Law Women name Terry Fromson ’78 Alumna of the Year
On October 29, Terry Fromson ’78, of counsel at the Women’s Law Project (WLP), received the Alumna of the Year Award from NYU Law Women at a reception in Lipton Hall. The student organization, which promotes success for women in law and advocates for women’s rights and gender justice, honored Fromson for a trailblazing, decades-long career dedicated to protecting and advancing the rights of women, girls, and the LGBTQ+ community. Law Women co-presidents Casey Martin and Kaylee Walsh ’27 introduced Fromson, and Dean Troy McKenzie ’00 praised her for tackling “a broad range of interrelated issues,” including domestic and sexual violence, access to contraceptives, equal pay, and family leave. At WLP, Fromson initiated a national drive to end discrimination by insurance companies against domestic violence victims. She also collaboratively led a nationwide campaign to overhaul laws regarding rape and law enforcement’s response to sexual assault cases.
In her remarks, Fromson traced her concern over the law’s treatment of victimized people back to NYU Law. She recalled writing an article about legal options for abused women for the Review of Law & Social Change. “Domestic violence was just emerging as a public social issue,” Fromson said. “My research included interviews of legal services lawyers and prosecutors—all women—who were working to change the hands-off perspective of the justice system to domestic violence and to create legal remedies and support systems.”
Fromson began her professional career as a staff attorney at Community Legal Services in Philadelphia, which provides free legal aid and representation to low-income residents. During nearly 13 years at the nonprofit, she specialized in employment law and served as managing attorney. She joined WLP’s legal staff in 1994.
That year, Fromson recalled, the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence referred the case of a woman—an identified survivor of domestic violence who had been denied health, life, mortgage, and disability insurance—to WLP. “We learned that these practices were pervasive and applied to all types of insurance...Insurers defended themselves by comparing domestic violence to a lifestyle or career choice, like riding a motorcycle or skydiving. We, of course, know that domestic violence is not a choice.”
After learning of other, similar cases and filing a complaint with the Pennsylvania Insurance Department, Fromson took the initiative to become a consumer representative to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. In that capacity, she advised commissioners and state and federal legislators on drafting bills to ban insurance companies from discriminating against abuse survivors. As a result of those efforts, 45 states and the District of Columbia have since enacted similar protections, which are also part of the federal Affordable Care Act.
Watch the video of the event:
Fromson also spearheads an ongoing initiative in Philadelphia to examine sex crime cases to ensure that they are classified as criminal matters and to assess law enforcement response. “With a crew of volunteer advocates, we review about 400 files from the previous year. We look for thorough, non-biased, trauma-informed investigations that are coded correctly,” she said. “And if they don’t meet those standards, we provide confidential feedback on each of the cases to [the Special Victims Unit in Philadelphia], and they follow up as appropriate. It is now known nationally and in some international places as the Philadelphia Model.” A related effort resulted in the FBI’s 2013 revision of its eight-decade-old definition of rape in its Uniform Crime Report to include all survivors of sexual assault and all cases of non-consensual penetration.
In addition, Fromson discussed her work to ensure the equal participation of women and girls in school athletic programs under Title IX, the civil rights law that bars sex-based discrimination in schools receiving federal funding. “We have represented athletes [and] their parents—from elementary school to junior and high school, and college, as well as a high school referee,” she said. “We succeeded in addressing the disparities in participation and treatment by applying Title IX, our Pennsylvania Equal Rights Amendment, and the Equal Protection Clause of the US Constitution.”
Thanking the Law Women group for her award, Fromson reflected on her career. “Yes, I have dedicated my entire career to public interest law,” she said. “In my senior year of college, I decided I wanted to pursue a meaningful career in which I could help people. And I decided that law school should be the way to go to get to that goal. And NYU was instrumental in helping me pursue that goal.”
