A trafficked individual’s pursuit of civil relief and compensation is a fundamental component of remedying serious human rights violations. Securing monetary relief against traffickers not only provides the trafficked person with an element of justice, but also deters trafficking by shining a bright light on the punitive financial consequences of exploiting labor. Moreover, obtaining a civil judgment allows the trafficked person to make a significant step toward economic stability and self-sufficiency.

***

ATLAST Web Portal
This web portal provides information, resources and technical assistance to attorneys and advocates representing human trafficking victims pursuing civil remedies. We are currently under construction. In the near future, this web portal will contain a password protected: database of civil trafficking cases to date; sample complaints, motions, briefs, and other pleadings; and supplemental resources and information on litigation strategy. This website will also serve to create a virtual community of anti-trafficking attorneys and advocates to communicate and share information with each other as they advance the civil rights of trafficked persons.

ATLAST was created by Kathleen Kim and Dan Werner co-authors of Civil Litigation on Behalf of Human Trafficking Victims, in response to a growing need for ongoing education and technical assistance to attorneys and advocates assisting trafficked individuals in civil litigation.

Kathleen Kim, ATLAST co-director and co-founder

Kathleen Kim is Associate Professor of Law at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles (link to http://www.lls.edu). Before joining Loyola, Kathleen founded and directed the Human Trafficking Project at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights in San Francisco with a Skadden Fellowship. The project was the first of its kind to focus on the civil needs of trafficked persons through litigation, policy advocacy and outreach. In 2005, Kathleen became the inaugural Immigrants’ Rights Teaching Fellow at Stanford Law School where she taught and supervised law students in the representation of indigent immigrants in deportation proceedings and other immigration matters. Kathleen is a member of the California Alliance to Combat Trafficking and Slavery coordinated by the California Attorney General’s office. She received her J.D. from Stanford Law School.

Dan Werner, ATLAST co-director and co-founder

Dan Werner is the Legal Director of Workers Rights Law Center of New York (link to url: http://workersrightsny.org), which he co-founded after six years as an attorney with Farmworker Legal Services of New York, Inc. Before he began representing farmworkers in New York, Dan received a NAPIL (now called Equal Justice Works) Equal Justice Fellowship to represent citrus harvest workers in Florida. In total, Dan has been a farmworker advocate in six states, including with the United Farm Workers in California. He is a 1996 graduate of the University at Buffalo School of Law.