We’re thrilled to feature Christina Holder as our March Volunteer of the Month. Christina is the Corporate Public Interest Counsel at Lowenstein Sandler LLP, where she recruits attorneys from the firm’s various corporate practices to volunteer with legal services organizations and maintains her own pro bono docket.
Christina first encountered VLJ when she joined Lowenstein in March 2020, right when the pandemic started to take hold. Christina immediately became involved with VLJ’s pandemic-related housing rights work. Because of Lowenstein’s commitment to helping New Jersey’s most vulnerable, Christina proposed expanding the firm’s partnership with VLJ to include estate planning services for low-income individuals.
In June 2020, VLJ and Lowenstein launched the Summer Estate Planning Program where Lowenstein’s summer associates and attorneys volunteered to assist VLJ clients. The volunteers prepared wills, power-of-attorney documents, health care proxies, and advanced medical directives for VLJ clients, and assisted clients in executing these documents using in-person and remote notarization alike. Thanks to Christina’s diligent recruiting, Lowenstein has continued to provide estate-planning services to VLJ clients throughout the pandemic. To date, Lowenstein has assisted approximately 20 clients, many of whom are veterans.
Christina not only engages volunteers to assist VLJ’s clients, but she also regularly participates in the will-signing ceremonies, which she describes as a very special experience. At one memorable ceremony, when the documents were finalized, Christina told the client she was happy to have helped him tick something off his to-do list. He replied, “No, completing my will and other documents has been on my bucket list.” Christina shared that the client’s response reminded her that “free legal services – especially in less common practice areas like estate planning – cannot be taken for granted.”
Christina values “giving clients security and peace of mind by providing high-quality, personalized assistance that clients otherwise could not afford. The representation is a gift to the client but also meaningful to the attorney, who gains the satisfaction of helping a client accomplish their life-planning goals.”
Before joining Lowenstein, Christina worked in New York in both the private and legal services sectors. Although newer to New Jersey, she shared that volunteering with VLJ has been a seamless experience. Christina appreciates VLJ’s efforts in screening clients, responsiveness in developing programs, and the training and mentorship VLJ provides to volunteers to ensure they are equipped to handle matters outside of their usual practice areas.
We are immensely grateful to Christina for her leadership, coordination, and dedication to VLJ’s clients and to pro bono work as a whole. Congratulations to Christina Holder, our March Volunteer of the Month!