Details
August 14, 2026
Trauma Responsive, Identity Affirming Legal Practice: Working Effectively with LGBTQ+ Clients
Virtual Only
Join us for our one-hour virtual webinar August 14th from 12p - 1p for Trauma‑Responsive, Identity‑Affirming Legal Practice: Working Effectively with LGBTQ+ Clients presented by our Diversity, Inclusion and Justice (DIJ) committee.
Our speaker, Maya Simek (she/her), is a dual‑licensed attorney and independent social worker with more than a decade of experience at the intersection of trauma‑responsive advocacy, interdisciplinary service delivery, and organizational leadership. Her career has centered on building programs that expand access to healing for individuals and communities navigating complex trauma, chronic stress, and systemic barriers to care.
For the past nine years, she has served with the Human Trafficking Law Clinic at Case Western Reserve University School of Law, where she led trauma‑responsive, person‑centered legal and social work interventions for survivors of sex and labor trafficking. Throughout her career, Ms. Simek has prioritized equity, access, and community partnership. She founded two pioneering legal clinics: a holistic legal services program for individuals living with HIV/AIDS at Nueva Luz Urban Resource Center (2012), and Ohio’s first statewide legal clinic for LGBTQ+ residents at Equality Ohio (2019). Her work consistently centers people with lived experience, the LGBTQ+ community, and individuals impacted by social and legal determinants of health.
Ms. Simek earned her J.D. from Cleveland State University College of Law, her M.S.S.A. from Case Western Reserve University’s Mandel School, and her B.S. from John Carroll University. She is also a proud graduate and current faculty member at the Gestalt Institute of Cleveland, where she deepens her commitment to relational, embodied, and mindfulness‑based practice.
Registration Fees
OACDL Member: $40
OACDL PD Member: $30
PD Non-member: $45
Non-member:$50
