News & Updates
At Volunteer Lawyers for Justice, staff like Katiana Guerrier are dedicated to empowering community members with compassion, grace, and professionalism—helping them realize a second chance—because every expungement is a step toward a brighter, kinder tomorrow.
Because how we do justice matters.
During our October 8, 2024, Arts & Eats for Justice Gala, Volunteer Lawyers for Justice debuted a new video providing a glimpse of the names and faces involved with our efforts ensuring access to justice.
Because how we do justice matters.
American Bar Association's 2024 Award Recipient video for Prudential Financial. Prudential received the ABA's 2024 Pro Bono Publico Award (Volunteer Lawyers for Justice nominated Prudential for the award).
As a new mother and after a high-risk pregnancy, “Dalia” needed to stay home to care for her newborn and herself. Unfortunately, not long after her child was born, Dalia was served with a collection complaint seeking over $2500. Although Dalia’s spouse worked, with only one income in home, they were unable to pay this debt, meaning a likely judgment and further collection action, compounding an already difficult time for Dalia.
Dalia came to Volunteer Lawyers for Justice seeking help.
Isaac* and his family faced uncertainty when their landlord attempted to evict them from their long-time home located in a three-unit building. Throughout their tenancy, the landlord would sporadically send them notices of nonrenewal, telling the family their lease would not be renewed because it is an owner-occupied property, yet the landlord continued to accept the family’s rent payments. Continuing the trend, the landlord sent a notice of nonrenewal urging the family to move out of their long-time home so the rent for the unit could be increased. After the landlord filed an eviction complaint against Isaac and his family—despite them not owing any outstanding money—Isaac turned to Volunteer Lawyers for Justice for help.
On April 18, 2024, for Financial Institution Pro Bono Day, volunteers from Duane Morris LLP and TD Bank joined Volunteer Lawyers for Justice for an e-filing criminal record expungement clinic. Not only was it a great day to harness the power of pro bono, it was a great day for a client of VLJ’s ReLeSe (Reentry Legal Services) Program who successfully e-filed their expungement petition thanks to volunteers Jennifer Polovetsky and Lynne Evans from Duane Morris and Lisa DeLessio and Peter Pai from TD Bank.
“Emelina”* and her daughter “Kristiana”* live in Newark’s South Ward. At age five, Kristiana was diagnosed with diabetes, yet was determined to not let that hold her back. Like many her age, Kristiana enrolled in kindergarten to begin her journey from K to 12.
Of course, to succeed in school, Kristiana would need medical support. Through advocating for Kristiana, Emelina had the school district agree to some of the medical recommendations from Kristiana’s doctor, but the school district would not comply with all the recommendations.
“Margaret”* originally came to Volunteer Lawyers for Justice (VLJ) over 20 years ago seeking help expunging her criminal record, contained on microfiche no less, when she met with a team of lawyers in Newark. At the time, Margaret had two felonies, and this was long before New Jersey passed its expansive expungement laws. After meeting with the team of attorneys, Margaret found out she was ineligible for expungement even though the attorneys described her as “the poster child” for having her record expunged.
Even with Margaret having turned her life around, being in school for a degree in human services, and zealously pursuing a career, sadly, the law would not be of help. The attorneys recommended Margaret pursue clemency from the governor; Margaret completed the clemency petition, collected over 200 signatures, and mailed it to the Governor of New Jersey at the time. Nothing. No word and no clemency.
“Thomas”, a veteran, came to Volunteer Lawyers for Justice for help resolving a child custody matter. Adding to the situation, Thomas lived in Florida and was seeking assistance with his parental visitation and communications rights; Thomas’s ex-spouse took his child from Florida to New Jersey and refused to allow Thomas to see or visit his child. Indeed, when Thomas would travel from Florida to New Jersey to visit his child, Thomas’s ex-spouse would not let him.
Through determination, powered by technology and ingenuity, VLJ's Alexandra Bravo helped Thomas successfully obtain an order in New Jersey granting Thomas the right to speak with his child every other day, with firm plans for Thomas to visit and see his child for the first time in several years.
"Jordan", a veteran living in Monmouth County, contacted Volunteer Lawyers for Justice (VLJ) earlier this year when her family was facing eviction. Jordan’s landlord had made a series of thinly veiled racist comments and false claims in an attempt to force Jordan and her family to leave the apartment. Ultimately, the landlord sued Jordan for alleged nonpayment of rent as well as several other baseless claims, including multiple allegations of damage to the premises and lease violations. In fact, it was the landlord’s refusal to properly maintain the premises that resulted in damage, which Jordan had been insisting he rectify.
A VLJ staff attorney accepted Jordan’s case for full representation and, at a trial that lasted several days, meticulously countered the landlord’s extensive allegations.
“Greg”* is a veteran who was referred by Community Hope SSVF to Volunteer Lawyers for Justice (VLJ) for assistance with his debt relief matter. At the time of his referral to VLJ, Greg was living in a small shack with no running water or electricity, forcing Greg to depend on his “neighbors” for electricity via an extension cord.
At one point, Greg’s neighbors put their PSEG bill in his name, with Greg’s consent, but failed to make multiple payments. This resulted in a PSEG bill of $2,940.64 in Greg’s name that was ultimately sent to collections. This unpaid bill was the only thing preventing Greg from obtaining much needed housing assistance, thus forcing him to remain unsuitably housed.
“Yasmine"* came to the United States from a Caribbean country after being recruited under false promises from a labor broker. The broker promised Yasmine a good wage and decent living conditions if she would move to the U.S. to be a domestic worker for a family. That family secured Yasmine a working visa for her travel here. However, upon arriving in the U.S., Yasmine was not paid the agreed upon wage or given humane living conditions. Quite the opposite: her employers paid her less than half of the promised wage, and Yasmine was given no personal space except a bed in the kitchen.
