Lawyer Monthly Magazine - February 2020 Edition

Expert Insight Marie Napoli, Partner & Michelle M. Greene, Associate, Napoli Shkolnik PLLC 44 WWW.LAWYER-MONTHLY.COM | FEB 2020 while simultaneously collaborating with legal professionals to bolster anti- trafficking pursuits. The psychological trauma victims have endured can greatly set trafficking cases apart from other types of torts. That is why this is not a practice attorneys should enter lightly. “Ensuring victims receive the recovery services they need, rather than trying to hold them accountable for crimes they were forced into is crucial for their protection. We are committed to providing effective, compassionate communication and outstanding service for our clients and holding those at fault accountable for their suffering,” says Ms. Napoli. “Our experienced and knowledgeable legal teams are ready to take on any fight.” Eliminating misconceptions about human trafficking is critical to understanding its true nature. Lawyers and many others might interact with victims of human trafficking to obtain restitution awards during the criminal case. Victims can receive restitution for their losses and the value of their work performed for forced labor- even if the work is deemed illegal-in multiple federal courts. Overall, the need for lawyers to support survivors of human trafficking is vital, as is raising awareness among the legal community. We must enact policies and continue to create laws that undermine the motives for those responsible. As states’ laws have created civil causes of action for survivors of sex trafficking, we have seen a rise in litigation. Even though human trafficking is a multi- billion-dollar industry, many people never see its consequences, and namely, the victims among us. That is because trafficking networks often rely on legitimate businesses in order to run their illegal operations. One such business is the hotel industry, where victims can be housed while in transit, or where traffickers can run their business out of hotel rooms. Since hotels are a known location for the exploitation of victims, hotels are a model location for presenting information about services for victims. Under the civil cause of action, we are seeing pending lawsuits against these national brand hotel and motel chains for benefitting from the trafficking within their establishments. These lawsuits show creative approaches to impede trafficking trafficked people every day without knowing it. Because trafficked people do not always understand their rights or refuse to self-identify, the better we understand what they may look like, the more we can recognize and defend these victims. In Summary Human trafficking occurs everywhere, even in our own cities and neighborhoods. The recent arrest of Jeffrey Epstein in the United States on charges of trafficking and sexual exploitation of girls is just one example of an exigent problem that holds a disturbing number of victims. Victims often stay quiet because they are afraid of the repercussions by their trafficker or they fear being arrested. However, trafficking victims may be eligible for financial and legal assistance from the state and federal governments. It is imperative that the above- mentioned issues are kept in consideration during legislation like TVPA reauthorizations, and civil lawsuits. We must continue to develop policies to effectively prosecute traffickers and provide services to victims. This includes laws that provide judicial protections for survivors, establish funding for anti-trafficking efforts and educate the public on trafficking issues. LM Attorneys can take on human trafficking from many angles and use civil, criminal law and employment regulations to bring traffickers to justice. Unfortunately, however, there is no uniformity across states in regard to anti-trafficking laws.