2014 pro bono report - Lowenstein Sandler LLP

LOWENSTEIN CENTER FOR THE PUBLIC INTEREST

2014 PRO BONO REPORT

OUR MISSION From its founding, Lowenstein Sandler has been committed to advancing the public interest and serving the communities in which we live and practice. The Lowenstein Center for the Public Interest embodies this commitment. It couples Lowenstein’s strong pro bono program with other aspects of civic engagement to address significant social problems and offer meaningful assistance to low-income and other vulnerable persons, along with the organizations that advocate for and support them. In doing so, Lowenstein enlists the full range of the firm’s talents and capacities, while applying the core values that imbue all of the firm’s efforts: to perform work of the highest quality in a manner that maximizes results for our clients and causes.

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Lowenstein Center for the Public Interest

Table of Contents

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Message from Catherine Weiss

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Pro Bono by the Numbers

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Immigration

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Civil and Human Rights

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Access to Justice

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Community Building

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Housing

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Criminal Justice

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Community Service

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Acknowledgements

FROM THE CHAIR

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s the Center enters its seventh year, it has matured into a force that not only provides high-quality services to clients in need but also catalyzes pro bono efforts through strategic partnerships. We are proud of our leadership in coalition efforts to ensure access to justice.

Driven by unchecked violence or family disintegration and abuse, tens of thousands of children left home without their parents and were apprehended by immigration officials as they entered the United States in 2014. Nearly all were placed in deportation proceedings, where they have no right to appointed counsel. Lowenstein has dedicated more than 10,000 pro bono hours to representing such children since 2009, and last year our work expanded beyond direct representation. We filed a brief on behalf of leading national nonprofits in a precedent-setting appeal that aims to preserve one of the most important defenses to deportation for immigrant children, enacted by Congress to prevent their reunification with abusive, neglectful, or absentee parents. At the same time, we helped launch a consortium of nonprofits and private sector partners working to increase representation for immigrant children. Our pro bono bankruptcy practice followed a similar trajectory. Building on a clinic model we designed with key

partners to represent low-income people seeking relief from their debts, we filed an important appeal last year that should clear the way for broader, nationwide participation in pro bono efforts by the bankruptcy bar. We persuaded a state high court to dispel unfounded concerns about conflicts of interest that had hampered such participation, and in the process the court commended “the lawyers in this and other pro bono initiatives who . . . help to bridge the justice gap.” Our bankruptcy lawyers have since taken this opinion on the road, using it as a platform to train their colleagues in pro bono bankruptcy practice while exhorting them to set aside any lingering hesitancy and join the cause. Perhaps nowhere has collaboration yielded more hope for reform than in our juvenile justice efforts. Together with prominent academics and nonprofits, we have begun to reduce the harms suffered by juveniles in state custody for delinquency. Our representation of one young man resulted in the reversal of his illegal transfer from juvenile custody to an adult prison, and we have undertaken a constitutional challenge to the transfer regulations themselves. We have also conducted nationwide research on the use of solitary confinement in juvenile facilities to support advocacy for strict limits on this damaging form of discipline. Once more, and not for the last time, we thank the nonprofits that make our pro bono work possible; the pro bono clients who model for us what it means to persevere; and the firm’s clients who work with us and support these efforts with great generosity.

Warmly,

Catherine Weiss Chair, Lowenstein Center for the Public Interest Lowenstein Sandler

