We are excited to recognize Kristin Eliason as the 2022 Legal Services Award recipient. Kristin serves as the Legal Director for the Network for Victim Recovery of DC (NVRDC). Kristin is known throughout her community for her compassion and commitment to serving DMV-area survivors of domestic violence and supporting other legal professionals doing similar work.

Kristin is a trailblazer in the emerging areas of Title IX representation and crime victims’ rights litigation as one of the few lawyers with extensive experience. She is always happy to share her expertise with other legal professionals working in those areas. In her current role, Kristin oversees the Legal Program, which consists of thirteen legal staff, including 2 managing attorneys, 8 litigation attorneys, and 3 members of NVRDC’s Victim Legal Network project. She brings to her work over a decade of experience representing survivors of intimate partner violence, dating violence, sexual violence, and stalking in both Protective Order matters and higher education campus proceedings under Title IX and the Clery Act. Every year, Kristin works to help NVRDC handle over 450 legal matters for survivors. And she is generous with her time, mentoring lawyers in her organization and across the country.

Kristin also works to train the cadre of lawyers who hope to follow in her footsteps. She has led countless legal training sessions for lawyers interested in crime victims’ rights, representing survivors of power-based personal violence in Civil Protection Order and Title IX/Clery Act litigation. In just the past few years, she has conducted national and local trainings on Crime Victims’ Rights. She brings a unique focus to her work by centering survivor-defined justice, allowing clients to define justice for themselves and create goals to achieve that justice. The opportunity to work with her and learn from her shows other legal professionals the depth of her empathy, enabling them to better serve survivors. She is not only a fierce advocate in the courtroom but also makes her clients feel heard and understood.

Share your congratulations on social media using #Awards22, then make plans to join us to celebrate our award recipients at our 2022 Awards Ceremony.