Responding to the Worldwide COVID-19 Crisis—Requests for Legal Services’ Assistance Skyrocket
2020
President Trump again proposes defunding the Legal Services Corporation (LSC), requesting an FY 2021 allocation of $18.2 million for closeout costs. Congress responds by funding LSC at $465 million, an increase of $25 million.
Just prior to the pandemic, LSNJ launches PROTECT, a new statewide project providing legal representation to serve survivors of human trafficking throughout New Jersey. The project administers its own toll-free hotline: 1-844-LSNJ-PROTECT.
Dawn K. Miller is appointed president of Legal Services of New Jersey.
The LSNJ executive management team now includes Claudine Langrin, executive vice president; Akil Roper and Raquiba Huq, senior vice presidents; and Anisa Rahim and Maryann Flanigan, vice presidents.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Legal Services offices close to in-person intake and begin working remotely in March. Shortly thereafter, the New Jersey Supreme Court closes all courts to the public, operating in emergency cases only. Governor Murphy executes a series of pandemic-related Executive Orders; Executive Order 106 includes a moratorium on evictions.
The pandemic requires Legal Services to find creative solutions to working remotely. The LSNJ Tech Team quickly develops and expands remote work capacities, including refurbishing and purchasing laptops and accessories; acquiring and deploying equipment and voice services to remote users; increasing internet bandwidth; establishing video conference access rooms for clients; and implementing Zoom enterprise services, a new statewide VPN solution, digital faxing, and more.
To help meet the increased need caused by the pandemic, New Jersey Legal Services state appropriation increases but, at the same time, IOLTA revenues begin to drop as a result of the economic downturn.
James J. Sandman, LSC president, steps down after nine years, and is named president emeritus. Ronald S. Flagg, vice president for legal affairs and general counsel, is named LSC president.
George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, is murdered by police during an arrest in Minneapolis, sparking nationwide protests and a reckoning on racial justice. LSNJ releases “Say Their Names” and takes further steps to expand its commitment to racial justice and equity. Among them, LSNJ:
- Joins the Shriver Center on Poverty Law to design and provide a statewide program on race equity trainings, modeled after the Center’s national Racial Justice Institute
- Works with “Promoting Good” to host an internal multi-day diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) training for managers and supervisors
- Launches an ongoing cultural awareness, bias and race equity (CABRE) training series for all staff statewide
The New Jersey Legal Services Annual Conference is conducted entirely virtually for the first time in November. A new conference portal is built for this conference.
Unemployment in the nation and in New Jersey skyrockets, reaching an unprecedented high of 15.8% in New Jersey in March 2020. U.S. Congress enacts the CARES Act, which provides for much needed stimulus funds and increased unemployment benefits for those in need. As a result of lost jobs and the economic downturn, requests for Legal Services’ assistance in unemployment matters climb steeply. At LSNJ, unemployment cases increase by 518% between 2019 and 2020 and nearly 800% between 2019 and 2021.
LSNJ’s Legal Assistance to Medical Patients (LAMP) project, a medical-legal partnership, expands to its first two Children’s Specialized Hospital (CSH) locations. By 2021, LAMP has a presence at eleven CSH sites across the state.
2021
Melville “De” Miller, Jr., LSNJ President from 1975-2020, dies unexpectedly on March 1, 2021.
In October, LSNJ hosts a memorial at the War Memorial in Trenton to honor De Miller and his life and legacy. The program features reflections from the bench; New Jersey activists and legislators; the national Legal Services community; and Legal Services in New Jersey staff, Board members, and directors. The Melville “De” Miller, Jr. Memorial fund is established to fund a fellowship for a law student or newly admitted attorney.
LSNJ also launches the Melville “De” Miller, Jr. Justice Series to provide free public programming for attorneys and non-attorneys on important social, legal, and economic justice issues. Early events include “Substance Use in the Child Welfare System,” “Reparations Now,” and “Discrimination and Bias in New Jersey.”
A Spanish version of LSNJ’s online intake becomes operational.
LSNJ announces the “Emerging Leaders for Justice Initiative” (EJLI), with its inaugural UPLIFT (United in the Pursuit of Leadership Initiatives for Tomorrow) event in July bringing together current and former interns, young attorneys, and more senior staff in conversation and community.
LSNJ launches the redesign of the LSNJLAWSM homepage.
LSNJ releases several digital and print resources: “Electronic Filing for Expungement Pro Se”; “Civil Legal Protections in New Jersey for Survivors of Sexual Violence”; and “Clearing Your Record: A Six-Step Guide for Expunging Criminal Records in New Jersey (a Special Issue of Looking Out on expungement.”
After Hurricane Ida strikes New Jersey, the LSNJ Disaster Relief Project establishes a statewide FEMA Disaster Legal Services Hotline for New Jersey survivors of the hurricane to receive free legal assistance. The Project also leads training on disaster relief legal issues, including FEMA and disaster relief insurance claims.
PRI releases the “True Poverty Report: What it takes to Avoid Poverty and Deprivation in the Garden State.” The report demonstrates that, due to the high cost of living, nearly 3 million people live in true poverty in New Jersey.
In November, the New Jersey Legal Services annual conference is again conducted virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
2022
Edgar S. Cahn, a legal innovator whose lifelong commitment to reshaping the law in the service of impoverished communities is often credited, along with his wife, Jean Camper Cahn, with helping to establish the Legal Services Corporation, dies. Edgar and Jean Cahn co-founded the country’s first public-interest law school, the Antioch School of Law (ASL), in Washington, D.C. Many public-interest lawyers across the country are graduates of ASL.
In June, LSNJ holds its Equal Justice Awards ceremony in person at the Grounds for Sculpture and inducts Douglas S. Eakeley, Former Chair of the Legal Services Corporation, and Stanley C. Van Ness, the first New Jersey Public Advocate (posthumously), into the “Circle of Honor.”
John (Jack) Fitzgerald, longtime executive director of Northeast New Jersey Legal Services retires; Leah Ashe, deputy executive director, is appointed executive director of NNJLS.
PRI Releases the “New Jersey True Poverty Tracker,” the tenth report in the Poverty Benchmark series, as a reminder of the economic situation prevailing in New Jersey before the pandemic.
The first Melville “De” Miller, Jr. Memorial Fund fellow is engaged to work with the Poverty Research Institute (PRI) and Family Stability and Preservation Project (FSPP) to continue the work De began in challenging biases and structural racism inherent in the child welfare system.
LSNJ’s Pro Bono Initiative and the Taxpayer Legal Assistance Project (TLAP) initiate a state and local tax program (SALT) to assist clients facing problems, including collection, related to state tax issues.
LSNJ launches several new initiatives in response to the growing housing crisis, and creates the Housing Eviction Prevention and Legal Assistance Project (HELP) and the Housing Stability Initiative, both aimed at preventing the devastating consequences of eviction and homelessness.
The LSC releases “The Justice Gap: The Unmet Civil Legal Needs of Low-Income Americans,” its fourth study since 2005 assessing low-income Americans’ civil legal needs and the extent to which those needs are met. The report notes that 33% of low-income Americans experienced at least one civil legal problem linked to the COVID-19 pandemic in the last year.
LSNJ commemorates its 55th anniversary in December at The Addison Park in Aberdeen, New Jersey. At this event, De Miller is inducted into the NJEJLA Circle of Honor.
The statewide Legal Services system now includes nearly 700 staff.