Sarah Buel, PhD, JD

Clinical Professor

University of Texas School of Law

C11 WHY JUVENILE COURTS SHOULD ADDRESS DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

D11 BUILDING SAFETY FOR CHILDREN IN THE CHILD PROTECTION SYSTEM

Sarah Buel has spent the past 30 years working with battered women, abused children, and juveniles within the legal system. Currently, Ms. Buel is a Clinical Professor at the University of Texas School of Law, having started, then co-directing their Domestic Violence Clinic. She also teaches “Domestic Violence and the Law,” criminal law, and torts courses. Ms. Buel is co-founder of the University of Texas Voices Against Violence program that has developed a system of comprehensive, coordinated services for victims of sexual assault, relationship violence, and stalking. She also co-founded the University of Texas Institute on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault that focuses on research, pedagogy, and direct services.

She serves as the faculty supervisor for the Survivor Support Network (SSN), a group of law and business students assisting abuse victims to achieve economic literacy and security; and the student group, Society Encouraging Excellence Through Diversity (SEED), that sponsors educational programs encouraging discourse, scholarship, and action on issues of race and culture. Professor Buel has served as Special Counsel for the Texas District and County Attorneys Association, providing domestic violence training, technical, and case assistance to prosecutors throughout Texas. For six years she was a prosecutor, most of that time with the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office in Quincy, MA., helping to establish their award-winning domestic violence and juvenile programs.  Previously, Ms. Buel served as a victim advocate, state policy coordinator, and legal aid paralegal.

As a domestic violence survivor, Ms. Buel has been committed to improving the court and community response to abuse victims. She was a welfare mother for a short time before working full time in the day and going to school at night for seven years to obtain her undergraduate degree in 1987. She then graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1990, where she founded the Harvard Battered Women’s Advocacy Project, the Harvard Women in Prison Project, and the Harvard Children and Family Rights Project.

Ms. Buel has written extensively on family violence issues, having published 30 articles and many more training manuals and diverse publications. She is a member of the American Bar Association’s Commission on Domestic Violence, the Board of Directors of Texas CASA, the Texas Health Initiative on Domestic Violence Leadership Team, and numerous other boards and commissions.  She is also currently an adjunct professor at Harvard Medical School.

She is most proud of her son, Jacey, who works with high-risk, violent teens in Boston schools while attending his third year of law school.