Meghan Kempf

The Project

Meghan provided legal advocacy to domestic violence victims in Bexar County, Texas, to deter and reduce the growing number of violations of civil family law court orders through direct representation services and the development of a comprehensive community education program.

Meghan provided litigation services to seek enforcement and modification of g court orders for domestic violence survivors, to ensure that survivors received promised safety and resources. Additionally, she developed and conducted comprehensive training for local law enforcement, social services providers, legal professionals, and survivors to enable those parties to effectively identify and prevent violations of court orders. The goal was to not only deter violations of court orders regarding domestic violence, but, more importantly, to enable survivors and their families to achieve protection and stability through increased community support.

Fellowship Highlights

During her Fellowship, Meghan:

• Provided full representation to 41 clients, the majority of whom sought protective orders, and enforcement and/or modification of existing civil court orders regarding conservatorship, child support, and property division
• Provided more than 50 general advice and counsel letters to educate her clients about Texas family and domestic violence law, as well as other issues
• Established systematic referral relationships with Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid, Inc. and the Crisis Response Team of the San Antonio Police Department (SAPD)
• Developed and presented domestic violence law workshops to various community stakeholders, including SAPD’s Special Victims Unit and Crisis Response team
• Co-presented “How to Effectively Represent Victims of Domestic Violence” at the 2014 Texas Poverty Law Conference
• Developed and conducted the weekly know-your-rights class to the residents of the Battered Women and Children’s Shelter of Bexar County

Next Steps

After the completion of her fellowship in 2014, Meghan joined the Policy Department within the Office of Chief Counsel for the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, focusing primarily on policy and legislative matters regarding women’s health, family violence services, and Medicaid service delivery for children in state conservatorship. In 2020, Meghan became Associate Director for the legal team providing support for state-operated mental health facilities and community programs for mental health, behavioral health, and intellectual and developmental disabilities services. In this role, she oversees a team of attorneys that collaborate with statewide mental health and IDD services stakeholder groups, legislative and advocacy organizations, and local courts, prosecutors, and defense attorneys to work towards ensuring and bettering access and quality of care to individuals and their families.

In 2019 Meghan was recognized as the Distinguished Young Alum by the St. Mary’s School of Law Alumni Association and in 2018 as the Outstanding Young Lawyer by the Austin Young Lawyers Association.

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