Profile
Amy E. Halbrook is the Associate Dean for Experiential Learning and Director of the NKU Chase Children's Law Center Clinic, a partnership between the College of Law and the Children's Law Center in Covington, Kentucky. Clinic students receive specialized instruction in child and family law and advocacy and represent child and youth clients in court. The Clinic is housed in a fully-equipped model law office on the third floor of the Children's Law Center.
Professor Halbrook has represented clients in a wide range of court proceedings, including child welfare, high-conflict custody, juvenile delinquency, school discipline and special education matters. Before joining the Chase faculty, Professor Halbrook was a clinical teaching fellow in the Northwestern University School of Law's Children and Family Justice Center where she, together with senior law students, assisted young people who were petitioning the court to be removed from the Illinois Sex Offender Registry. Before that, she was a clinical teaching fellow in the Loyola University Chicago Civitas ChildLaw Clinic where she taught in the ChildLaw Clinic course and supervised students in child protection, high-conflict custody, delinquency, civil rights, and school matters. She has also taught child law trial practice in New York, Ohio and Illinois.
Before law school, Professor Halbrook was the Director of Youth Services for the Donald P. McCullum Youth Court in Oakland, California. Stemming from that work, some of her interests include positive youth development, balanced and restorative justice, and community-based alternatives to incarceration.
Contact
- Office: NH 545
- Email: halbrooka1@nku.edu
- Phone: 859.572.6405
- NKU Chase
Children's Law Center Clinic
1002 Russell St.
Covington, KY 41011
Phone: 859.431.3313
Fax: 859.655.7553 - Curriculum Vitae (PDF)
Education
- BA American Studies, University of California at Berkeley
- JD, Northwestern University School of Law
Courses Taught
- Children's Law Clinic
- Family Law
- Juvenile Law
- Children's Law Trial Practice
Scholarship
Kentucky's Guardian Ad Litem Litigation: A Model for Seeking Role Clarity, 37 Children's Leg. Rts. J. 81 (2017)
Custody: Kids, Counsel, and the Constitution, 12 Duke J. Const. L. & Pub. Pol'y 179 (2017)
Kentucky Supreme Court Examines the Role of the Guardian ad Litem in Child Custody Matters, Kentucky Bar Association Bench & Bar Magazine (December 2013) (with J. Crabtree)
Juvenile Pariahs, 65 Hastings L.J. 1 (2013)
Northern Kentucky’s Initiative to Improve Outcomes for Juvenile Status Offenders, Kentucky Bar Association Bench & Bar Magazine (September 2012) (with J. Crabtree)
Advocating for Children in Care in a Climate of Economic Recession: Responsibilities and Challenges, 6 Nw. J. L. & Soc. Pol’y 300, (2011) (with B. Boyer)
Advocacy for Early Termination of Juvenile Sex Offender Registration Requirements: A Working Model, distributed by the Children and Family Justice Center of the Bluhm Legal Clinic of the Northwestern University School of Law (2011)
Speaking Engagements and Recognitions
Presenter, Competence in a Dusky World, Nebraska Bar Association Defender Conference, Omaha, NE (September 2015)
Panelist, Role of the GAL Post-Getter, Northern Kentucky Bar Association Family Law CLE, Covington, KY (September 2015)
Presenter, Motions: Litigating is a Win, Franklin County Ohio Juvenile Defender Training, Columbus, OH (March 2015)
Presenter, “Clients in Context and Child Representation: Step by Step,” Northern Kentucky Guardian Ad Litem Training, NKU Chase College of Law. (January 2015)
Presenter, “Adolescent Brain Development and Implications for Juvenile Practice,” Washburn University School of Law. (December 2014)
When Your Client Is Not Competent: Maintaining the Attorney-Client Relationship and Ethical Obligations, Indiana Juvenile Defender Conference, October 2014
