Paul Hastings Co-Hosts, as part of National Survivor Law Collective, Workshop Addressing Legal Deserts for Survivors of Human Trafficking

Washington, D.C. — Paul Hastings LLP was a proud co-host, as part of the National Survivor Law Collective (NSL Collective), of the “Legal Deserts” workshop, along with the ABA Commission on Sexual and Domestic Violence, and the Avery Center for Research & Services.

The event took place during the Shared Hope JuST conference on November 17^th in Washington, D.C., with the goal of improving the understanding of legal deserts specifically related to human trafficking survivors. Participants in the “Legal Deserts” workshop included legal services providers, survivor-advocates, former state department officials, and other stakeholders to review research from the Avery Center and determine what types of legal services exist for survivors of human trafficking and where there are gaps. The workshop was moderated by Susan Coppedge, Former United States Ambassador-at-Large to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, currently Senior Counsel with Krevolin Horst in Atlanta. The discussion included current obstacles, solutions and opportunities, and concluded with action items to move the solutions forward.  The NSL Collective will host a series of other workshops for stakeholders to provide feedback on how best to address legal services gaps for survivors across the country with a plan to deliver a follow up report.

The full “Legal Deserts Report” is available for download here.

Founded in 2020, the NSL Collective is a collaboration among private legal services organizations that have been providing pro bono legal services to trafficking services for several years with the shared goal of connecting survivors to attorneys, training lawyers in the delivery of trauma-informed and survivor-centered legal representation, and proactively developing and implementing legal services that meet the immediate and future needs of survivors. Paul Hastings LLP is among the founding members of the NSL Collective.

At Paul Hastings, our purpose is clear — to help our clients and people navigate new paths to growth. With a strong presence throughout Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the U.S., Paul Hastings is recognized as one of the world’s most innovative global law firms.