Palatine Attorney to Speak at Empowerment Summit

Attorney Kristina Regal of Lavelle Law in Palatine will be among the featured speakers at The Empowerment Summit to be held on April 30th. Presented by PAVE (Promoting Awareness, Victim Empowerment) and the Healthy Living Counseling Center, the summit will focus on issues related to women's health and wellness with an emphasis on preventing sexual violence.

Regal is a family law attorney practicing in divorce, custody, support, and order of protection cases and serves as a member of the board of directors and legal volunteer of the organization Between Friends, which assists survivors of domestic abuse. Regal volunteers her time representing domestic abuse survivors on a pro bono basis, and she is a lifelong proponent for women's rights. She will be presenting How to Navigate the Courts for Survivors of Abuse.

"This is a tremendous opportunity for people to gather and talk about the realities of physical and emotional abuse that takes place every day in our society," said Regal. "Events like this and organizations like PAVE bring those conversations out of the shadows and can be the first step in addressing important issues. My role is to remove the fear and intimidation that women may feel when confronted with going to court to protect themselves."

The Healthy Living Counseling Center has joined forces with PAVE, Erin's Law and Suburban Woman Newspapers to bring together a group of nationally recognized speakers for the one-day summit which will take place at Durty Nellie's in Palatine. Angela Rose, founder of PAVE will provide the keynote address and activist and author Erin Merryn who has been the driving force behind Erin's Law will speak on her work. Other presenters include motivational speakers, health experts and therapists. A special concert to benefit PAVE and Erin's Law will take place at 8:00 p.m. featuring former American Idol star Haley Reinhart.

Tickets to the full day summit are $15 and can be reserved at www.EmpowermentSummits.com.