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Pro Bono by the Numbers

24,019 HOURS DEDICATED

268 PRO BONO CLIENTS

TO PRO BONO WORK BY LOWENSTEIN IN 2014

SERVED BY LOWENSTEIN LAWYERS IN 2014

329,742 76 HOURS DEDICATED HOURS ON AVERAGE DEDICATED TO PRO BONO WORK BY EACH FIRM LAWYER IN 2014

TO PRO BONO WORK BY THE FIRM OVER THE PAST 18 YEARS

2014 PRO BONO REPORT

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IMMIGRATION

Responding to the Child Refugee Crisis

Eventually, the family fled to the United States. When they arrived at the Texas border, they were taken into custody. The children’s uncle was immediately deported and murdered by the gang within weeks. The government filed deportation cases against the children as well, but reunited them with their mother while the cases proceeded. Diego and Elena had talked to her regularly but had not seen their mother since she left Honduras for the United States five years earlier. Sadly, stories like Diego’s and Elena’s are increasingly common. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2014, 53,518 children crossed our borders without a parent or guardian; were apprehended by immigration officials; and, after a short time in detention, were placed with sponsors (usually family members) while deportation proceedings continued against them. The number of unaccompanied immigrant children taken into custody in the United States doubled each year between FY 2011 and FY 2014. In FY 2014, 95% of these children came from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras; more than a third were girls; and 27% were under 14 years old.

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DECISIONS IN IMMIGRATION COURT CASES INVOLVING UNACCOMPANIED CHILDREN Deported

100%

Stay in U.S.

80% 60% 40% 20% 0%

NO ATTORNEY

WITH ATTORNEY

S O U R C E : T R AC , S Y R AC U S E U N I V E R S I T Y

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iblings “Diego” and “Elena” were nine and 17 years old when they fled Honduras in 2012. Local gang members had extorted protection money from the family’s small taxi business there and had killed three drivers when the family refused to pay. Under death threat, the family moved from place to place, but within days, armed gang members would again be loitering outside their doors.

The children generally come to the U.S. to escape dangerous conditions in their home countries, such as coercive recruitment and extreme violence by gangs or drug cartels, or child abuse and neglect in countries where children have nowhere to turn for protection. They risk the perilous journey to the U.S. because it is their best hope for survival. As the number of unaccompanied immigrant children has surged, the percentage of children represented by counsel

PH OTO BY BE RN A RD D E LI E R RE

“Elena” and “Diego”

2 0 1 4 P R O B O N O R E P O RT

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IMMIGRATION

FROM 2009–2014, LOWENSTEIN SPENT MORE THAN 10,000 HOURS REPRESENTING UNACCOMPANIED IMMIGRANT CHILDREN, MORE THAN 2,800 IN 2014 ALONE.

has declined dramatically. Sarah Plastino, Supervising Attorney for Pro Bono Programs at Kids In Need of Defense (KIND), an organization that provides free legal services to unaccompanied minors facing deportation, explained, “There is no right to court-appointed counsel in these cases. For children in removal proceedings, the need for free legal services far outstrips the supply.” The stakes couldn’t be higher. According to a recent study, representation by counsel is the single most influential factor in the outcomes of these cases. Immigration courts allowed unaccompanied immigrant children represented by lawyers to remain in the U.S. in almost 75% of cases decided between FY 2012 and FY 2014. Conversely, in cases where the children appeared in court without counsel, only 15% were allowed to remain in the U.S. Fortunately for Diego and Elena, KIND stepped in and enlisted Lowenstein to represent them after they were reunited with their mother. Lowenstein Associate Eric Jesse, who has represented several children referred to the firm by KIND, took on Diego’s and Elena’s cases. “Unaccompanied children go through great hardship and dangerous conditions to make it to the United States. And once they arrive here, they struggle to understand how our complex immigration system works. I am happy that I can work with these children to navigate the system and help them remain in the United States.” Eric and the rest of the Lowenstein team represented the children’s stepfather in his adoption of them and asked the family court to make the factual findings that would allow the children to apply to immigration officials for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS). Based on this status, Diego and Elena finally obtained their green cards.

