trained volunteers accompany domestic violence victims throughout their court experience. C.A.R.E. volunteers give emotional support to PWJC clients and allow attorneys to focus on necessary legal preparation before a case.

Because of the Center’s affiliation with the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University, law students are an integral component of the Center’s innovative and highly successful programs. At the Center, law students are assigned to work in specific programs and mentors provide training and ongoing supervision and guidance.

Through the PWJC, Haub Law students can participate in Family Court Externships and a full-time, 10-week Summer Internship Program. These two programs provide law students with a foundation in the dynamics of domestic violence, as well as family court practice and procedure. Law students are taught relevant areas of the substantive law needed to effectively represent domestic violence victims and survivors in family court, and they gain an opportunity to develop effective client interviewing, petition drafting and case presentation skills on a daily basis.

“I think the students really enjoy it,” PWJC Executive Director Cindy Kanusher said. “They get to develop practical skills, including interviewing clients and standing up in court.” She estimates that as many as 400 law students have come through training programs at PWJC.

At the main PWJC office located on the Haub Law campus, high school and college students as well can assist in a variety of tasks to support the legal team, including maintaining PWJC’s case management system, case files, and legal resources databases.

The PWJC’s efforts are widely recognized. Recently Kanusher was named to City & State’s inaugural Trailblazers in Law, which honors “a select group of leaders who are using their legal training to make the world a better place.” City & State said that the Center “developed into a legal services and training center serving over 3,500 victims and survivors of interpersonal violence annually on her watch.”

Also, this year, Kanusher was honored with the Visionary Award at Haub Law’s annual Leadership Awards Dinner. She was selected because she exemplifies what an advocate, mentor, and leader stands for, and because she has dedicated her career to assisting victims of domestic violence, and to providing representation to the underrepresented. Upon accepting the award, Kanusher described the impactful work of PWJC, sharing how her own childhood experiences inspired her life-long commitment to pursuing justice for women and families.

Providing Immediate Support

PWJC’s main office on the Haub Law campus houses the Walk-In Legal Clinic, which provides support and services for victims of domestic abuse. The Center also has attorneys in its Family Court Legal Program in New Rochelle, White Plains and Yonkers Family Courts who can seek an emergency Order of Protection for victims of abuse.

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The Walk-In Legal Clinic has three attorneys and a paralegal on staff, and also 15 attorneys who volunteer their time. Karen Lanci, Assistant Director of PWJC’s Walk-In Legal Clinic, said there is no income cap for those seeking a one-time legal consultation, which can be in person or by Zoom. A consultation entails legal advice and suggestions for next steps, which often includes a referral to another attorney. The Clinic itself does not offer ongoing representation.

“We practice family law, and we focus on elder abuse, sexual assault, and domestic violence issues, but often people come in with immigration law, housing and other legal issues, for which we can offer referrals to other nonprofits,” Lanci said.

The Walk-In Clinic began in 2018, but two years later when COVID forced the closure of Pace campuses, it began offering consultations via Zoom. Now about 80 percent of legal consultations are still being held virtually, which has allowed the Clinic to broaden its outreach and keep more volunteer attorneys on board.

“It ended up being a net-positive,” Lanci said. Jana Kosberg-Kleidman, PWJC Director of Development and External Relations, said that what distinguishes the PWJC from other organizations is its commitment to increasing access on a continuous basis. “We have the walk-in clinic, which makes services as accessible as possible and available if needed, so while the pandemic presented challenges with increased isolation, the silver lining was the ability and recognition that services could be made remote, and it was eye-opening in that these services could keep being provided that way if needed even when things ‘returned to normal.’”

The PWJC offers a number of other programs under its umbrella, including a help line on which anyone can call for free legal information, a Family Law Unit for people seeking ongoing representation in Westchester and Putnam Counties, a program called Be Prepared that helps with wills, an Elder Justice Unit offering abuse victims legal representation and referrals, a Moderate Means Program for helping lower income clients with divorces, and the Family Court Legal Program, offering emergency protective orders through local family courts.

The Family Court Legal Program was the first PWJC program to provide direct legal services. FCLP provides emergency legal services on a walk-in basis to victims and survivors of domestic violence. Clients get immediate help from attorneys, including often same-day emergency orders of protection, as well as emergency custody and spousal support.

The FCLP program, which has served nearly 1,000 clients annually since its establishment more than 20 years ago, helps clients manage emergencies, and stabilize dangerous situations. The program connects clients to collaborative organizations for additional legal representation and individual counseling. The initiative demonstrates the effectiveness of agencies combining their expertise and resources when serving vulnerable populations.

Former FCLP intern and 2005 Haub Law alumna, Joyce Miller, now Chief of the Domestic Violence Bureau in the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office, said she was part of a group of rising 2L students who were put through an intensive week-long training to learn how to obtain family court orders of protection. She then started working in the FCLP in the Westchester County Courthouse, where she assisted clients in obtaining protection orders.