Truants, Runaways and Other Status Offenders: Case and System Advocacy, National Association of Counsel for Children’s 37th National Child Welfare, Juvenile, and Family Law Conference, Denver, CO, August 2014
Kentucky Bar Association Annual Convention
Panelist, Kentucky Anti-Bullying Efforts, June 2014
The Role of the Kentucky Guardian ad Litem, University of Kentucky Family Law Institute, May 2014
National Juvenile Defender Center Conference -- Ohio
Trainer of Trainers, JTIP Train-the-Trainers Program, May 2014
UK/CLE Biennial Family Law Institute
Panelist, The GAL’s Role in Kentucky Family Law Matters, May 2014
2014 Ohio Juvenile Public Defender Leadership Summit
Presenter, Direct Examination and Juvenile Disposition, April 2014
Missouri Juvenile Public Defender Conference
Presenter, Ethical and Age-Appropriate Client Interviews, February 2014
National Juvenile Defender Conference, Phoenix, AZ
Panel Moderator, Renewing Our Commitment: Litigating Status Offender Cases and Trainer, Juvenile Disposition, October 2013
Ohio Public Defender Training, Lucas County, OH
Trainer, Juvenile Disposition, October 2013
Indiana Public Defender Conference, Indianapolis, IN
Presenter, Juvenile Status Offender Representation, October 2013
National Juvenile Defender Juvenile Training Immersion Program (JTIP) Train-the-Trainers Program, Chicago, IL
Certified JTIP Trainer, July 2013
Illinois Court Improvement Project and National Institute for Trial Advocacy, Springfield, IL
Visiting Faculty, Child Protection Trial Skills Training, July 2013
2013 Ohio Juvenile Defender Leadership Summit, Columbus, OH
Panel Moderator, One Size Doesn’t Fit All: Every Child’s Right to a Tailored Defense, Ohio Juvenile Defender Summit, Columbus, OH, April 2013
2012 Indiana Juvenile Public Defender Conference, Indianapolis, IN
Presenter, Preparing for Trial: Theory & Investigation, October 2012
Juvenile-In-Justice: A Survey of Documentary Photography, Highland Heights, KY
Welcome and Introduction, October 2012
2012 Ohio Juvenile Defender Leadership Summit, Dayton, OH
Presenter, Telling Our Clients’ Stories and Digital Stories, Youth Stories, March 2012
Southern Clinical Teachers’ Conference, Knoxville, TN
Presenter, Juvenile Pariahs: Assisting Kids on Sex Offender Registries, March 2012
WNKU (National Public Radio) Interview, Highland Heights, KY
NKU Partners in New Children’s Law Clinic in Covington, January 2012
Blueprint for Kentucky’s Children Regional Meeting, Highland Heights, KY
Welcome and Introduction to the NKU Chase Children’s Law Center Clinic, January 2012
Indiana Juvenile Public Defender Conference, Indianapolis, IN
Presenter, Ethics for the Juvenile Defender: Case Studies (with A. Smith), October 2011
Ohio Juvenile Public Defender Conference, Dayton, OH
Visiting Trial Skills Faculty, May 2011
Illinois State Bar Association Mid-Year Meeting, Chicago, IL
Presenter, Juvenile Sex Offender Registry Termination in Illinois, January 2011
Practicing Law Institute, Chicago, IL
Panelist, New Lawyers’ Toolbox – Work-Life Balance, Fall 2008, 2009 and Spring 2011
John Marshall School of Law, Chicago, IL
Guest Lecturer, Child Custody Where There is Domestic Violence in the Family, September 2010
Loyola University Chicago School of Education, Chicago, IL
Presenter, Special Education Law: Practical Tips for Teachers, June 2010
Loyola University Chicago Children’s Summer Institute, Chicago, IL
Instructor, Introduction to Child Protection Matters (with M. Burns), May 2010
Hofstra University School of Law and National Institute for Trial Advocacy, Hempstead, NY
Visiting Faculty, Training the Lawyer to Represent the Whole Child, June 2009, 2010, and 2012
Legal Writing Institute Applied Storytelling in Law Conference, Portland, OR
Project Facilitator and Presenter, Digital Storytelling in Child Advocacy, July 2009
Northwestern University School of Law, School Discipline Clinic Group
Presenter, Least Restrictive Environment and Other Special Education Matters, Spring 2008