Volunteer Spotlight: Tammy Zokan

How long have you practiced law? 20 years

What drove you to pursue law? It was really because of my Aunt, who was a role model for me, was an attorney.

Tell us a fun fact about yourself, or something you enjoy! Running at 4 a.m.

How long have you been involved with the Women’s and Children’s Alliance and how did you first get involved? I began training/prerequisite qualifications in 2014 after an inspiring and informative WCA training by Maureen and her team offered through the ISB.  I wish I was more involved!  I’ve really done little more than the training and should not be recognized as a volunteer.  I haven’t felt like I had the expertise or the time to competently handle contested protection order cases on my own.  And I don’t have the expertise to staff the office hours, where I found the questions to be mostly about family law matters – this makes sense of course, but I don’t practice in this area so I’m not able to give good advice “off the top of my head”.  I am hopeful the WCA has/will soon be involved with one of the law school clinics so that the WCA has more legal resources available for your important work.

What drives your passion for continuing the great work that you do with the Women’s and Children’s Alliance? WCA is an amazing and much needed resource for the community.  I hope to find a way to help.  THANKS FOR ALL YOU DO!

What is something you wish more people knew about the issues you face when helping domestic abuse and sexual assault survivors? An important lesson I learned in the WCA trainings is the importance of building trust and providing space to survivors, rather than rushing in with a list of good-intentioned advice and affection.  Also, more legal resources are needed.  WCA needs more subject matter experts who can take the lead with the help of those us who have legal skills in other subject areas.

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