How to Kill a Witch – Witch Hunts, Centuries of Injustice and the Repercussions for Women Today
Date: Oct 20, 2025 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Location: New Jersey Law Center, New Brunswick, and Online
Member Price: $159.00
Non-Member Price: $199.00
Section Price: $0.00
Areas of Law: For All Attorneys, Women in the Profession
Earn up to 3.3 credits, including 2.4 in Diversity! (More Information)
Keynote
- Claire Mitchell, KC
- Author, How To Kill a Witch
Solicitor, Compass Chambers, Scotland - Zoe Venditozzi
- Author, How To Kill a Witch
Moderator
Presenters
- Senator Loretta Weinberg
- Dr. Marci Berger
- Associate Professor, Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
Rutgers University - Catherine Finnerty, Esq.
- Goldman & Beslow, LLC, East Orangeis an associate with Goldman & Beslow, LLC with offices in East Orange, Newark, Paterson and Jersey City, New Jersey. She devotes a substantial portion of her practice to bankruptcy and debtor-creditor negotiations and handles all issues pertaining to Chapter 7, Chapter 13, foreclosure defense and mediation, debt collection defense, debtor-creditor negotiations and consumer representation. In addition to bankruptcy and debtor-creditor law, Ms. Finnerty has experience in real estate matters, simple Wills, powers of attorney, living wills, and municipal court matters involving traffic tickets, disorderly persons offenses, and violations of municipal ordinances. She also represents clients in residential real estate transactions, and has experience helping property owners who desire to sell their property via short sale, are at risk of foreclosure, or who cannot make their mortgage payments.
Admitted to practice law in New Jersey and New York, and before the United States District Court for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, Ms. Finnerty has been a member of the American and New York State Bar Associations and the New Jersey Women Lawyers Association. She has been a member of the NJSBA Bankruptcy Law and Women in the Profession Sections, and is Secretary of the Solo and Small Firm Section. Ms. Finnerty is a member of the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys and the American Bankruptcy Institute. She has also volunteered with South Jersey Legal Services, Legal Services of New Jersey and the Volunteer Lawyers for Justice, and represents clients throughout their entire bankruptcy cases.
Ms. Finnerty received her undergraduate degree, cum laude, from Barnard College, Columbia University, where she was the recipient of the New York Building Industry Scholarship and the Eugene Raskin Prizer for Spanish. She received her J.D. from New York University School of Law, where she was a member of the Law Review and the recipient of the American Jurisprudence Award in Torts.
(8/23) - Basma Qazi
- PEM Law LLP, West Orange
- Kimberly A. Yonta, Esq.
- Yonta Law LLC, New Brunswick
An unforgettable presentation based on “How to Kill a Witch – The Patriarchy’s Guide for Silencing Women” by Zoe Venditozzi and Claire Mitchell.
Scotland, 1563: crops failed, people starved, and the devil's influence was stronger than ever. At least, that's what everyone believed. If you were a woman living in Scotland during this turbulent time, there was a very good chance that you, or someone you knew, would be tried as a witch.
During the chaos of the Reformation, violence against women was codified for the first time in the Witchcraft Act – a tool of theocratic control with one chilling goal: to root out witches and rid the land of evil. What followed was a dark and misogynistic chapter in history that fanned the flames of witch hunts across the globe, including in the United States and beyond.
In this unforgettable seminar based on their book “How to Kill a Witch,” Zoe Venditozzi and Claire Mitchell, hosts of the popular “Witches of Scotland” podcast, will unravel the grim yet absurdly bureaucratic process of identifying, accusing, trying, and executing women as witches. With sharp wit and keen feminist insight, they reveal the inner workings of a patriarchal system designed to weaponize fear and oppress women.
Join the authors as they take us through this captivating (and often infuriating) account, including the legal grounds for the witch hunts and how the violent period of history mirrors today’s struggles for justice and equality. They will then be joined by prominent members of the NJSBA for a roundtable discussion that will further the discussion.
All in-person attendees will receive a copy of the book and have the opportunity for a meet-and-greet/book signing!
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