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Lisa Bloch Rodwin
Gubernatorial
appointee Lisa Bloch Rodwin, former Chief of the Erie County
District Attorney's Domestic Violence Bureau, has spent
her career as a prosecutor and fighting for the rights of
families and children. She began her career as a prosecutor
in 1985.
Last year Lisa was one of only five Western New York attorneys selected by the Daily Record for the first Leaders in Law Award. In 2005 Lisa was named Lawyer of the Year by the Women Lawyers of Western New York for her dedication to assisting families in crisis. In 2004, she was the recipient of the Kupferman Award for Juvenile Justice from the Women's Bar Association of the State of New York. Lisa's work has been featured in several recent national television appearances including 20/20 with Diane Sawyer and Oprah.
In 1995 Lisa started the first Domestic Violence unit in New York State outside of New York City. The unit has dramatically changed the system's approach to family violence and helped thousands of women and children find safety.
Last year her staff was responsible for the prosecution of almost 4,000 cases. Lisa has spearheaded an effort which led to a reduction in the family violence homicide rate from 15 to ZERO in the last 18 months.
Lisa has conducted dozens of training sessions throughout New York State for law enforcement officers and prosecutors on Child Abuse and Domestic Violence Investigations, Internet Crimes Against Children, Elder Abuse, and Stalking and Cyberstalking. She has taught every class of recruits at the Erie County Police Academy since 1995 on legal issues involving child abuse and family violence. She has lectured at the UB School of Law for both the Family Law class and the Family Violence Clinic every year for the last 8 years.
While supervising the Child and Sex Abuse cases for Erie County, Lisa developed new policies for the Child Advocacy Center. A child no longer has to relive the details of the abuse during separate investigations by area agencies and law enforcement, but only has to relate the story once to one team member. Lisa has been a member of the Friends of the Child Advocacy Center for many years.
Working with other child abuse specialists throughout New York, Lisa assisted leaders in the State Legislature to revise existing criminal laws on sexual abuse which resulted in the enactment of Sexual Assault Reform Act (SARA). This legislation dramatically strengthened penalties for child abuse. Lisa was also instrumental in obtaining a Federal grant of almost one million dollars for the recently opened Erie County Family Justice Center for Domestic Violence victims.
For her ongoing work and efforts to ensure justice for children and families, Lisa has been recognized with numerous awards from both her peers and the community. (See Awards and Honors)
In addition to her career, Lisa is very dedicated to volunteer work in Western New York. She helped found the It Happened to Alexa Foundation which provides funding to families of child abuse and sexual assault survivors so that they can be with their loved ones during a trial. Lisa served as a co-chair of the Criminal Law Committee for the NYS Women's Bar Association for three years and was a state director for the Western New York Chapter. As a member of the Board of the YWCA, Lisa chaired the Week Without Violence, which featured an educational program at area schools helping to teach children about reporting violence in their homes and at school. Lisa served as the first Board President for the Erie County Family Justice Center. She has recently received exemplary service awards from the Alexa Foundation, the Everywoman Opportunity Center, the Coalition Against Family Violence, Hispanics United, NYS Crime Prevention Coalition and Prevention Focus.
 Lisa resides in Amherst with her husband Michael Rickert who is a researcher at Roswell Park Cancer Institute, and her two sons David, a recent honors graduate of John Hopkins University who is currently volunteering in Ahmedabad, India, and Benjamin, a student at Brandeis University.
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