{"id":2658,"date":"2017-09-08T15:50:19","date_gmt":"2017-09-08T19:50:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/experiential-learning\/clinics\/domestic-violence-clinic\/clinic-faculty-staff\/"},"modified":"2026-06-11T14:15:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T14:15:10","slug":"clinic-faculty-staff","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/experiential-learning\/clinics\/our-clinics\/domestic-violence-clinic\/clinic-faculty-staff\/","title":{"rendered":"Clinic Faculty & Staff"},"content":{"rendered":"

Deborah Epstein<\/strong>
\nCo-Director, Professor of Law<\/p>\n

Professor Epstein has directed the Domestic Violence Clinic since 1993, and has spent more than 30 years working as an advocate for victims of intimate partner abuse. She co-chaired the design and implementation of the D.C. Superior Court\u2019s Domestic Violence Division, which fundamentally restructured the way civil and criminal family abuse cases are handled. Specialized judges preside over all family law, civil protection order, and criminal cases involving domestic abuse; a multi-agency approach is employed to decrease the incidence of family violence and to improve litigants\u2019 access to crucial legal, medical, and social services. For the court\u2019s first five years, Professor Epstein also directed the court\u2019s newly-created Domestic Violence Intake Center, a one-stop center where survivors can obtain assistance and advocacy in their civil and criminal court cases as well as crisis intervention counseling and support.<\/p>\n

Professor Epstein has\u00a0served on the NFL Players\u2019 Association Domestic Violence Commission<\/a>, as Chair of the DC Domestic Violence Fatality Review Board, on the Board of the DC Coalition Against Domestic Violence and the House of Ruth, and as a member of the D.C. Superior Court\u2019s Domestic Violence Coordinating Council and the D.C. Mayor\u2019s Commission on Violence Against Women. She has trained hundreds of police officers, prosecutors, and judges around the country and internationally on domestic violence issues. In 2020, she was awarded the\u00a0American Bar Association\u2019s Margaret Brent Award<\/a>\u00a0for professional excellence in women lawyers, and in 2026 she received the William Pincus Award for excellence in clinical teaching. She served on D.C.\u2019s Judicial Nominations Commission, helping to select judges to serve on the local courts. Professor Epstein helped to develop and co-directs the Law Center\u2019s Clinical Pedagogy Program.<\/p>\n

Professor Epstein\u2019s publications in this area include:\u00a0From Isolation to Connection: The Practices and Promise of Open Domestic Violence Shelters<\/em>, 37 J. Interpersonal Violence 7315 (2020)<\/a>; Discounting Women: Doubting Domestic Violence Survivors\u2019 Credibility and Dismissing Their Experiences<\/em>, 167 U. Penn. L.Rev. 339 (2019)<\/a>; Listening to Battered Women; A Survivor-Centered Approach to Advocacy, Mental Health, and Justice (APA Press, 2008); The Victim-Informed Prosecution Project: A Quasi-Experimental Test of a Collaborative Model for Cases of Intimate Partner Violence<\/em>, 15 Violence Against Women 1227 (2009)<\/a>; Refocusing on Women: A New Direction for Policy and Research on Intimate Partner Violence<\/em>, 20 J. Interpersonal Violence 479 (2025)<\/a>; Transforming Aggressive Prosecution Policies: Prioritizing Victims\u2019 Long-Term Safety in the Prosecution of Domestic Violence Cases<\/em>, 11 Am. J. Gender, Soc. Polc\u2019y & Law 465 (2003)<\/a>; \u00a0Procedural Justice: Tempering the State\u2019s Response to Domestic Violence<\/em>, 43 Wm. & Mary L.Rev. 1843 (2002)<\/a>; and Effective Intervention in Domestic Violence Cases: Rethinking the Roles of Prosecutors, Judges, and the Court System<\/em>, 11 Yale J. Law & Feminism 3 (1999)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Rachel Camp<\/strong>
\nCo-Director, Professor from Practice<\/p>\n

Rachel Camp is Co-Director of the Domestic Violence Clinic (DVC) and a Professor from Practice at Georgetown University Law Center. Prior to joining Georgetown\u2019s faculty in 2011, Professor Camp served as a Clinical Teaching Fellow at the University of Baltimore School of Law. During her time both as a fellow and while at Georgetown, she has represented, and has supervised law students representing, hundreds of survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV) in civil protection order and family law cases. In addition to direct legal representation, Professor Camp has also supervised law students on community education and systemic legal reform projects aimed at increasing access to justice for survivors. Professor Camp currently serves on the D.C. Domestic Violence Fatality Review Board. From 2015-2025, Professor Camp served as the Faculty Director of the DC Affordable Law Firm (DCALF) Fellowship program. The DCALF fellowship, placed recent graduates from Georgetown Law and the University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law at DCALF, a non-profit law firm that provides legal representation to D.C. residents who fall between 200-400% of the federal poverty rate and otherwise may be unable to obtain legal representation in family law, immigration, and probate\/estate planning matters.<\/p>\n

