Legal Training

Join the Conversation

Tuesday, July 7th to Wednesday, September 30th

Please join us in an online, open forum on telehealth. NCB is providing an opportunity for clinicians to ask each other questions, share observations and adapted telehealth protocols for the SoT population via an online forum and technical exchange. This conversation will be a forum for peer-led informational exchange. NCB staff will assist in facilitating and monitoring the conversation.

Directions: Please watch Eugene Augusterfer’s presentation and interview Telemedicine in Mental Health first. Then feel free to join us in this open forum. All are welcome to join this forum, whether you have an account on Healtorture.org or not. For more information on using the forum, please read the directions on the first post. Please keep your comments respectful, relevant, factual, and do not share identifying information about clients per client privacy and HIPAA regulations. This forum will be open from July 6, 2020 through September 30, 2020.

Regina Germain

Regina Germain, JD, former Legal Director of the Rocky Mountain Survivors Center [closed], where she managed the legal services and pro bono lawyer referral program; supervised volunteer attorneys and law student interns; conducted outreach to the legal community and general public on issues impacting survivors of torture; and provided comments on proposed legislation, regulations and immigration policies to NGOs, the Department of Homeland Security and other relevant stakeholders.

Paul Chandler, JD, MS.

Volunteer Data Analyst, Asylee Women Enterprise

Paul Chandler, JD, MS is a volunteer Data Analyst at the Asylee Women Enterprise. He has taught statistics for social sciences at the University of Baltimore, where he also worked as research assistant for the Law School and Law Clinic. In addition to the webinar Paul did for us listed below, he was the key expert consulted in creating CVT's Evaluation section.

Janet Beck

Janet B. Beck, MSW, JD, is Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Houston Law Center. Ms. Beck has been Board Certified in Immigration and Nationality law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization since 1995 and has been practicing immigration law since 1987. She is currently a Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Houston Law Center, supervising law students in the Immigration Clinic. She also teaches a class in Immigration Law and Business at the Law Center. Ms. Beck was the attorney on the Board of Immigration Appeals precedent decision Matter of M-A-M.

Asylum Manual for Volunteer Attorneys

This excellent and very thorough manual was developed by Public Counsel to orient and guide their pro bono attorneys through the asylum process. Although the entire manual is very useful, particularly of note for those serving detained survivors are the resources in Appendix 6.

Pro Bono Attorney Manual Legal Orientation Program

2007 training manual for pro bono attorneys representing individuals in immigration proceedings in San Pedro, California, and working with the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles. Provides fairly complete information for pro bono attorneys; a possible model for your pro bono training & orientation program.

Chapter 7: Legal Services

This chapter provides an overview of challenges that arise when representing torture survivors and strategies to ensure these challenges do not act as a barrier to effective legal representation. Attorneys encounter torture survivors with a variety of legal needs. Frequently, however, the survivor’s initial and most pressing legal problem involves immigration matters, such as asylum, family reunification, or defense from removal (deportation). Because safety is crucial to the survivor’s ability to engage fully in torture treatment services, the asylum process is integral to rehabilitation.

Healing_the_Hurt_Ch7.pdf

Practice Manual for Pro Bono Attorneys Representing Detained Clients with Mental Disabilities in Immigration Court

(2009, 124 pp.) Provides guidance for attorneys representing detained asylum seekers (and others) who have mental health issues; includes tips and information on getting mental health evaluations and services while detained.