How Victims’ Rights and Trauma-Informed Lawyering Strengthen Justice

About Meg Garvin: Meg Garvin, MA, JD, MSt, is the Executive Director of the National Crime Victim Law Institute (NCVLI) and a Clinical Professor of Law at Lewis & Clark Law School, where she is recognized as one of the nation’s leading experts on victims’ rights. She has testified before Congress, state legislatures, and the Judicial Proceedings Panel on Sexual Assault in the Military, and currently serves on the Council on Criminal Justice. From 2017 to 2025, she was appointed by the Secretary of Defense to the Defense Advisory Committee on Investigation, Prosecution, and Defense of Sexual Assault in the Armed Forces, and has served on multiple state and federal advisory groups focused on victims’ rights and justice reform. A recipient of numerous national awards for leadership and advocacy, she holds degrees from the University of Iowa, the University of Minnesota, and the University of Oxford.

In this episode, Ben, Jennifer, and Meg Garvin discuss:

• Evolving approaches to recognizing and enforcing victims’ rights in the justice system
• Integrating trauma awareness into legal practice and client advocacy
• The role of collaboration among attorneys, advocates, and prosecutors in achieving balanced justice
• Ongoing challenges and reforms are shaping how survivors experience the legal process

Key Takeaways:

• When attorneys integrate trauma awareness into every stage of their work, survivors gain the understanding and confidence needed to participate meaningfully and make informed choices throughout their cases.
• Justice feels most complete when survivors are consistently included, informed, and treated with dignity—ensuring their voices are central rather than peripheral to the legal process.
• The most effective outcomes emerge when victims’ rights lawyers, civil attorneys, and prosecutors collaborate closely, combining expertise to ensure survivors are represented both ethically and compassionately.
• Although most states now have victims’ rights statutes, genuine justice requires continued advocacy, education, and enforcement mechanisms to transform those rights from symbolic promises into practical realities. 

"I’m still here because of vicarious resilience—I learn every day from survivors how to be in this world and have hope." — Meg Garvin

Connect with Meg Garvin: 

Website: https://ncvli.org/ & https://law.lclark.edu/live/profiles/266-meg-garvin

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meg-garvin-547b831/

Connect with Ben Andreozzi: 

Website: https://www.victimscivilattorneys.com/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@AndreozziandFoote/videos

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/andreozziandfoote/

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