About Tina

Tina Polachek Gartley

Tina Polachek Gartley has been practicing law since 1991. The central focus of her career is family law and protecting the rights of survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence.  She is the senior attorney at the Barbara J. Hart Justice Center, Scranton, Pennsylvania and is of counsel at Koff, Mangan, Vullo, Gartley & Lach in Kingston, Pennsylvania.

1996, Gartley became the first S.T.O.P. (Stop Violence Against Women) grant prosecutor in the Luzerne County District Attorney’s Office.  As a S.T.O.P. grant prosecutor, Gartley specialized in prosecuting crimes of sexual assault and domestic violence.  Attorney Gartley handled all aspects of the criminal prosecution of sexual assault and domestic violence crimes from the initial investigation through the trial, sentencing and the Megan’s Law hearings that determined whether the defendant would be listed as a sexually violent predator. In addition to the criminal trials, Attorney Gartley was in PFA Court several times a week and prosecuted hundreds of Protection From Abuse Contempt Petitions.   During this time she also instructed law enforcement officials on the protocols and procedures regarding sexual assault and domestic violence crimes and investigations.  She also conducted trainings to medical, school and legal professionals.

In 2002, Gartley parlayed her work with victims of crimes to a pilot program that was created in Lackawanna County.  The Barbara J. Hart Justice Center was created by Governor Ridge and the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence and established legal offices that worked directly with and in partnership with sexual assault and domestic violence shelters.

The Justice Center was created to provide civil legal representation to survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence in Lackawanna and Susquehanna counties. In 2002, Attorney Gartley served as the managing attorney of the Justice Center and initiated the policies and procedures used in representing survivors. In 2004, Attorney Gartley became the Senior Attorney of the Justice Center and continues to promote the rights of survivors through her legal work and public speaking. Throughout her career, she participated on numerous local task forces working to advance the rights of survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence in Luzerne and Lackawanna counties and most recently Susquehanna County.  She continues to provide training to attorneys and instructed the Luzerne County Bar in 2007 and 2008 and has been an instructor for the Pennsylvania Bar Institute on issues of child custody  and sexual assault of children.

Attorney Gartley served on the advisory board and as a board member of the Domestic Violence Service Center, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, from 1992-1997; the Valley Santa Board and the Montessori Board of directors.  She is the acting president of the Plains Solomon PTA since 2005; Plains Baseball Board of Directors, a lector at Blessed Sacrament Church, CCD Teacher and actively involved in her children’s ice hockey, baseball, wrestling, soccer and golf activities.

Gartley is a summa cum laude graduate of College Misericordia with a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and English, minors in writing and Russian Area studies. She received her Juris Doctorate from Syracuse University College of Law and was appointed to the Order of the Barristers.

Attorney Gartley is married to Scott C. Gartley and is the mother of three (3) sons; Shamus, Joshua and Ian.  Her parents, Theresa Rakowski Polachek and Robert Polachek, reside in Plains, Pennsylvania.