CLC Deputy ED Deana Tietjen Wins Kathryn McDonald Award
We are proud to announce that CLC Deputy Executive Director Deana Tietjen, Esq. was awarded the Kathryn A. McDonald Award for Excellence in Service to Family Court!
The award, administered by the New York City Bar Association since 1998, “recognizes the vital services of attorneys who work in the Family Court in New York City.”
Tietjen joins CLC co-founders Barbara Dildine and Carol Sherman (2004), CLC Director of Appeals, Writing and Paralegal Support Janet Neustaetter (2018) and CLC ED Liberty Aldrich (2019) in receiving the Kathryn McDonald award.
Fighting for Families with Humanity and Humility
Tietjen embodies the meaning of “zealous advocate,” the term that was used thirty years ago when the Attorney for the Child model was born.
In Family Court, being a zealous advocate means much more than having the ability to litigate at a trial,” reflected Tietjen. “It means connecting and collaborating to bridge a family to get to the next stage of their journey as intact and as healthy as possible- utilizing the court system to do so.”
Tietjen has led CLC as its Deputy ED since 2022. Prior to this role, she led The New York Foundling’s Adoption & Legal Services Department for 8 years, creating and overseeing a comprehensive in-house legal department for all proceedings in Family Court. She also worked in private practice for 15 years, representing individual clients and children’s services agencies throughout New York City and Westchester County, and served as Assistant Director for the YWCA Supervised Visitation Program in Westchester County for visitation/custody cases that alleged domestic violence, abuse and neglect.
We are immensely grateful for Tietjen’s dedication, compassion and humanity. We congratulate her on this well-deserved recognition of her years of hard work!