Erin M. Scheick

Erin M. Scheick joined the Columbus School of Law in 2024 as a Clinical Practitioner-in-Residence, co-teaching the Families and the Law Clinic. Ms. Scheick has nearly two decades of experience in the practice of domestic violence, family, and immigration law, most recently as the Managing Attorney of the Domestic Violence Project and Immigrant Justice Project at Bread for the City’s Legal Clinic in Washington, D.C. Ms. Scheick has extensive experience representing survivors of domestic and sexual violence, training and mentoring pro bono attorneys, and serving as national faculty for the ABA’s Commission on Domestic and Sexual Violence. Additionally, Ms. Scheick is a founding member of the multidisciplinary D.C. Domestic Violence Action Research Collective, researchers and practitioners committed to utilizing community-based research to strengthen domestic violence-related services offered throughout the DC-region.

Previously, Ms. Scheick was the Acting Director and Visiting Associate Professor of Clinical Law with the Jacob Burns Community Legal Clinics Family Justice Litigation Clinic at The George Washington University Law School. At the law school clinic, Ms. Scheick taught and supervised clinical students representing clients in a range of civil litigation. Ms. Scheick has also worked as a National Training & Policy Attorney with the American Bar Association Commission on Domestic & Sexual Violence, where she researched, developed, and wrote in-depth, comprehensive, multi-day trainings for civil legal services attorneys on best practices in representing survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. In addition, Ms. Scheick drafted policy related to sexual and domestic violence, provided technical assistance to civil legal services attorneys throughout the country, and edited domestic violence litigation-related publications.

Previously, Ms. Scheick was a Supervising Attorney and Skadden Fellow with WEAVE, a DC-based organization that provided holistic legal and social services for survivors. At WEAVE, Ms. Scheick also initiated a health-law partnership with a local community health center that trained community leaders to recognize and refer domestic and sexual assault survivors to legal services. Ms. Scheick also has experience as an Asylum Officer with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Arlington Asylum Office, and as a Peace Corps Volunteer in rural western Honduras. Ms. Scheick has lectured nationally and internationally on gender-based violence and the U.S. justice system.

Ms. Scheick came to domestic and sexual violence work through her background in international health, where she focused on the social determinants of health, international human rights, and community- and gender-based violence. From 2014-2022, Ms. Scheick was a member of and Chair of the Board of Directors of the community-based health care clinic, La Clínica del Pueblo. Ms. Scheick holds a BS from Johns Hopkins University, a SM from Harvard School of Public Health, and a JD, summa cum laude, from American University Washington College of Law, where she was a Public Interest/Public Service Scholar.  

Publications and Presentations

  • D.C. Bar Foundation, Family Law Section, panel presenter at, “Family Court Considerations for Children When Domestic Violence Occurs.” (May 2024)
  • Domestic Violence Action Research Collective (DVARC), “Abused and Unhoused: Survivors’ Struggle to Access Housing Assistance in the District of Columbia,” “‘I Could Have Kept That to Myself’: Survivors’ Disclosure of Domestic Violence and Prioritization of Safety When Seeking Services at Virginia Williams Family Resource Center,” “‘She Didn’t Even Look in My Eyes’: Survivors’ Interactions with Staff While at the Virginia Williams Family Resource Center,” and “‘I’m Still Homeless’: Survivors’ Outcomes at Virginia Williams Family Resource Center,” available at: https://dv-arc.org/research/ (June 2022)
  • Erin M. Scheick, expert faculty presenter at Advanced Custody Litigation Institute and Custody Litigation Institute, national legal skills trainings sponsored by the American Bar Association Commission on Domestic & Sexual Violence. (April 2022, February 2022, June 2019, January 2018, February 2018, September 2017, March 2017, December 2016, August 2016, September 2014)
  • Erin M. Scheick, “Reimagining Accountability in Domestic Violence Cases: A Public Health-Inspired Approach to Intervention and Prevention.” In-person paper presentation at the International Meeting on Law and Society. Toronto, Canada. (June 2018)
  • Erin M. Scheick and Katy Ramsey, “The Other Half of the Story.” In-person presentation at the Sixth Biennial Conference on Applied Legal Storytelling. Washington, D.C. (July 2017)
  • Erin M. Scheick, “A New Paradigm of Protection for Refugees Fleeing Gender-Based Harm.” In-person paper presentation at the International Meeting on Law and Society. Mexico City, Mexico. (June 2017)
  • Erin M. Scheick, et al. “Teaching Social Justice Lawyering: Pedagogical Tools to Sharpen Student Engagement with Marginalized Communities.” In-person concurrent sessions presentation at the AALS 40th Annual Conference on Clinical Legal Education. Denver, Colorado. (May 2017)
  • Erin M. Scheick, “Building Your Closing from Start to Finish.” Teleconference presentation sponsored by the American Bar Association Commission on Domestic & Sexual Violence. (August 2016)
  • Erin M. Scheick & Vivian Huelgo, “Legal Advocacy for Custody & Visitation: Supporting Domestic Violence Survivors Through the Legal Process.” Webinar presentation sponsored by the National Network to End Domestic Violence. (March 2016)
  • Erin M. Scheick & Vivian Huelgo, “Legal Advocacy for Custody & Visitation: Supporting Domestic Violence Survivors Through the Legal Process.” In-person presentation at the transitional housing and domestic violence conference sponsored by the National Network to End Domestic Violence. New Orleans, Louisiana. (July 2015)
  • Erin M. Scheick, “VIOLENCIA MACHISTA: Acceso a la Justicia y Otros Aspectos Legales de la Intervención en los Estados Unidos.” Invited by the US Embassy, Mexico City, to deliver a series of presentations on the legal response to violence against women and gender-based violence in the United States. Mexico City, Mexico. (March 2015)
  • Erin M. Scheick, “Domestic and Intimate Partner Violence, Women and Health.” Guest Lecturer at Howard Law School for Health, Identity and Law course. (April 2013)
  • James Pizzirusso and Erin Scheick, Utilizing Novel Technologies to Sustain Trespass and Battery as Toxic Torts, THE ENVIRONMENTAL LITIGATOR 6 (Spring 2008).
  • Anne E. Becker, Laura Ferguson, Sharon Iron-Segev, Malinda Kennedy, Binta Beard, Laura Kozek, Erin Scheick, and Steven L. Gortmaker, Dysregulated Eating Patterns Among Graduate Students: Scale Development and Predictors, EATING DISORDERS IN ADULT WOMEN, Julian N. Fuchs (ed). (2008).
  • Mark W. Vorkink and Erin M. Scheick, The “War on Terror” and the Erosion of the Rule of Law: The U.S. Hearings of the ICJ Eminent Jurist Panel, 14 No. 1 HUM. RTS. BRIEF 2 (2006).