Law360 (June 26, 2026, 7:01 PM EDT) -- A sexual abuse survivor wanted to stand up in court to deliver a victim impact statement during her abuser's sentencing, but she didn't have the means to be there in person. A team from Hogan Lovells helped arrange her travel, using BigLaw resources to help a victim of a traumatic crime.

Hogan Lovells came to represent one of the victims of Mark Williams, a Virginia man and former teacher at the prestigious Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, D.C., after a referral from the D.C. victim advocacy organization, Volare.

Alicia Paller, a cybersecurity litigator at Hogan Lovells, has spent more than a decade working on victims' rights pro bono matters in addition to her regular practice. She said bringing the muscle of a large firm into the corner of someone who could not normally afford that kind of help has been a vital part of her work at the firm.

"It is critically important to have the resources and capacity to represent someone who has gone through something, whether it's sexual assault, domestic violence, or anything that would lead to the need for pro bono counsel," Paller told Law360.

In the Williams case, Hogan Lovells helped a client navigate a legal system that is not always designed to heavily involve those directly affected by violent crimes.

"Historically, the victim or survivor of the crime did not have any role, really, in the criminal case that came out of the assault," Paller said.

A Lengthy Legal Process

Federal prosecutors said Williams was the victim's high school teacher at the Ellington School in the spring of 2014, when the abuse began during an independent study in a locked, windowless room in the school's basement. The woman was 17 years old at the time. Law360 is not identifying her by name because she is a victim of sexual abuse.

Williams would not be arrested until 2023. His case went to trial this winter — the first time Paller has had one of her pro bono cases go to trial in 12 years of representing victims of crimes. The unusual development required additional work by the Hogan Lovells team to make sure their client was ready.

"The client was prepared by the prosecutors, who were fantastic here, for what her direct testimony would look like," Paller said. "But we spent time preparing for what cross-examination would look like: 'Here is what you can expect. Let's go do this until you feel ready, until that day you have to stand up in the courtroom and do the hardest thing possible, which is share this traumatic experience in front of a packed courtroom.'''

But Hogan Lovells' involvement went well beyond preparing for trial, said pro bono counsel Blair Decker, who was formerly a board member at Volare. Dealing with travel and other logistics was also a significant part of this case, she said, and required a team of attorneys and staff.

"There's a ton of grunt work that goes into this, and if it was just one lawyer representing a victim, the quality wouldn't be what it is," Decker said. "That's where I think BigLaw can add a lot of value and is necessary to do this representation the best way we can."

In addition to Paller and Decker, the Hogan Lovells team included New York-based senior associate Melissa Jacobs, associate Patience Tyne and D.C.-based associates Cameryn Lonsway, Melissa Skarjune and Sebastian van Bastelaer, along with paralegal coordinator lead Ashley Johnson and partner Des Hogan, both of whom work in D.C.

"We can bring big resources to our representation," Decker said.

Paller said the team of associates helped review emails and other evidence in the case in the run-up to the trial.

Decker noted that pro bono counsel can protect survivors' rights when they face defense tactics aimed at harassing or intimidating the victim, such as subpoenas seeking medical or therapy records. Although such practices are not uncommon, the Hogan Lovells attorneys said that did not happen to their client during the Williams case.

In February, more than a decade after the incidents occurred that spawned the charges, a D.C. federal jury found Williams guilty of four counts of first-degree sexual abuse of a secondary education student and four counts of first-degree sexual abuse of a minor.

Giving Survivors a Voice

After Williams' conviction, all that remained of the legal process was his sentencing in April. Johnson said her client wanted to deliver her victim impact statement in person, and Hogan Lovells was able to make the travel arrangements.

"She had moved out of state and would not have been able to deliver her statement in person without personally paying for her travel back to D.C., which she was not able to do," Johnson said. "It was incredibly important, both for closure for herself and just for how much more impactful the statement was in person, as opposed to hearing her words over a Zoom screen."

Paller said the client's absence would have been palpable, given that the defendant, the client's D.C.-based family, teachers from the high school and another Williams abuse victim who was not part of this case were all there in person.

Paller said she found herself "sitting there, in that moment, and thinking about what it would have been like if our client couldn't have been there in person and would have been the only one on a screen."

"It was really, really important for her to be there in person," the attorney said.

D.C. Superior Court Judge Michael Ryan sentenced Williams to 16 years in prison and required him to register as a sex offender. The judge, during sentencing, noted how much more information he had in crafting the sentence because the case had gone to trial, and he had been able to hear from the various witnesses.

Johnson said survivors like Hogan Lovells' client can sometimes feel like little more than another cog in the system, something that representation from a big firm can help to counteract.

"Even though the case is really about them and what happened to them, they sometimes play a very small part in the whole process, and they can feel forgotten," Johnson said. "That's why representation of the victim can help them feel like they have their voice back in the process, and that somebody is directly looking out for them."

--Editing by Tim Ruel.

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