Biography
B.A., Stanford University
J.D, Columbia Law School; Harlan Fiske Stone scholar
Dale Margolin Cecka joins the faculty of Albany Law as an Assistant Professor of Law and Director of the Family Violence Litigation Clinic. Prior to this appointment, Prof. Cecka was a Clinical Professor of Law and the Founder and Director of the Family Law Clinic at the University of Richmond School of Law from 2008-2018. After relocating to Atlanta in 2018, Prof. Cecka served as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Georgia and as a Senior Staff Attorney for the Cobb County Superior Court, as well in private family law practice.
From 2004-2006, Prof. Cecka was a Skadden Fellow at the Legal Aid Society of New York, where she advocated for pregnant and parenting teenagers and adolescents aging out of foster care, primarily in the Bronx Family Court. At the end of her Skadden Fellowship, Prof. Cecka was awarded a Clinical Teaching Fellowship at St. John's University School of Law, and served as the Interim Director of the Child Advocacy Clinic, where she represented children in all five boroughs of New York as well as in Nassau Family Court.
Prof. Cecka's scholarship focuses on the constitutional rights of parents and inequities in the child welfare and family court systems. Her articles have appeared in the Catholic University Law Review, the University of South Carolina Law School and the West Virginia University Law School, among others, and she was a contributor to the book, Feminist Judgments: Rewritten Opinions of the United States Supreme Court, published by the Cambridge University Press in 2016. Prof. Cecka's articles have been cited in several Supreme Courts across the country. For the past 6 years, Prof. Cecka has also been the lead author of the treatise on Family Law for Virginia (Family Law: Theory, Practice and Forms). Prof Cecka has appeared on National Public Radio and in various podcasts and has published an Op-Ed in The Washington Post related to her advocacy in family law and child welfare.
Prof. Cecka obtained her undergraduate degree from Stanford University in 1999 and her law degree from Columbia University School of Law in 2004, where she was a Harlan Fisk Stone Scholar.
In the News
Professor Dale Cecka published an op-ed in Slate, "This Month’s Twin Tragedies in Louisiana and Virginia Could Have Been Prevented," on April 25, 2026.
Professor Dale Cecka was interviewed for the Fox10 Arizona story, "Kids' murder during unsupervised custody led to Arizona woman's fight for family court reform," on April 7, 2026.
Professor Dale Cecka appeared on the After The Kids Move In Podcast, "The Adultification of Black Children," on March 29, 2026.
Professor Dale Cecka published an op-ed in USA Today, "Why my Black children are unfairly treated like adults," on March 25, 2026.
Professor Dale Cecka published an op-ed in The Progressive, "Commentary: Super Bowl is trigger for domestic violence," on February 6, 2026.
Professor Dale Cecka was featured in the AMNY.com story, "Ban on anonymous child abuse reports is civil rights win, advocates say" on January 2, 2026.
Professor Dale Cecka published an op-ed in AMNY.com, "Ending the weaponization of New York’s child abuse reporting system," on December 24, 2025.
Professor Dale Cecka was quoted in the Newsday story, "NYS bans anonymous reporting of child abuse allegations in effort to deter frivolous calls" on December 23, 2025.
Professor Dale Cecka was interviewed for the Daily Mail story, "Sydney Sweeney vs. Blake Lively: Why survivors say Christy got domestic violence right - even if it flopped" on November 25, 2025
Professor Dale Cecka was interviewed for the Daily Mail story, "Kristen Bell condemned by experts over 'tone-deaf' post as career fallout looms: 'DV is not a punchline'" on October 3, 2025
Selected Achievements
Professor Dale Margolin Cecka, Improper Delegation of Judicial Authority in Child Custody Cases: Finally Overturned. 52 U. Rich. L. Rev. 181 (2017) was cited by the Virginia Court of Appeals in Rainey v. Raney 74 Va. App 359 (2022).
Professor Dale Margolin Cecka, Inequity in Private Child Custody Litigation, 20 CUNY L. Rev. 203 (2016) was quoted by the Alabama Supreme Court in G. v. B.G. (Ex parte J.G.), 281 So.3d 371 (Ala. 2019).
Professor Dale Margolin Cecka, No Chance to Prove Themselves: The Rights of Mentally Disabled Parents Under the Americans with Disabilities Act and State Law, 15 Va. J. Soc. Poly & L. 112 (2007) was cited by the Michigan Court of Appeals and the Iowas Court of Appeals. In re Hicks/Brown 2016 WL 1650104 (Mich. Ct. App. 2016); In re: J.L., 868 N.W.2d 462 (Iowa App. 2015).
Professor Dale Margolin Cecka received the Empowerment Award from Faces of Virginia in 2009.
Dale Margolin Cecka
Assistant Professor of Law; Director, Family Violence Litigation Clinic