National Clinic Network 

Victims need attorneys standing with them in court to ensure that their independent voice is heard.  This idea of a victim having his or her own attorney in a criminal case is novel; it challenges the traditional paradigm of state vs. defendant.  To ensure victims’ voices and rights are not lost, NCVLI partners with legal clinics nationwide providing services to victims of crime.

In 2004, NCVLI launched the Network of Victims’ Rights Enforcement Clinics. These clinics provide free legal services to victims of crime as they assert and seek enforcement of their rights in criminal cases against their offenders. What started as five clinics is now a network of ten partner clinics operating in Arizona, Colorado, Maryland, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, South Carolina, Utah, and Washing­ton, D.C.  These clinics also serve victims in the Second, Third, Fourth, Ninth, and Tenth Federal Circuits.  The Network shares research, best prac­tices, litigation strategies, pleadings, and more. Over the years, the Network has become greater than the sum of its parts, and it is now a formidable force for victims nationwide.  In 2010 the Network:

• Represented more than 760 victims;

• Filed more than 430 legal pleadings asserting victims’ rights; and

• Secured more than 8,600 pro bono attorney and law student hours to help victims.

The success of the Network was noted in the August 29, 2009, National Institute of Justice report Finally Getting Victims Their Due: A Process Evaluation of the NCVLI Victims’ Rights Clinics Executive Summary, which stated “the state clinics are on the road to fulfilling the intentions of their architects and funders. All of the clinics have pushed the envelope of victims’ rights in their state courts. Some have won significant victories in gaining standing for victims and expanding the definition of particular rights. Others are enjoined in the battle. But all have raised awareness of victims’ rights with prosecutors, judges, defense attorneys, and police officials.”

Click here to read more about the Clinical Network.

Enforcement Clinics Currently Funded by NCVLI