Professor Gould, New Head of Family Violence Litigation Clinic, Brings Impressive Credentials to Albany

A well-published expert and lecturer on clinical legal education, Professor Keri K. Gould has been around the world and back — from Egypt to Cambodia to New York City and places in between.

Now she has a new home at Albany Law School, where she serves as visiting assistant professor and director of the Family Violence Litigation Clinic.

“It’s been busy since coming on for the fall semester,” Professor Gould said. “But it’s been refreshing too. The students here are passionate, they’re smart, and they really want to make a difference.”

The Family Violence Litigation Clinic — part of the Albany Law Clinic & Justice Center — offers students opportunities to argue cases in court on behalf of persons who have suffered violence at the hands of intimate partners or family members. Under the supervision of Professor Gould, students interview and counsel clients, appear with clients in court, negotiate with opposing counsel, and perform other necessary tasks for their real-life cases.

Professor Gould’s legal career has included work as a trial attorney and an academic.

“The students here are passionate, they’re smart, and they really want to make a difference.”

Prior to joining Albany Law School, she was a senior attorney for the New York State Liquor Authority after serving as the assistant dean for professional skills, professor of clinical education, and director of the Center for Professional Skills at St. John’s University School of Law for 14 years. In her roles at St. John’s, she created externship programs, the Criminal Defense and Domestic Violence Litigation Clinics, trial advocacy courses, the nationally acclaimed trial competition program, and the National Civil Rights Trial Competition. She has also taught at Fordham University School of Law, Hofstra Law, Pace University School of Law, New York Law School, and University of Utah College of Law.

Before joining academia, Professor Gould had a private practice specializing in criminal and mental hygiene law, worked for a small firm, was a senior attorney for the New York State Mental Hygiene Legal Service, and was a staff attorney with the Legal Aid Society, Manhattan Criminal Defense Division.

She has served as a legal education expert consultant for the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiatives in Egypt, Oman, Lebanon, and Cambodia. She was also a legal education observer for a weeklong course organized by the Auschwitz Institute for Peace and Reconciliation (AIPR) on Genocide and Mass Atrocity Prevention in Military Practice.

Professor Gould has published numerous articles and trial practice case files that have been used in trial training programs nationally and internationally. She has lectured in Paris, London, and Daegu, South Korea, as well as universities and law schools across the United States. She is a graduate of Union College (B.S.) and Washington College of Law (J.D.).