News & Updates
VLJ proudly spotlights Summer 2022 intern Melanie Zelikovsky. Melanie is a rising 2L at Rutgers Law - Newark (class of 2024); She received her B.A. in Classics with honors from NYU in 2013 and a M.A. in Classical Archaeology from the University of Arizona in 2016. During her time at VLJ Melanie supports the Debt Relief Legal and Divorce Programs.
VLJ proudly features Nina Peckman, Esq. as our July 2022 Volunteer of the Month. For over sixteen years Nina, a staff attorney with Advocates for Children of New Jersey (“ACNJ”), has provided legal assistance to parents, including advice, representation in Individualized Education Program (IEP) meetings and at mediations. Nina earned her Juris Doctor from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and her Bachelor of Arts from Rutgers University.
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.
Newark, NJ – Volunteer Lawyers for Justice (VLJ) is pleased to announce that Melissa F. Wernick, Esq. of Millburn and Catherine A. Trinkle, Esq. of Morristown recently joined its Board of Trustees. Melissa is a Member of Chiesa Shahinian & Giantomasi PC (CSG Law) based in West Orange, and Catherine is Deputy General Counsel, Regulatory & Environmental Law, and Head of Government Affairs at BASF Corporation, based in Florham Park.
After New Jersey voters approved a marijuana referendum in November 2020, decriminalization followed in July 2021, and recreational sales began last month in April 2022. This month, we mark the two-year anniversary of George Floyd’s murder, and the societal reckoning of systemic racism and inequity that came in the aftermath of tragedy.
VLJ is thrilled to feature O. Ade Oremosu as our May Volunteer of the Month. Ade is Senior Managing Associate General Counsel at Verizon, where he leads a team of attorneys that support, guide, and counsel Verizon’s Business Products Organization. When not leading his team of attorneys, Ade is a fierce advocate for justice.
VLJ is proud to recognize Abigail Oliver as our next Defender of Justice! Abigail joined VLJ as a legal assistant in the thick of the pandemic in 2020, and despite the challenges of learning a new job remotely, she has become an integral member of VLJ’s team. Abigail works on VLJ’s Tenancy, Children’s Representation, and South Ward Promise Neighborhood Programs and previously worked on Estate Planning.
VLJ is proud to recognize Suemyra Shah as our April Volunteer of the Month. Suemyra is Senior Corporate Counsel at Audible, where she oversees the development, licensing, and production of original content. She is also a fierce advocate for social, racial, and economic justice on behalf of VLJ’s ReLeSe (Reentry Legal Services) program. Her commitment to serving the most vulnerable in our community makes her most deserving of this recognition, especially as April is Second Chance Month.
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.
Volunteer Lawyers for Justice (VLJ) is excited to take you behind the curtain to give you a closer look at the incredible staff members who make VLJ such an impactful force for justice in New Jersey. We are kicking off this new column with one of our most talented advocates, Allison Nolan.
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
This month, VLJ is excited to honor volunteer attorney Aaron Haier. Aaron is new to the VLJ volunteer scene, and we are immensely grateful to have him fighting for our tenancy clients. Aaron is an Associate in the Litigation department of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, where he works on a broad set of litigations, investigations, and regulatory matters for a variety of corporate clients.
Aaron is extremely passionate about serving his community and using his legal knowledge to give back. He is also a long-time housing advocate. Prior to law school, Aaron worked for the City of Newark’s Department of Health, where he oversaw the Newark Healthy Homes Program and was responsible for policy development and legal enforcement strategies in connection with home environmental issues, including lead poisoning and childhood asthma.
Newark, NJ – January 12, 2022 – As New Jersey celebrates National Human Trafficking Prevention and Awareness Month, Governor Murphy signed a new law that expands access to vacatur for survivors of human trafficking. The bill, A5322, will help survivors of human trafficking build new lives by expanding the existing list of crimes that can be cleared from their records beyond just prostitution convictions. This will result in real and immediate relief for survivors of both sex and labor trafficking who have been unfairly stigmatized as a result of their convictions. The bill also streamlines the process for survivors pursuing this relief and ensures enhanced privacy protections of the petitions filed in court.
