Learning Courage Podcasts Learning Courage

Join us for Part 2 of our discussion about investigators of sexual misconduct in independent schools. Your host Jamie Forbes, the founder and CEO of Learning Courage, speaks with attorneys Mary Beth Hogan and Hailyn Chen who share their extensive experience with cases involving sexual abuse in schools. Find out what school leaders need to consider when facing allegations of past abuse, how schools and school boards can handle future allegations of abuse, and what has changed in recent years.
Topics covered:
- How transparent should schools be when disclosing historical sexual abuse and handling future cases?
 - What happens when school boards start investigations eager to uncover the truth when some members are reluctant or become reluctant as an investigation moves forward?
- Find out how independent school board leadership can engage with outside investigators, and fully understand what could happen during an investigation of sexual abuse.
- What impact can new laws, like the new New York Child Victims and Adult Survivors Act, have on investigations?
- What happens when school boards do not realize that investigating lawyers are not always there to protect the Board from lawsuits? 
- Why experienced attorneys say that an investigating law firm needs to be independent of the school being investigated.
- Find out what school boards and survivors of sexual abuse can do to reduce anxiety during an investigation, and how to maintain confidentiality throughout the process.
 Episode guests:

Attorney Hailyn Chen 
Hailyn Chen is a litigation partner at Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP.  Since 2019, Hailyn has served as one of two firmwide Managing Partners of MTO, which comprises around 200 lawyers, with offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C.  Her practice focuses on complex litigation, internal and government investigations, and crisis management. 
Hailyn has extensive experience handling sexual misconduct and sexual abuse matters, including representing the University of California and other universities in internal investigations, government investigations, and litigation.  Hailyn was recently recognized for her work with The Thacher School, leading an investigation into decades of sexual abuse at the elite boarding school. Hailyn J. Chen (mto.com)

Attorney Mary Beth Hogan
Mary Beth Hogan is Co-Chair of Debevoise & Plimpton’s Litigation Department. She has a broad-gauged litigation and investigations practice that focuses on sensitive investigations for educational institutions, corporations and other organizations, including board-directed independent investigations of sexual abuse or harassment.

Ms. Hogan’s work in this area also includes advising boards of corporations, educational institutions, and nonprofits on #MeToo-related governance issues.
She is recognized as a leading lawyer by Chambers USA, The Legal 500 US and Benchmark Litigation, which has named her as one of the “Top 250 Women in Litigation.” In 2015, Ms. Hogan was named “Lawyer of the Year for Private Practice” for gender diversity in the profession by Chambers & Partners.   Mary Beth Hogan | Professionals | Debevoise & Plimpton LLP 

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Part 1 of a two-part series exploring how independent schools and school boards have historically handled sexual abuse investigations, how investigations of independent schools have evolved over the past five years, and how transparent schools should be when disclosing sexual abuse. Your host Jamie Forbes, the founder and CEO of Learning Courage, will speak with two wonderful and very generous attorneys: Mary Beth Hogan and Hailyn Chen.

Topics covered:

- What does it mean for a society to expect that institutions will be transparent in releasing the findings of an investigation into historic sexual abuse or sexual misconduct?
- What happens when the school wants to be the one communicating the findings of an investigation?
- Find out what schools can do to restore the trust of survivors of sexual abuse.
- What happens when there is not full disclosure by schools?
- The challenges of historic abuse cases before the time of digital record keeping.
- When investigators talk with friends or relatives, how does a survivor decide whether to come forward or not.
- How law enforcement agencies and police departments across the country can adopt trauma-informed interviewing practices.
- How the relationships of the school board with respected teachers and administrators can impact investigations, and how everyone concerned should maintain confidentiality.