“I was exposed to a work that I never knew existed and was shocked to hear how many victims of domestic violence there were in Westchester. I will never forget as we studied a domestic violence criminal case the chills that I experienced when they played for us a 911 call of a woman screaming for help. I knew then and there that this was such incredibly important and hard work and was grateful to be part of this clinical internship,” said Assistant District Attorney Miller.

“This experience taught me that I wanted to use my law degree to do meaningful public service work, and when I went on a few years later to apply for a job as a prosecutor with the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office, and when they asked me where I saw myself in 10 years, I told them the Domestic Violence Bureau, citing my rewarding time in the FCLP. I was placed there that same year within three months and have been doing special victims work since. Seventeen years later, I am proud to say that I am the Chief of the Domestic Violence Bureau, and though the work is still hard, it is equally and still so rewarding and I know that I wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for the FCLP,” Miller said.

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A collaborative initiative between the PWJC, Legal Services of the Hudson Valley and My Sister’s Place, the FCLP was chosen as the 2019 Organization Changemaker by Nonprofit Westchester. Haub Law student Emily Zahran says her work at FCLP has taught her how to interview clients on sensitive subjects and effectively to capture their experiences in writing while drafting court documents.

“I have been able to meet clients of all different ages, backgrounds, and socioeconomic statuses. I have sat in on interviews with these clients and taken their information and drafted family offense, custody, and child support petitions. The family offense petitions are usually where we insert the narrative, meaning the client’s story, which has been impactful for me because it has taught me how to write concisely. These clients need to get these orders quickly, and therefore it is important that when I draft, I get their story across but in an efficient manner. “

Zahran said interviewing FCLP clients who have been traumatized involves reading people carefully and offering emotional support. “Domestic violence clients often are holding back because they are scared or embarrassed. Clients taking this first step often are unsure how much to share or what is worth sharing. If you just listen and watch their body language you can learn a lot more about them and their experiences. Also, listening is important because having clients repeat such intimate details can wear them down. I’ve also learned how to support clients because things can get emotional, and it’s important to acknowledge that and remind them it is normal to be emotional and take time to comfort them.”

Most importantly, Zahran said, her FCLP work has taught her “how important it is to love what you do.” All the staff at FCLP are passionate and driven to help these clients and it shows. Even in a difficult field, the staff is upbeat and kind, and they truly care for the clients, and I want to carry that on in my legal career because the clients can tell that they matter, and it makes for a wonderful client-lawyer relationship.”

This experience taught me that I wanted to use my law degree to do meaningful public service work...

Raising Funds and Awareness

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An integral part of what allows desperately vital organizations like PWJC to keep going is fundraising. Throughout the year, PWJC holds a series of fundraising events that contribute to and help support the organization’s important mission. Recently, the PWJC has held very successful benefit concert events that feature high-profile musicians, including singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles and folk-rock duo Indigo Girls. The Center will also hold another benefit concert in the fall. Other fundraising events include cocktail parties, hikes, movie screenings, comedy shows, and interviews.

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Last year, PWJC launched a popular educational campaign around Valentine’s Day called “Love Isn’t.” The initiative utilized social media to share warning signs to raise awareness of unhealthy relationships. While promoting the idea of what love is, the campaign also educated people on what love is not: Love does not insult, threaten, bully, gaslight, or assault.

The program is aimed at 15-34 year-olds and social media, as females in the 18-34 age bracket experience the highest rates of intimate partner violence, according to a 2010 Center for Disease Control and Prevention survey. “Love Isn’t” received widespread media attention, including a feature on CBS news.

Kanusher says education and conversation are critical tools for prevention of relationship abuse. “We feel it’s really important for us especially to reach young people, who are beginning to discover relationships,” she said. She added that this includes college students, as well as high school students or those even younger. This work overlaps what they are already doing representing clients with Title IX discrimination, sexual harassment and sexual violence claims in schools receiving federal funding.

With the acknowledgement that love is different for every individual, the PWJC campaign centers around a graphic design identifying a series of behaviors that define what “Love Isn’t,” and provides the organization’s contact information via QR code. The “Love Isn’t” graphic is available on t-shirts, hoodies and ceramic mugs, and additional donations to PWJC are encouraged, as is posting a video in support of the campaign in which people express what “Love Is…” to them.

When Kanusher first arrived in 1998, the PWJC had just two other attorneys, and the Center focused on training prosecutors and police on handling domestic violence and sexual assault cases. Now the Center has a total staff of 35, including five paralegals, 26 attorneys – both fulltime and part-time – development and finance staff, and a wide variety of programs.

Kanusher said she would like to continue to add lawyers to the staff, increasing the PWJC’s ability to represent victims of sexual assault on college campuses in Westchester and Putnam Counties.

“The more lawyers we can get, the more people we can help,” she said. Ultimately, though, Kanusher has a higher aspiration. “I hope one day we will be out of business,” she said.

PWJC Executive Director Dedicated to Serving the Community

“My work at PWJC is very personal for me,” said Cindy Kanusher, Executive Director of Pace Women’s Justice Center, after she received the Visionary Award at Haub Law’s Law Leadership Dinner in March.

