Wendy Hinton Vaughn
Clinical Assistant Professor

J.D., New York University School of Law

Email: wvaughn@niu.edu
Phone: (815) 752-8200
Off-Campus Phone: (815) 962-9980

Biography

Wendy Hinton Vaughn is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the College of Law’s Clinical Faculty. Professor Vaughn currently teaches the Civil Justice Clinic. She joined Northern Illinois University College of Law in August 2007 and initially supervised students in the Elder Law Clinic and Domestic Abuse Clinic.

Professor Vaughn’s legal career has been dedicated to social change advocacy and poverty law on behalf of low-income clients. Before coming to NIU, Professor Vaughn worked as the Supervising Attorney of the Family Law Advocacy Group at Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles County and as the Legal Director of Levitt & Quinn Family Law Center. She is a member of the California, District of Columbia, and Illinois bars.

Professor Vaughn was awarded a National Association of Public Interest Law (Equal Justice Works) Fellowship to create a project on behalf of domestic violence survivors at the Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia. She was awarded a Frederick B. Abramsom Public Interest Fellowship while at the Legal Aid Society, where she continued working as a Supervising Attorney and Director of the Intake Program after her fellowship.

Professor Vaughn is a 1998 graduate of New York University School of Law where she was awarded the Ann Petluck Poses Prize for outstanding work in a clinical course requiring student practice. While at NYU, she served as a teaching assistant for the Lawyering Program and the Brennan Center for Justice Public Policy Advocacy Clinic and served as a staff editor for the Review of Law and Social Change. Professor Vaughn has a B.A. in International Studies from Southwestern University.

Professor Vaughn currently serves as the President of the Board of Directors of Prairie State Legal Services and as a member of the Board of Directors of Children’s Safe Harbor. She is a member of the Illinois State Bar Association’s Standing Committee on the Delivery of Legal Services and the Committee’s Continuing Legal Education Coordinator. She is actively involved with the 17th Judicial Circuit Court Family Violence Coordinating Council as the Chair of the Domestic Violence Enhanced Response Team, a member of the Domestic Violence Impact Panel Committee, a member of the Domestic Violence Coordinated Court Planning Committee, and a founding member of the Elder Abuse Fatality Team for Boone and Winnebago Counties.

Curriculum Vitae (.pdf)

Recent Activities

• Appointed, Coordinator of CLE Subcommittee of ISBA Standing Committee on Delivery of Legal Services, April 30, 2012. 
• Presented, "How to Protect Children and Teens through the Order of Protection Process," 17th Judicial Circuit Family Violence Coordinating Council, February 29, 2012 and April 4, 2012. Appointed, 2012-2013 ISBA Standing Committee on Delivery of Legal Services, April 3, 2012. 
• Appointed, Attorney Member Representing Winnebago County to the Prairie State Legal Services Board of Directors, February 28, 2012. 
• Presented, “Overview of the Domestic Violence Coordinated Court Division,” 17th Judicial Circuit Family Violence Coordinating Council, October 11, 2011. 
• Presented, “Civil No Contact Orders,” Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence Legal Updates on Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Stalking Training, April 6, 2011. 
• Presented, “Gender and Crime: Women Working in the Courts,” Northern Illinois University, Gender and Crime SOCI 487, April 21, 2010. 
• Presented, “Dynamics of Domestic Violence,” Winnebago County Bar Association, Guardian Ad Litem / Mediation Training, March 26, 2010.

Publications

• “Domestic Violence Impact Panel,” The Lawyer: The Magazine of the Winnebago County Bar Association, Volume DXCIX, Number 9, at 14 (September 2011). 
• “Children’s Safe Harbor,” The Lawyer: The Magazine of the Winnebago County Bar Association, Volume LIXVI, Number 30, at 6 (December 2010) 
• “The Illinois Domestic Violence Act: Protecting Vulnerable Seniors and Disabled Adults,” CBA Record, Special Issue: Seniors and the Law, Volume 24, Number 2, at 40 (February / March 2010).

Areas of Expertise:

Domestic Violence Law, Family Law, Elder Law, and Poverty Law