Lisa S. Vara

Adjunct Professor of Law

Lisa S. Vara is the Director of the Matrimonial and Economic Justice Project and Amanda B. Norejko Fellow for Sanctuary for Families, New York's leading service provider and advocate for survivors of domestic violence and other forms of gender violence. Lisa has been practicing in the field of family and matrimonial law since 2007, when she joined Sanctuary for Families as a Staff Attorney based in the Bronx.  

A native Spanish-speaker, Lisa represented a large volume of monolingual Spanish-speaking clients while based in the Bronx.  In 2013, Lisa transitioned to the Matrimonial and Economic Justice Project, and became Director of that Project in 2018.  Lisa represents victims of domestic violence in Supreme, Family, and Integrated Domestic Violence Courts across New York City, and oversees a team of attorneys and support staff representing survivors of gender violence of diverse backgrounds in matrimonial, family court, housing, and public benefits proceedings, including within an initiative dedicated to serving survivors from the Orthodox Jewish Community.

In addition, Lisa consults on international custody cases. Lisa received a Rising Star Award in 2017 from the New York Law Journal, in which she was recognized as a promising lawyer under 40. Lisa earned her Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Michigan Law School in 2006, and her Bachelor of Arts in International Relations with a Minor in French Cultural Studies from the Johns Hopkins University in 2003.