Trauma-Informed Interviewing with Geoff Kagan Trenchard

Attorneys must often take the worst stories their clients carry, and the most vulnerable situations they have faced, and try to mold them into cognizable claims for relief. One of an attorney's greatest assets are their memories of their clients, particularly the specific details they 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 attorneys help their clients to remember the things anyone would want to forget?

In this program for clinic staff and members of the human rights community at NYU and beyond, attorney Geoff Trenchard discusses the latest research in neuropsychology and what it can tell us about how people remember. He will review concrete techniques to reduce client stress during intake interviews, as well as how to best support them before, during, and after testimony. Finally, he will look at what attorneys can do to support themselves and their colleagues performing this vital and difficult work.

Geoff's Bio: 

Before transitioning to a career in the law, Geoff Kagan Trenchard taught creative writing in high needs schools, foster care centers, and jails for over 10 years. Geoff is also a poet and theater artist whose work has been featured on HBO's Def Poetry, TEDx, and at the Public Theater. His first play, In Spite of Everything, toured internationally as part of the Hip-Hop Theater Festival.

He received his Juris Doctorate from Hofstra School of Law in 2014. He was awarded the Charles H. Revson Law Student Public Interest Fellowship, the Bergstrom Child Welfare Law Fellowship, and is a recipient of awards from both the Equal Justice Works and the Public Justice Foundation. He was awarded a Postgraduate Fellowship to serve LGBTQ asylum seekers with Immigration Equality and help train students in the Hofstra Asylum Clinic. He continues to facilitate trainings on working with clients who have experienced trauma and how to use literary techniques in legal writing.

He is currently a Staff Attorney for the New York City Gay and Lesbian Anti Violence Project and works extensively with the New Sanctuary Coalition's free legal clinic.

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