Professor Camp\u2019s scholarship explores the intersection of behavior, emotions, and the process of legal help-seeking, with a particular focus on the experiences of shame and trauma. In Pursuing Accountability for Perpetrators of Intimate Partner Violence: The Peril (and Utility?) of Shame, <\/em>98 Boston Univ. L. Rev. 1677 (2018)<\/a>, Professor Camp examined how formal and informal methods of shaming those who harm lead to counterproductive outcomes for reducing violence in intimate relationships. In From Experiencing Abuse to Seeking Protection: Examining the Shame of Intimate Partner Violence<\/em>, 13\u00a0U.C. Irvine L. Rev.\u00a0103 (2022)<\/a>, she considers how shame can shape a survivor\u2019s help-seeking experience. In addition to her scholarship, Professor Camp provides trainings to a range of audiences on shame, IPV, and trauma, including judges, legal practitioners, and non-lawyer professionals. Her most recent work, \u201cUnderstanding Trauma & Trauma-Informed Advocacy: Reducing the Impact of Trauma for Clients and for Ourselves,\u201d can be found in Protective and Peace Orders Cases in Maryland, Maryland State Bar: A Practice Manual (2026).<\/p>\n

Beginning in 2025, Professor Camp began serving as Co-Director of Georgetown\u2019s Clinical Pedagogy Program. She has written multiple articles and presented on a range of topics relating to clinical pedagogy. She also serves on the Executive Committee of the American Association of Law Schools, Section on Clinical Legal Education, as well as the Teaching and Methodologies Committee.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Jeannie Lieder<\/strong>
\nTeaching Fellow \"Jeannie<\/p>\n

Jeannie is a clinical teaching fellow with Georgetown University Law Center\u2019s Domestic Violence Clinic. Her background is in criminal defense, and she is particularly interested in harm reduction, restorative justice, and centering individuals\u2019 humanity in her practice. Jeannie comes to the Domestic Violence Clinic inspired by her prior work with criminalized survivors.<\/p>\n

Jeannie received her B.A. in Anthropology with highest distinction from the University of Michigan, where she was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, in 2011. She graduated from Stanford Law School in 2016 where she was granted her J.D. with pro bono high distinction. After law school, Jeannie clerked for the Honorable Justin S. Anand of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia and the Honorable Douglas P. Woodlock of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. She worked as a public defender for 6 years, first at the New Hampshire Public Defender and then at the Committee for Public Counsel Services in Massachusetts, representing individuals charged with a wide range of misdemeanor and felony offenses. As a public defender, she dedicated herself both to her clients and to mentoring and supervising law students and new attorneys. In her free time, Jeannie enjoys spending time with her family, traveling, and getting outside with her dog.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sydnee Fielkow<\/strong>
\nTeaching Fellow\"Sydnee<\/p>\n

Sydnee is a clinical teaching fellow with Georgetown University Law Center’s Domestic Violence Clinic. Sydnee began her legal career as a prosecutor in Philadelphia for over 3 years, where she specialized in family violence and sexual assault cases and worked to ensure just outcomes for survivors. Sydnee then clerked for the Honorable Carolyn N. Lerner at the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. Prior to joining Georgetown, Sydnee served as a Staff Attorney at the U.S. Sentencing Commission’s Office of General Counsel, supporting the Commission’s formulation and application of federal sentencing guidelines.<\/p>\n

Sydnee earned her B.A. in Psychology with a minor in Criminal Justice from the George Washington University in 2015 and her J.D. from Northwestern Pritzker School of Law in 2019. At Northwestern, she was the Managing Production Editor of the Journal of Law and Social Policy and spent two years with the MacArthur Justice Center Civil Rights Litigation Clinic.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Anna Harty<\/strong>
\nOffice Manager\"Anna<\/p>\n

Anna serves as the office manager for several programs at Georgetown Law. She handles the day-to-day administrative operations of the Domestic Violence Clinic, the Federal Legislation Clinic, and the DC Affordable Law Firm LL.M. Fellowship Program. Anna is also currently pursuing a masters in Urban and Regional Planning at Georgetown University’s School of Continuing Studies. She graduated from Xavier University with a B.A. in Gender & Diversity Studies and minors in Studio Art and Peace & Justice Studies. As a Brueggeman Fellow at Xavier, Anna developed an independent study examining the role of gender in conflict resolution and traveled to Uganda to engage in related research. After graduating, Anna did a year of service through Jesuit Volunteer Corps and coordinated legal services for asylum seekers at YMCA International Services in Houston, TX.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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