Identity Theft and Fraud: Victim and Attorney Practice Tips

This session will provide an overview of the needs of victims affected by identity theft and fraud, and will also discuss practice tips for attorneys assisting these victims. Specific objectives for the session include: 1) to identify the unique needs of identity theft and fraud victims, and the resources available to assist them; 2) to define and understand the role of legal counsel in assisting and representing these victims; and 3) to provide strategies for legal advocacy when representing these victims in both civil and criminal actions. This session is geared toward attorneys with moderate knowledge of crime victims’ rights.

Pauline Mandel attended the University of Baltimore School of Law and was admitted to the Maryland and Federal Bar in 1994. For twelve years, she worked for the Legal Aid Bureau in Baltimore, Maryland. Ms. Mandel served as a supervising attorney in the Child in Need of Assistance (CINA) unit and represented children in the welfare system. Representation included children from birth to twenty-one years old, who were brought into the child welfare system. Ms. Mandel also chaired the CINA Task Force in the state of Maryland for several years, which had a primary purpose to train and educate children’s counsel as to standards of representation. Ms. Mandel has presented at several national conferences on children’s rights, including the Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect in Boston in 2005. Ms. Mandel chaired the Legal Aid presentations at the Maryland Governor’s Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect in 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005. Ms. Mandel has argued in state appellate courts on various children’s issues on numerous occasions, and won a landmark case concerning children’s rights in the state of Maryland.

Ms. Mandel became the Director of Legal Services at Maryland Crime Victims’ Resource Center, Inc. (MCVRV) in December of 2006. Her job duties include supervision of all aspects of legal representation on the victims’ rights clinic. Since coming to MCVRC, she has presented at national and state conferences on victims’ rights and has represented victims in many jurisdictions in the state. She is currently project director of the Identity Theft and Fraud grant awarded to MCVRV by the Office for Victims of Crime, United States Department of Justice, in October of 2007.

Paula Pierce is the Managing Attorney of Victims Initiative for Counseling, Advocacy, and Restoration of the Southwest (VICARS), a federally funded program of the Texas Legal Services Center that provides free legal advocacy for victims of identity theft and financial fraud. Ms. Pierce is an honors graduate of Trinity University and the South Texas College of Law who has over twenty years in legal practice. She is a frequent speaker on identity theft.

This conference is supported by Grant No. 2008-DD-BX-K001 awarded by the Office for Victims of Crime, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. Points of view in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice.