CLC 2025 GALA
Monday, November 17, 2025 • 6:00 PM
New York City Bar Association
Delivering Justice for Vulnerable Children
Children deserve access to the highest quality lawyers who will fight for them. Through its work in the courtroom and the community, The Children’s Law Center empowers clients, reduces the negative impact of family dissolution and court involvement, and promotes equity and well-being for young people.
Our clients, over 80% of whom are children of color, have been subject to domestic violence, abuse or entrenched family conflict. The trauma they experience is complex, but their need to have a voice is not. We are here for them every step of the way, empowering them to shape their future.
Your support will help us expand programming that helps children achieve safety while improving their educational, health and immigration outcomes.
Fighting across government, courts and the arts
We are delighted to honor the following three individuals for their support of children’s access to justice.
The Honorable Thomas DiNapoli
We are honored to present Comptroller DiNapoli with the 2025 Judge Carol Sherman Award. Named for Judge Sherman, a co-founder of CLC and tireless advocate in public service, this award recognizes advocates who support our vital mission to support children and families.
Thomas DiNapoli is the 54th Comptroller of the State of New York.
Carmen Beauchamp Ciparick
We are honored to present Judge Ciparick with our 2025 Judge Kaye Award. Named for Judge Judith Kaye, a fierce advocate for children, this award recognizes leaders who support our vital mission to ensure excellence in Family Court.
Judge Ciparick is the former Senior Associate Judge of the New York State Court of Appeals. She now works as Of Counsel at Greenberg Traurig, LLP.
Shawn Martinbrough
We are honored to present Mr. Martinbrough with the 2025 Fern Schair Award. Named for Fern Schair, a co-founder of CLC and passionate fighter for access to justice, this award recognizes advocates who support our vital mission to ensure justice for children. We recognize Mr. Martinbrough for increasing children’s understanding of the legal system through the “Judge Kim and the Kids’ Court” children’s book series, which he co-authored, and for promoting positive messages of youth empowerment throughout his work.
Shawn Martinbrough is a comic book artist, author and native New Yorker.
Unable to Attend?
If you cannot attend but would like to support our mission, consider making a donation using the form below.
Vulnerable children across our City need someone in their corner. Your donation supports the highest quality legal representation for children who are experiencing both family instability and the stress of court involvement.
Examples of the Impact You Can Have:
- $1,000 allows us to support two, one-year stipends for Fellows of our Children’s Voice Project
- $5,000 provides us with funding to support 500 gifts for our young clients who are graduating from lower or middle school
- $25,000 would enable us to expand the number of hours for our sole attorney in Staten Island
- $100,000 would allow us to dedicate an attorney to fighting for immigration assistance for our clients
