Legal veteran leads law school's Domestic Violence Clinic
Becki Kondkar, a veteran instructor in the Domestic Violence Clinic, is now director of the clinic at Tulane Law School. She succeeds law professor Tania Tetlow, who held the directorship for nine years. (Photo by Ali Mansfield)
When Becki Kondkar succeeded Tania Tetlow as director of the Domestic Violence Clinic at Tulane Law School, the program got a seasoned practitioner with long-standing ties to the clinic and to local and national domestic violence communities.
For 16 years, Kondkar has worked in the domestic violence field, representing survivors and working to improve the legal system"s response to abuse. She has trained hundreds of domestic violence attorneys across the United States and instructed law enforcement officers throughout Louisiana.
“When I was in law school, I knew that I wanted to do work that addressed gender inequality, and domestic violence was one way of doing that,” Kondkar said.
She joined the Tulane clinic in 2006 and was its deputy director, working alongside Tetlow, a law professor who recently was named chief of staff and vice president at Tulane University.
The New Orleans Police Department recently recognized Kondkar"s service with a “Superintendent"s Coin,” and the governor appointed her to the state"s Domestic Violence Prevention Commission.
Kondkar said she is “incredibly encouraged” by public scrutiny on domestic violence, especially an increased focus on abusers. “In the past, public conversations about domestic violence have been so focused on victim behavior that the abuser"s behavior became practically invisible.”
Through the clinic, law students learn broadly applicable legal skills while providing high-quality services to victims who might otherwise have to navigate the system alone. Students handle primarily civil issues, such as protective orders and child custody litigation. But they also connect victims to services student lawyers once found free dental work for a client whose abuser had knocked out her front teeth and secured free car repairs for another client whose abuser sabotaged her car so that she couldn"t work.
Students working in the various Tulane law clinics handle every phase of a case: drafting and filing motions and orders; interviewing clients and witnesses; counseling clients; communicating with opposing counsel; appearing in court; and handling appeals.
Linda P. Campbell is Tulane Law School"s director of communications.