“It is difficult for me to explain what it feels like to grow up in a home where there has been domestic violence and to hear your mother talk about experiencing abuse. What I know is that it feels overwhelming, sad, lonely and there is a sense of powerlessness … as a child and as an adult. This is why I have spent almost my entire career at PWJC working to make sure that victims and survivors know that they are not alone and that there is a place where they can go for help,” she said.

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With more than 25 years of dedicated service to PWJC, Kanusher has demonstrated unwavering commitment and exceptional leadership in advocating for victims and survivors of abuse, as well as providing representation to the underrepresented. Throughout her career, Kanusher has been instrumental in shaping PWJC’s mission and vision. During her tenure, PWJC has grown into a highly respected, multi-faceted legal services and training center serving thousands of victims and survivors of interpersonal violence annually, providing invaluable legal assistance to those in need and tirelessly championing the cause of justice.

Shortly after becoming PWJC’s Executive Director in 2015, Kanusher identified a need for a more flexible service model and developed the idea of a walk-in clinic that provides free, bilingual legal services to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and elder abuse, in a safe and non-threatening location. She was also integral in spearheading fundraising efforts to build a new clinic and office space for PWJC, which allowed it to increase services.

Kanusher’s leadership has empowered survivors to navigate the legal system with confidence and obtain the support they need to rebuild their lives. Since its opening in June 2018, the Walk-In Clinic has been serving 70-80 victims of abuse per month, increasing services by 20%.

This is why I have spent almost my entire career at PWJC working to make sure that victims and survivors know that they are not alone and that there is a place where they can go for help.

PWJC: A Timeline of Impact

1991
Pace Women’s Justice Center originally launched as the Battered Women’s Justice Center. It was established by Governor Mario Cuomo in a joint partnership with New York State Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence (OPDV) and Pace University School of Law, under the leadership and guidance of Law School Dean Steven H. Goldberg. Attorney Michael G. Dowd, whose pioneering work as a criminal defense attorney defending battered women (often pro bono) who were being tried for murdering their batterers, was appointed the founding director.

Victoria L. Lutz, Esq. is hired to create domestic violence training programs, notably for prosecutors throughout New York State. Lutz became the Center’s Executive Director in 1996.

1996
Audrey Stone joined the Center as Associate Director, serving as coordinator for OPDV’s Prosecutor’s Training Program. Under the leadership of Lutz and Stone, the Battered Women’s Justice Center left the auspices of OPDV, and became an integral part of Pace Law School.

1998
The Center was renamed the Pace Women’s Justice Center. Along with Law School Dean Richard Ottinger, Lutz and Stone expanded the Center’s training programs into additional areas, including sexual assault, elder abuse prevention, and teen dating violence and also began to offer direct legal services for domestic violence victims.

Cindy Kanusher begins her work with PWJC as a staff attorney and running a series of impactful training programs throughout NY State.

1999
The Center’s first direct legal services program for clients, the Family Court Legal Program (FCLP) is established in White Plains Family Court.

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2001
FCLP is expanded and opens in Yonkers Family Court.

The Center named our main office “Gail’s House,” and our Advisory Board the “Friends of Gail” in memory of Gail Katz, the sister of Alayne Katz, Esq., who is chairperson of the Center’s Advisory Board and a longtime supporter of the Center. On July 7, 1985, Dr. Robert Bierenbaum killed his wife, Gail Katz Bierenbaum, a doctoral student in psychology. The establishment of “Gail’s House” is a lasting tribute to Gail, and to the many women like her who struggle with the terrors of domestic violence, and to her family.

2004
Susan L. Pollet, Esq. serves as Executive Director of PWJC.

2005
The Family Law Unit was established to provide free legal services to clients in a wide array of legal matters arising from domestic violence and abuse in both Westchester and Putnam counties. PWJC’s Elder Justice program is established through a grant from Westchester County Department of Senior Programs and Services.

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2006
Jane Aoyama-Martin serves as the Executive Director of PWJC. Under Aoyama-Martin, the Center greatly expanded the delivery of much needed legal services to domestic violence and elder abuse victims through the development of the Pro Bono Legal Program. Cindy Kanusher serves as the Center’s Deputy Director during this time.

2015
Cindy Kanusher becomes PWJC’s Executive Director.

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2018
PWJC opens new Walk-In Clinic and office space.

2019
Family Court Legal Program named Organization Changemaker by Nonprofit Westchester.

2023
PWJC served approximately 2,453 clients.

Pace Women's Justice Center Advisory Board

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Chair

• Alayne Katz, Esq.

Board Members

• Lauren C. Enea, Esq.
• Carold Feldman M.S., NCSP
• Prof. Margaret M. Flint, Esq.
• Jacqueline Hattar, Esq.
• Caroline Hay
• Pamela Kaufman
• Samantha A. Lyons, Esq.
• Tamara A. Mitchel, Esq.
• Chief David M. Ryan
• Steven A. Schurkman, Esq.
• Daniel Seymour
• Sarah Steckler, Esq.
• Monica Taylor
• Kadeen Wong, Esq.