Episode guests:

Attorney Hailyn Chen 
Hailyn Chen is a litigation partner at Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP.  Since 2019, Hailyn has served as one of two firmwide Managing Partners of MTO, which comprises around 200 lawyers, with offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C.  Her practice focuses on complex litigation, internal and government investigations, and crisis management. 
Hailyn has extensive experience handling sexual misconduct and sexual abuse matters, including representing the University of California and other universities in internal investigations, government investigations, and litigation. She has also represented companies in a broad range of industries in internal investigations and government investigations involving alleged fraud, corruption, and abuse. Hailyn was recently recognized for her work with The Thacher School, leading an investigation into decades of sexual abuse at the elite boarding school. Hailyn J. Chen (mto.com)

Attorney Mary Beth Hogan
Mary Beth Hogan is Co-Chair of Debevoise & Plimpton’s Litigation Department. She has a broad-gauged litigation and investigations practice that focuses on sensitive investigations for educational institutions, corporations and other organizations, including board-directed independent investigations of sexual abuse or harassment.

Ms. Hogan’s work in this area also includes advising boards of corporations, educational institutions, and nonprofits on #MeToo-related governance issues.
She is recognized as a leading lawyer by Chambers USA, The Legal 500 US and Benchmark Litigation, which has named her as one of the “Top 250 Women in Litigation.” In 2015, Ms. Hogan was named “Lawyer of the Year for Private Practice” for gender diversity in the profession by Chambers & Partners.   Mary Beth Hogan | Professionals | Debevoise & Plimpton LLP 

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Learning Courage CEO Jamie Forbes joins Executive Director Amy Wheeler to discuss 6 Key Learnings for schools handling incidents of historic misconduct based on research and work with survivors. One perhaps surprising finding is that caring for survivors is not best only for the individuals who have been harmed, but it is also in the best interest of the institutions where the harm took place. Jamie and Amy draw on their personal experiences as survivors bringing to light the importance of compassion, commitment, and support in addition to the role and responsibility of the institution when dealing with incidents of abuse. While this episode is focused on historic misconduct, these key learnings also apply to how we can support survivors outside the school setting. For more information on the items discussed in this episode or to learn more about Learning Courage please check out the links below:






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Cindy Pierce, a social sexuality educator, storyteller, speaker, and author, joins Learning Courage's Jamie Forbes to discuss how to support male survivors of sexual abuse. Pierce shares anecdotes from working with young men and provides insight and suggestions for families and schools on how to support healthy sexual relationships by engaging in conversations around how to support survivors. This episode explores how social-cultural norms impact our beliefs around masculinity and how we, as a society, can work to support males through changing the dialogue and expectations around sexuality. For more information on the items discussed in this episode or to learn more about our guest, check out the links below:
 
- Cindy Pierce: https://cindy-pierce.com/
- Emma Brown's To Raise A Boy: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/To-Raise-a-Boy/Emma-Brown/9781982128081
 

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World-renowned clinical psychologist, Dr. Catherine Steiner-Adair joins Learning Courage’s Jamie Forbes and Amy Wheeler to discuss how the global pandemic impacted both mental health and dependence on technology among K-12 students. Dr. Steiner-Adair provides insight and specific suggestions for school leaders and teachers for how to support students as they return to school this fall.
 For more information on the items discussed in this episode or to learn more about our guest, check out the links below:
 - Catherine Steiner Adair -   Catherine Steiner-Adair Ed.D. | Clinical Psychologist, Consultant, Author, Speaker (csadair.com)
- Naomi Osaka Time Magazine Article - https://time.com/6077128/naomi-osaka-essay-tokyo-olympics/
- Authentic Connections - https://www.authconn.com/
- John Palfrey - Born Digital - https://www.basicbooks.com/titles/john-palfrey/born-digital/9780465053926/ or MacArthur Foundation Bio macfound.org/about/people/president

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World-renowned clinical psychologist and expert in adolescent youth, Dr. Catherine Steiner-Adair joins Learning Courage’s Jamie Forbes and Amy Wheeler to discuss the importance of creating and maintaining safe spaces for students where they can feel comfortable discussing topics related to sexuality and identity  

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