Lorraine Carcova
Lorraine Carcova is the managing attorney of the Family Law Unit at Connecticut Legal Services. CLS is part of the Connecticut legal services network and is the largest private nonprofit provider of free legal services to low income individuals in the state. CLS family attorneys represent survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault in Judicial Districts across Connecticut with the exception of greater Hartford and greater New Haven. In addition to family law, CLS attorneys practice in multiple substantive civil law areas, including housing, elder, public benefits and disability, in addition to education and juvenile work.
Along with representing clients in family cases and managing the CLS Family Unit, Lorraine manages the Restraining Order Project, which provides indigent restraining order applicants with legal advice and representation in Stamford, Bridgeport and Waterbury. This project was established by the legislature and is administered by the Connecticut Bar Foundation. Lorraine also coordinates the activities of the Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Civil Legal Representation Network. This statewide network, developed to ensure the provision of legal services to victims of crime, receives funding by a grant made available through the Office of Victim Services. The partnership includes Greater Hartford Legal Assistance, New Haven Legal Assistance Association, and the member agencies of the Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence and the Connecticut Alliance to End Sexual Violence.
In support of the mission of the Civil Legal Representation Network, Lorraine assists in the training domestic violence advocates and that of pro bono attorneys representing survivors of domestic violence in restraining order cases. As part of the Civil Gideon Pilot Project, she oversaw the management and training of staff attorneys representing indigent victims of domestic violence in restraining order cases. Lorraine also, in partnership with Equal Justice Works, supervised the provision of legal services to survivors of human trafficking.
Lorraine received her Juris Doctorate, Cum Laude, from Quinnipiac University School of Law. Lorraine served on the editorial board of the Probate Journal and was the recipient of the Outstanding Academic Achievement Award. Lorraine is a member of the Connecticut Bar Association and is a James Cooper Fellow.
