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VICTORY FOR VLJ! Last week, the New Jersey Supreme Court reversed a decision by the Advisory Committee on Professional Ethics and ruled that there is no conflict of interest for attorneys who do pro bono work for Chapter 7 debtors, where their firm represents the creditors in unrelated matters. This issue was initially raised by VLJ in a formal inquiry to the ACPE in December of 2012 in recognition that client conflict concerns deterred potential volunteers from participating in VLJ’s pro bono bankruptcy program. After the ACPE issued an unfavorable opinion, VLJ and our partners appealed to the New Jersey Supreme Court. We are delighted by last week's decision, which is the first such ruling by a state Supreme Court in the country, and is sure to expand access to pro bono representation for New Jersey's most vulnerable debtors. We are extremely grateful to the attorneys from Lowenstein Sandler, McCarter & English and DLA Piper who worked tirelessly in their representation of VLJ and our partners, the New Jersey State Bar Association, the Pro Bono Institute, and Jill Freidman and Jessica Kitson from Rutgers Law, who served as amici. Click here to read the decision. And for more information about the ruling and what it means for VLJ, please reference the New Jersey Law Journal article, N.J. Justices Give OK to Volunteer Lawyers in Bankruptcy Cases, written by Mary Pat Gallagher, available here.
HOBBY'S FOR JUSTICE Thank you to all who participated in our annual Hobby's for Justice fundraiser! We are thrilled to report for the second year in a row, the law firm of Genova, Burns, Giantomasi & Webster earned the top prize in the "most ordered sandwich" category with their "GBGW's Supreme Court Appealing Turkey Sandwich," a delicious combination of turkey, ham, swiss, coleslaw and Russian dressing. Coming in second was McCarter & English's "McCorned Beef & English," a delicacy including corned beef, pastrami, cole slaw and Russian dressing. The winner in the "most creative sandwich name" category was the law firm Gibbonswith their "Supreme Cut" (turkey, tongue, swiss, cole slaw and Russian dressing). We also want to recognize Genova Burns for placing a catering order during our fundraiser and donating all of the food to St. Anne's Soup Kitchen. We call that a win-win!
Congratulations to all of this year's winners and thank you to all of you who participated in this year's event, whether by naming sandwiches or eating on behalf of VLJ. A special that you to Hobby's for their support of VLJ through this fun event. See our 2014 event menu HERE and start thinking of some creative sandwich names for next year's event!
Just announced! Disaster Legal Response Program (DLRP) will be holding clinics in Monmouth County, at Brookdale Community College - Hazlet Campus July 11, August 8 and August 22. For clinic address and time, pleaseclick here.
Newark Reentry Legal Services (ReLeSe) - Final ReportsVLJ is pleased to present an evaluation of VLJ's ReLeSe program conducted by the National Development and Research Insitutes, Inc. (NDRI), with generous funding from The Fund for New Jersey. The study evaluated outcomes for 188 ReLeSe clients who received services between January 2007 and July 2012 and concludes that reentry legal services positively impact ex offenders' reentry efforts. For a copy of the report, please email vlj@vljnj.org.
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2013 Gala award video