Eventually, Yasmine made contact with VLJ, and through our Trafficking Program, Yasmine's case was placed with volunteer attorneys at a private law firm; the volunteer attorneys worked with Yasmine over several months in 2021 to prepare a T Visa petition.
As is the case with too many tenants, “Eliza” had a pending eviction action against her, filed in October 2021, of which she was unaware. In early November 2022, VLJ received Eliza's information from the court and initially contacted her to see if she was interested in receiving legal help. Learning that the eviction case threatened her housing stability, Eliza signed up for the Lowenstein Sandler Prudential Tenancy Clinic held in mid-November 2022.
In 2012, "Shonda"* underwent a medical procedure at a local hospital. Shonda received Charity Care and believed the bill to be fully covered because she was without employment. Sometime after Shonda's procedure, the hospital filed suit against her, but she never received notice.
Nine years later, in 2021, Shonda was blindsided by a bank levy of $872.86, all the money she had in her checking account at the time. In December 2021, Shonda came to VLJ's Debt Relief Legal Program (DRLP) clinic for help. In speaking with Shonda, VLJ learned that the hospital had obtained a default judgment against her years earlier for $4,079.33 and recently filed a motion to turn over funds. VLJ sprung into action and began representing Shonda. VLJ filed a motion to vacate the default judgment that was granted. Then, VLJ filed a motion opposing the levy that was also granted. Once the matter was reopened, in February 2022, VLJ filed an answer to the initial complaint that began the suit in 2012. Doing so allowed Shonda to finally be heard in court.
It may seem obvious that if you lost your driving privileges, you would have difficulty traveling to work, taking your kids to school, picking up groceries, or getting to a doctor’s appointment. Depending on public transit, taxis, and Ubers can be both unreliable and costly. But for Black and brown drivers, who are significantly more likely to be stopped, arrested, and convicted than white drivers, a suspended driver’s license can be so much worse than these inconveniences.
“Ashley” is a 42-year-old, Black, single mother who lives in the South Ward, one of the poorest communities in Newark. She failed to appear in municipal court back in 2017 for moving violations that confusingly occurred while she was living in South Carolina. Unaware of these charges and any missed court appearance, Ashley continued to drive, until one day in March 2021, while back home in New Jersey, she was pulled over for failure to wear a seat belt. The traffic stop didn’t just end in a summons and fine. No, instead, Ashely was arrested and her license was revoked. When she lost her license, she was unable to get to work, and she lost her job as a private home health aide.
In fact, 42% of people in New Jersey lose their job after their license is suspended, even when driving is not a responsibility of the job. Without a driver’s license or a job, Ashley had difficulty providing food and housing for her and her child – she even struggled to get her COVID vaccine without a valid ID. With the economic fallout from the health pandemic, removing barriers to employment has never been more important.
Fortunately, Ashley connected with VLJ and received the legal help needed to overcome her suspensions, dismiss the tickets, and get her license fully restored. Unfortunately, there are more clients in Ashley’s position right now who face municipal court suspensions, open bench warrants, and mounting fees and fines that could lead to financial ruin. Legal advocacy has the power to change that outcome into dismissals and vacated fines, and restore not just driving privileges, but also livelihoods.
To learn more about available pro bono opportunities, please visit: https://www.vljnj.org/pro-bono-opportunities
Stock image* Names and dates have been altered to protect client’s identity.
In 2003, “David” was arrested for purchasing marijuana. He was not jailed and was allowed to return home after being questioned and processed at the police station. Two years later, David pled guilty to “possession with intent to distribute”—a conviction that, according to his attorney, would make it easier for him to find a job.
Prior to his arrest, David was a college senior studying computer science. He looked forward to completing an internship and getting a job after graduation. However, with a 4th degree felony on his record, David’s relationships and employment opportunities fell through. In fact, his record would gravely impact the next decade and a half of his life. In David’s words, “A half ounce of weed affected my life for almost 17 years.”
According to Karen Robinson, Managing Attorney at Volunteer Lawyers for Justice (VLJ) and coordinator of VLJ’s ReLeSe (Reentry Legal Services) program,
“A criminal record punishes a person long after their sentence has been fulfilled. There is a lifelong stigma is attached to those who have been convicted of a crime—even if that crime was low-level and nonviolent. This is neither fair nor does it make society safer. That is why criminal record expungement is such an invaluable service.”
In 2017, after being prevented from applying for a commercial driving license training program, a friend recommended that David contact VLJ. His case was accepted, but it took an additional two years for David to finally overcome the consequences of a decision made in his twenties. One afternoon in 2021, he received an email from his volunteer attorney. After saying a prayer and preparing himself for possible bad news, David opened the email and finally read the words he’d hoped to see: "Let me be the first to congratulate you."
Following the clearing of his record, David was able to apply for a job without having to “check the box” to indicate he was a convicted felon. Moreover, as a single father, he could now pursue work that allowed him to spend more time with his son. David reports that he currently enjoys a fulfilling career working in education. VLJ is honored to have played a role in helping David reclaim his life.
“There’s so much talk right now about how Covid is causing an eviction crisis,” Kitson says. “And the reality is that we have had a significant eviction crisis in this country—and certainly in the state—for quite some time. What Covid is doing is worsening it at an alarmingly rapid rate and also shining a light on the many ways in which so many renters in New Jersey were very vulnerable to begin with.”
VLJ is always in need of your support in order to keep taking cases and changing lives---cases like Aidan and Lisa's.
