Best Practice List for Interviewing Clients Who Have Experienced Trauma
with Geoff Kagan Trenchard
As attorneys, we take the worst stories our clients carry and try to mold them into cognizable claims for relief. One of our greatest assets is our clients’ memories, particularly the specific details we use to show credibility. However, the effect of trauma on memory is well documented -- often times the most painful moments are hardest to clearly remember. So how can we as attorneys help our clients remember the things anyone would want to forget?
In this training, we’ll discuss the latest research in neuropsychology and what it can tell us about how we remember. We will review concrete techniques to reduce client stress during interviews as well as how to best support them before, during, and after testimony. Finally, we’ll look at what we can do to support ourselves and our colleagues in this vital and difficult work.
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About Geoff Kagan Trenchard
(pronouns: they, them) is an attorney, educator, and legal activist. Before transitioning to a career in the law, they taught creative writing in high-needs schools, foster care centers, and jails for over 10 years. Geoff received their Juris Doctorate from Hofstra School of Law in 2014, was awarded the Charles H. Revson Law Student Public Interest Fellowship and the Bergstrom Child Welfare Law Fellowship, and has received awards from both the Equal Justice Works and the Public Justice Foundation. They were also awarded a Postgraduate Fellowship to serve LGBTQ asylum seekers and help train law students in the Hofstra Asylum Clinic, and Geoff continues to train attorneys on how to better serve clients who’ve experienced trauma. Geoff has also presented training sessions to attorneys from the Southern Poverty Law Center, New York Immigration Coalition, Immigrant Justice Corps, The Newark Asylum office, and at law schools and legal service organizations throughout New York.