Sarah Connell

  FROM SARAH CONNELL'S LISTING ON DCBAR.ORG: Sarah C Connell    Membership Status: Active Disciplinary history: No Date of admission: May 9, 2003      PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:     Sarah Connell is currently an Assistant Attorney General with the Domestic Violence Section of the Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia. In the past seven and a half years, she has conducted hundreds of trials on behalf of domestic violence victims in D.C. Superior Court. She prosecutes criminal violations of protection orders, conducting criminal discovery, detention hearings, plea negotiations, and criminal trials.  In addition, she represents domestic violence survivors in civil protection proceedings. She has also focused on assisting domestic violence victims with developmental and/or mental disabilities and assisting victims of stalking. Sarah Connell works collaboratively with governmental and non-profit private agencies to assist victims in obtaining necessary services and assistance. She has also trained lawyers across the country on all aspects of litigating domestic violence cases.      From 2004 to 2008, Sarah was a Senior Staff Attorney at Women Empowered Against Violence (WEAVE), where she represented domestic violence survivors in divorce, child custody, child support and civil protection order litigation. Prior to joining WEAVE, she was at the Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia, where she was a Skadden Fellow representing domestic violence survivors. Before law school, Sarah worked for about five years as a Program and Policy Analyst with the Violence Against Women Office (now Office on Violence Against Women) at the U.S. Department of Justice, and for about four years at a domestic violence shelter in California, where she co-developed a training program for local police departments.      Sarah Connell received her J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, DC, cum laude, in May 2002, where she was a Public Interest Law Scholar, one of eight people in the entering class of 1998 selected to receive a four year partial scholarship and specialized training in the area of public interest law.  Sarah Connell received her Bachelor of Arts Degree from Stanford University in 1991.   TRAINING CONDUCTED AT THE NATIONAL AND REGIONAL LEVELS:   Ms. Connell has conducted the following training at both the national and regional level: Trainer/Instructor for Pacific Fellows Exchange Program, American Bar Association Commission on Domestic and Sexual Violence, (ABA-CDSV) and ABA Rule of Law Initiative, (April and October 2012); Faculty, Fundamentals of Civil Protection Order Litigation for Domestic Violence Attorneys, sponsored by the ABA-CDSV and U.S. Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women. (USDOJ-OVW), (2010, 2011); Faculty, Civil Law Custody Institute for Domestic Violence Attorneys, sponsored by ABA-CDSV and USDOJ-OVW, (2008, 2010, 2011); Training for Law Student Career Advisors (2012); Faculty, “Representing LGBTQ Survivors of Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Stalking”, sponsored by ABA-CDSV and USDOJ-OVW (2013); Faculty, National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA), Fundamentals of Domestic Violence Litigation (2013); Trainer for "Meet the Neighbors" Legal Resource Center on Violence Against Women Training on CPO law in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia (2013, 2015); Faculty, “Representing Victims of Intimate Partner Sexual Violence in Civil Litigation,” sponsored by ABA-CDSV and USDOJ-OVW (2014, 2015); Faculty, Institute on Working with Interpreters in Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Cases, sponsored by ABA-CDSV and USDOJ-OVW (2014); Presenter, NNEDV/ Safety Net’s 3rd Annual Technology Summit, “Use of Technical Expert Witnesses in Civil and Criminal Cases”(2015).     TRAINING CONDUCTED AT THE LOCAL LEVEL:   Ms. Connell has conducted the following training at the local level: Family Court Mediator Training on Domestic Violence (2008); Divorce and Domestic Violence for Pro Bono Attorneys (2009); Children's Law Center Training on Domestic Violence (2009); Presentation at Quality Trust for Individuals with Disabilities (2009); DC Consortium New Attorney Training (2009); DC Coalition on Domestic Violence Advocate Training (2009); Domestic Violence and Developmental Disabilities (2010); Prosecuting Criminal Contempts of Protection Orders for DC Volunteer Lawyers Project (2010); Evidence for Family Law Attorneys, DC Bar (2011); Training on Domestic Violence for Panel Attorneys from the Council of Child Abuse and Neglect (CCAN) (2011); Presenter at D.C. Superior Court's Teen Dating Violence Conference (2011); Presenter at George Washington School of Law's Career Event (2012); Stalking Training for Court Services and Community Supervision Agency (CSOSA) (2013); Panelist for George Washington School of Law Domestic Violence Presentation (2013);  Speaker, District of Columbia Superior Court Probate Division’s Seventh Annual Guardianship Conference (2015).    COMMUNITY OUTREACH ACTIVITIES:   Sarah Connell has participated in the following community outreach activities: Office of Violence Against Women/ABA Commission on Domestic Violence Steering Committee Meeting on Domestic Violence and Disabilities (2008); Judge for Mock Trial, Columbus School of Law, Catholic University of America, (2008-2016); Co-Chair, D.C. Bar Family Law Section Steering Committee, (2009-2010); Member D.C. Bar Family law Section Steering Committee, (2008-2011, 2012-2015); Member, Domestic Violence Advocates' Group (2008-present). Moderator and/or organizer for D.C. Bar Family Law Section Programs: Family Law Bench-Bar Dialogue (2010); Divorce in the Golden Years (2011); Forensic Exam and Homestudy Panel (2010), Domestic Violence Bench Bar Dialogue (2011, 2012, 2013, 2014); Dealing with Difficult Clients (2013), Immigration and Family Law (2012); Children as Witnesses (2014); Abuse and Neglect Bench-Bar Dialogue (2014). Member, District of Columbia Courts’ Judicial Branch Education and Training Project: Enhancing Judicial Skills in Elder Abuse Cases (2014-present); Member, Medical Society of DC Task Force on Family Violence (2015-present); Member, core team, District’s Collaborative Training and Response for Older Victims (DC TROV) (2015-present);  Member, ABA Rule of Law’s (ROLI’s) Expert Working Group on Prosecuting Domestic Violence (2015); Member, Women’s Bar Association of the District of Columbia (2016).        CERTIFICATIONS/AWARDS/TRAINING RECEIVED:   •         Office of the United States Attorney, New Attorney Training (2008). •         D.C. Office of the Attorney General, Trial Skills Training, (2008). •         Employee of the Month, DC. Office of the Attorney General (July 2011). •         Use of Technology for Intimate Partner Stalking Basic and Advanced Training, Stalking   Resource Center/National Center for Victims of Crime (2013) •         Mobile Phone Seizure Certification, BK Forensics, (2013). •         Finalist, Cafritz Award for Distinguished DC Government Employees, (2014).    PROFES          •           Sarah 

family, friends, my kids, running, dogs, cats, reading