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A Conversation With Carrie Goldberg

Moderator, Margaret Talbot, staff writer for The New Yorker and Carrie Goldberg, author of “Nobody’s Victim: Fighting Psychos, Stalkers, Pervs and Trolls.” Photo taken by staff photographer from the National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV).

By Cheyenne Majeed, Howard University News Service

 

She had a vision of starting a firm and she did just that. After returning home from a getaway trip to Ireland, she submitted her two weeks’ notice at her previous job. The very next day she opened up her own law firm. A law firm designed to incarcerate bad guys: revenge porn offenders. 

On August 28, Carrie Goldberg, a lawyer,  sat down with moderator, Margaret Talbot, staff writer for The New Yorker, in an engaging conversation about her new book, “Nobody’s Victim: Fighting Psychos, Stalkers, Pervs and Trolls” at the Politics and Prose bookstore in D.C.. The hour-long discussion gave a glimpse into the many trials and tribulations Goldberg assesses in her everyday life. 

Goldberg, founder of C.A. Goldberg, PLLC, is a victims’ rights lawyer based in New York who specializes in litigating targets of online harassment, stalking, blackmail, sexual harassment and nonconsensual porn. 

She shared that in becoming an entrepreneur, the hardest part was learning to run the business. “It’s really lonely and emotional to start something that is so personal. This law firm was really personal to me. I was in a very low point when I started it, which seems kind of strange because we don’t think of doing big things when we’re at a low point,” Goldberg said. 

In the past, Goldberg experienced an ex-boyfriend who harassed and threatened to expose intimate pictures of her online. He even went to the extent of filing a fake police report against her. Despite not having a shoulder to lean on during her lowest point, she made it clear it would not stop her from extending her hand to others experiencing similar trauma. 

“I decided I was going to advocate for victims the way I wish somebody had fought for me. I would become the lawyer I’d needed when I was most desperate,” Goldberg said in her book. 

“Nobody’s Victim” was released on August 13. It is an analysis of victim protection in the internet era. It shuffles through various clients Goldberg has had and the malicious burden they were put through by their offenders. She described two cases where one victim met their offender through a roommate ad and the other through a dating app. In both cases, each individual’s privacy was violated beyond measures they could have ever imagined. Like most cases, when they reached out for help from the police, they received little to none. Until Goldberg came into the picture.  

As the discussion closed out, the audience gave Goldberg a very warm applause which followed with a book signing. Brittany Kerfoot, partner events manager at Politics and Prose, enjoyed the conversation and the awareness Goldberg is providing. “Stalking and cyberbullying and online threats are becoming more and more of a problem every day. I think anything that brings more attention to that is so important,” she said. 

Goldberg advocates for people from all walks of life and wants her clients to know she will not be stopped without a fight. 

“People come to us in their most hellish moments and we actually know what to do. We can actually solve their problem. That keeps us going,” she said.