Joe Regalia, an adjunct professor at the Willliam S. Boyd School of Law of the University of Nevada Las Vegas has started a legal education program for women residents of The Shade Tree, a shelter in Las Vegas for women who have experienced domestic violence. Due to their situation, these women often have legal issues regarding financial and child support, custody, and protection.
Professor Regalia, law students, and alumni conduct legal aid clinics at the shelter on Friday mornings. “For these women already in a stressful situation,” Regalia says, “having a legal dispute looming over them is a constant source of stress. So giving them the tools and knowledge to know what is going on and have a path forward has to remove a lot of that anxiety and improve quality of life. You could see it made a huge difference, just having someone there to explain, ‘This is what’s happening, and this is what’s going to happen next.’”
Professor Regalia has expanded his efforts to include seminars on legal writing and offers some courses online. Another avenue he is initiating is educating women in public speaking. “People are so scared to talk to the judge,” he notes.