Testimonials

  Litigation

Dawn’s patience, kindness, empathy, and insight are finely tuned to the problems faced by litigants and legal professionals involved in court proceedings. She is keenly aware of the issues faced by foster families, including natural parents, foster and adoptive parents, foster children, parents and children involved in custody, visitation, and order of protection proceedings, and youth subject to juvenile charges. She has nurtured personal and professional relationships that she utilizes in order to advance her clients’ interests.  – Jonathan Waldauer, Attorney & Former Colleague 

Dawn Post is an exceptional attorney working to better the lives of system-involved youth. I partnered with her through A Better Childhood on a case to make improvements to my state’s child welfare system. Dawn is a seasoned litigator who skillfully navigated depositions and provided a lot of support. I found her to be knowledgeable and compassionate, and she came from a place of deep and important understanding that put her skills and impact far above the competition.  – Annette Smith, Attorney

Miss Dawn has been nothing less than a friend, a mentor and a beacon of hope. When you have walked in my shoes and been thru all that I have been thru you lose your sense of hope. Some people take their job as just a job but Miss Dawn puts her heart in to what she does and people like her are hard to come by; she genuinely cares about the people she works with…She saw me the more than just a case she saw me as a child in deep need of help and since then has done so much to help me get my life pointed in the right direction.   – Jaquan Melton, Former Foster Youth and Client 

Dawn’s leadership style is characterized by humility.  She motivates others to do more than they originally intended and more than they thought possible. She has a strong sense of purpose when working with the hearts and minds with all those involved.  Dawn’s willingness to serve shows in her advocacy and litigation.  – LaToya Lennard, Former Foster Youth 

The youth that Ms. Post worked with on a daily basis had suffered various traumas including anger, mistrust, isolation, loss, abandonment, insecurity, and lack of stability. It is critical that their voices are heard and are part of the solution to this City’s problems, and Ms. Post did just that. She worked with youth to participate actively inside and outside of court and she encouraged them to speak up and let their voices be heard. As judges, practitioners, social workers, and family court personnel, we need to carefully consider the long term impact of decisions. Ms. Post continuously demonstrated a clear understanding of the effects of statutes and policies on the lives of the children that she encountered in her practice and she actively worked to effectuate changes that are necessary to adequately support her clients. Ms. Post has spent her entire legal career championing the rights of her clients and will go to any length for their voices to be heard.  – Attorney 

Ms. Post is a zealous advocate. She is always completely prepared with the law and facts of every case and presents her factual and legal arguments in a comprehensive fashion. Her persuasive skills are seen in both her written work and oral presentations.  She Is always respectful to her adversaries and the Court, without compromising her legal skills.  – Attorney

Dawn’s command of both fact and law shine through during her oral arguments. She fiercely argues in court for each client that she represents and ensures that her clients’ voices are heard. Although she is relentless in the courtroom, she is open-minded and highly encourages parties to reach a mutual agreement-she is able to engage in problem solving and crisis management when a case calls for it. – Sarah Jaffe, Former Attorney & Colleague, Author of Wanting What’s Best

  Professional Writing

Dawn’s career path is a testament to and exemplifies the breadth of professional opportunities available to attorneys looking to further legal scholarship, create formal precedent, and implement laws. Her writings are just another example of her ability to impact and generate positive change.  – Jonathan Waldauer, Attorney & Former Colleague 

Systemic Improvement/Youth Voice 

I watched in admiration as Dawn spent countless evenings in her office working to create a dialogue about these very sensitive subjects, broken adoptions, adoption subsidy misuse, and post-adoption sibling visitation – none of which she experienced herself – that would resonate with the multitude of social workers, policy makers, lawyers, judges, and child welfare advocates to effectuate systemic change.  – Demetrius Napolitano, Former Foster Youth & Founder of Fostering Meditation 

I was so inspired by Dawn’s leadership, integrity, and willingness to fight for children in care, that when I interned on Capitol Hill, I dedicated my policy paper on adoption subsidy fraud, and throughout my policy report, I cited articles and research by my very own hero: Dawn. I presented my policy on addition subsidy fraud in front of Congress and White House Officials, and much of my research came from Dawn; who spent countless hours on the phone with me giving me direction, encouraging me, and sending me her personal research on the topic. It is because of Dawn’s guidance, my policy paper was in the hands of legislators to draft a possible bipartisan bill that passes into law.  I believe one day it can happen.   – Demetrius Napolitano, Former Foster Youth & Founder of Fostering Meditation 

I was a victim of the system, since my rights as a sibling seemed to have been terminated along with my parents, which was unjust. Working with Dawn, the outcome was being able to change the sibling rights law in New York, which is incredible. If it wasn’t for Dawn it would never have been possible.  She’s incredible… Dawn’s deep compassion for children and families is really strong. Her mentorship is outstanding, she’s one of the biggest influences of change. She impacted my life for the better and for good. She’s supported me and has helped me in many ways.  I give my upmost respect and gratitude to her.   – LaToya Lennard, Former Foster Youth 

Teaching/Speaking/Mentoring 

When she is not in the courtroom, you can often find Dawn mentoring students. She believes in developing deep relationships grounded in mutual understanding and meaningful conversation. Dawn pushes each of her students out of their comfort zones and dares them to live lives of consequence…The impact she has had on her mentees lives is tremendous. She has empowered her mentees to confront city and state officials with pressing problems in our juvenile justice and foster care systems…Dawn brings an unparalleled energy and expertise to her cause that reminds me that there is hope in a system that is very difficult to change. Her mentorship inspires future generations of high school, college, and law students because her commitment to them is empowering.  – Sarah Jaffe, Former Attorney & Colleague, Author of Wanting What’s Best

“Ms. Post was so knowledgeable, made each class so interesting, and it was a great experience learning from her.  To put it simply, if she taught another class I would take it immediately.”  – Precollege Student 

“I don’t feel like these questions adequately encompass how much I really enjoyed working with Ms. Post. I truly admire her dedication and emotional fortitude when dealing with difficult clients, sneaky opposing attorneys, staff turnovers and in- office technical difficulties but still offer the clients the highest quality of representation all while preparing teaching materials and publishing articles! Ms. Post was always available to answer questions and was very considerate about the tasks she gave me. I can’t imagine a better way to spend my only working law school summer!”  – Law Student 

“I am grateful for being assigned as Dawn’s intern for the past two semesters. She has taught me so much about the leader I wish to become.”  – Law Student 

“Dawn is such an inspiration and watching her conduct herself with such passion for the work she does makes me want to do it even more.”  – Law Student