This month, VLJ is excited to honor volunteer attorney Catherine Fitch. Catherine is the Managing Counsel, Patents at Merck and has been dedicating her time to pro bono with VLJ since 2012. She first began volunteering in the Bankruptcy Program, offering advice to individuals considering Chapter 7 bankruptcy. When Merck partnered with VLJ on our Divorce Program, Catherine quickly got up to speed with family law and jumped in to assist clients. She was a regular attendee at the Essex County divorce filing clinics, and then at the Union County clinics when they began in 2018.
Throughout the past year, Catherine has remained committed to volunteering to assist pro se litigants with their divorce matters, even in the midst of a rapidly changing program structure. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, VLJ quickly transferred all of our Divorce Program activities online and expanded our services to clients throughout New Jersey.
“The legal needs aren’t going away,” says Catherine on the importance of volunteering remotely, noting that clients are facing more challenges than ever before. Catherine stands out for her consistent flexibility working with clients struggling with their schedules during the pandemic. “People are balancing childcare and jobs on top of everything else,” she says, remembering a case where a single mother could not make her scheduled appointment with Catherine at one of VLJ’s virtual divorce clinics. Instead of simply canceling, Catherine worked around the client’s schedule, making time to speak with her later in the week to work on the divorce pleadings together.
Catherine and the rest of our volunteers from Merck have risen to the challenge of serving clients remotely in these unprecedented times. We thank Catherine for her continued commitment to our clients and Merck for its outstanding partnership with VLJ!