News 2021: UMass Law student named to American Bar Association Commission

Emily Dillan (2L) chosen as the Law Student Division Liaison to the ABA Commission on Domestic & Sexual Violence

Second-year UMass Law student was recently chosen as the Law Student Division Liaison to the national American Bar Association (ABA) Commission on Domestic & Sexual Violence. For more than two decades, the Commission has worked to increase access to justice for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking by connecting them with legal professionals.

“It is absolutely surreal and there are no words for how much this opportunity means to me,” said Dillan.

As a Law Student Division Liaison, Dillan will become a voting member of the Law Student Division Assembly, which helps craft policy for the Division. Through her work with the Commission, Dillan is expected to raise awareness and engagement from other law students through events and programming. She will also have the chance to write for the Commission’s blog and the ABA’s Student Lawyer magazine.

“I am most excited to work on programming for fellow law students as well as the writing components. Writing is one of my biggest passions and has been an ongoing hobby throughout my life, so I am thrilled to be able to combine my love of writing with my passion for sexual and domestic violence advocacy.”

During the Summer of 2021, Dillan held an internship with Massachusetts State Representative Natalie Higgins, which was tailored to sexual and domestic violence legislation. It was through that internship that she learned more about the various national and state-level policy initiatives occurring in the space. Dillan has been working with fellow 2L student Jennifer White, both of whom were named to the prestigious Rappaport Center Fellowship program, to bring a professional development workshop series to the UMass Law campus that is dedicated to trauma-informed interviewing techniques for clients - a workshop that she wants to bring, with White, to law students across the country through her work on the ABA Commission.

“I came to law school hoping to help a handful of local survivors of sexual and domestic violence, and I am privileged to have played a role in helping every survivor at the state level; now, this role within the Commission is showing me that it’s possible to think nationally.”