VLJ is pleased to kick off our new year by honoring Diane Russini as our Volunteer of the Month. Diane has been fulfilling VLJ’s mission of “taking cases and changing lives” by serving as a consistent volunteer and supporter of VLJ’s Debt Relief Legal Program. We are in an unprecedented time due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Many people are experiencing poverty for the first time and those who have been financially unstable may find themselves in a worse situation. Throughout the pandemic, though, Diane has been committed to helping clients navigate these hardships by volunteering at VLJ’s Debt Relief Clinic.
We are thrilled to feature Joann Mazur Kielblock as our November 2021 Volunteer of the Month! Joann is Vice President and Corporate Counsel for Prudential’s Group Insurance Business Unit, where she is responsible for advising Group Life Insurance on the delivery of products, services, and benefits to customers and covered employees/ members.
Joann first became involved with VLJ in 2010 through her participation in Prudential’s Pro Bono Committee. As part of the committee, she also led “Wills for Heroes”, a free program established by the Young Lawyers Division of the New Jersey State Bar Association. Wills for Heroes offers free wills, financial power of attorney documents, and living wills to New Jersey’s first responders, veterans, and active military members and their spouses/partners.
In 2017, Joann first volunteered with VLJ’s Divorce program and since then she has never looked back. Over the years, Joann has volunteered with VLJ’s various legal clinics, including but not limited to the following: Divorce clinic, Debt Relief Clinic, Expungement Clinic, and Tenancy clinic. She has donated over 50 hours of pro bono time and has assisted 25 clients with their various legal needs/issues.
In the summer of 2021, sensing a need to further expand collaboration between Prudential’s Pro Bono Committee and VLJ, Joann and Co-Chair Amy Woltman joined VLJ’s Veteran’s Program. Thanks to Joann’s efforts, Prudential volunteers contributed to veteran’s clinics by conducting holistic legal interviews to determine root causes of their legal issues, providing advice and limited service, and making meaningful referrals.
Joann mentions that she enjoys volunteering with VLJ and having opportunities to resolve legal issues she does not normally encounter in her work. Joann loves to see the immediate impact her assistance has and shared,
Joann has helped a number of different clients, but a particularly compelling expungement client looking for a fresh start stands out most to her. She shared, “This is why I volunteer with VLJ – to help others who, like NR, just need a chance to start over with a clean slate –whether that is in the form of an expungement, a divorce, resolving a debt, or a tenancy issue, etc.” Joann is passionate about Pro Bono work and believes that “access to competent legal counsel should be available to anyone who wants it or needs it – not just the few who can afford it.”
Outside of her work with VLJ, Joann is a dedicated mother of two deeply involved in her children’s activities. She is actively involved in her local Parent-Teacher Organization, Boy Scouts of America and Boy Scout Troup. Recently, Joann became a member of the Friends of Nutley Singers (FONS): a non-profit organization that fundraises for Nutley’s music and performing arts programs to offset costs for choir trips, purchasing music, funding productions, and sponsoring annual scholarships for Nutley High School seniors. Joann will serve as treasurer for FONS for the 2022 term starting in June.
We are immensely grateful to Joann for her volunteerism, leadership, dedication to VLJ’s clients, and to Pro Bono work as a whole. Congratulations to Joann, our November 2021 Volunteer of the Month!
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On October 20th, 600 supporters attended the virtual Arts & Eats for Justice gala. The event raised $700,000 to support our mission of ensuring access to justice for people experiencing poverty. Initially created as a subcommittee of the Legal Services of Essex County, VLJ has grown into a pro bono powerhouse impacting the lives of tens of thousands of New Jersey’s most vulnerable residents. Three honorees were recognized for their contributions to the cause of justice: former US Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch, Merck & Co., Inc., and Karen Sacks, VLJ’s Founding Executive Director.