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“I know there are people going through the same situation who don’t get help like we did,” recognized their new father Alfonso. The children are adjusting well to life in the United States. Diego plays baseball and would like to learn ice hockey. Elena, a senior in high school, plans to attend community college and eventually transfer to a four-year university. Elena appreciates her newfound freedom to do things that many other kids her age take for granted: “I enjoy going to the park and spending time with my friends and family.” As if the surge in the numbers of unaccompanied immigrant children coming to the U.S. and the lack of available counsel weren’t challenging enough, a New Jersey appellate court has recently made it much more difficult for these children to obtain SIJS. This is the form of immigration relief that benefited Diego and Elena, and it has been a major defense to deportation for children in their position. The purpose of the federal SIJS statute is to prevent deportation when it would cause a child to be sent back to a home where no parent can provide appropriate care. The federal law enlists the state courts to make several key findings, including that the child’s “reunification with one or both parents is not viable due to abuse, abandonment, neglect or a similar basis found under State law.” While immigration officials have interpreted this to mean that findings against just one parent are sufficient, the state appellate panel ruled that the evidence must show abuse, neglect, or abandonment by both parents if both are living. The perverse result is that children who have a fit parent in the United States (as Diego and Elena did) nevertheless face deportation to their home country where there is no fit caretaker. “The decision has caused tremendous confusion in the courts and raised substantial legal obstacles for children to obtain Special Immigrant Juvenile Status. It has also encouraged an environment that is hostile toward these children,” said Sarah Plastino. The decision has been appealed to the state supreme court, and Lowenstein has prepared an amicus brief on behalf of KIND, the American Friends Service Committee, and the Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights. The brief argues that state courts must defer to the federal interpretation of the law, which offers protection from deportation based on findings that one of the child’s

parents is unfit or absent, even if the child has been reunited with the other parent. In the meantime, KIND, Lowenstein, and a diverse group of advocates in academia, the private bar, and the nonprofit sector refuse to stand idly by. They are working on a variety of initiatives to extend legal representation so that more children like Diego and Elena have a better chance of remaining permanently in the U.S. With support from Lowenstein, KIND has recently hired an additional attorney who will be paid in part through federal AmeriCorps funding to represent unaccompanied immigrant children.

Boarding the Justice Bus Again Attorneys and summer associates in Palo Alto hit the road for their annual Justice Bus trip. Organized by OneJustice, a California nonprofit dedicated to ensuring broad access to civil legal services, the Justice Bus takes pro bono attorneys to rural and isolated parts of California to provide assistance to low-income individuals who have little to no other access to free legal services.

“THIS WAS ESPECIALLY GREAT BECAUSE I BROUGHT MY DAUGHTER WITH ME AND SHE WANTS TO BE A LAWYER FOR THE UNITED NATIONS. IT WAS INSPIRING FOR HER TO SEE LAWYERS HELPING PEOPLE.” Lowenstein Client

client explained, “It’s so great that there are services like this – for me and my whole family. Because of your help, we will be able to receive the benefits of citizenship.” In addition to helping clients who had scheduled appointments, the Lowenstein team saw many walk-in clients, meeting at least some of the pent-up need for legal assistance in the area.

Advising Detained Immigrants

This year, the Justice Bus took Lowenstein to Hollister, California, to help immigrants with green cards naturalize and become U.S. citizens. The Lowenstein team assisted 25 individuals during this half-day clinic by providing legal advice, helping them fill out the daunting 21-page application for naturalization (available only in English), and preparing, where applicable, fee-waiver forms. As one

Each year, tens of thousands of immigrants are held in detention centers while in deportation proceedings. They have no right to appointed counsel. And most cannot afford a lawyer, do not speak or understand English, cannot navigate the court system, do not know whether they have legitimate grounds to stay in the U.S., and lack the means to prove their eligibility even if they have a real basis for immigration relief.

Lowenstein lawyers and summer associates help clients apply to become U.S. citizens.

Lowenstein partnered with the American Friends Service Committee’s Immigrant Rights Program and Human Rights First to pilot a one-year program to provide “know your rights” education at immigration detention centers. During these sessions, supervising attorneys from the nonprofits and volunteer lawyers from the firm met with detained immigrants to inform them of their rights, conduct interviews to see if they were eligible for immigration relief, and provide them with legal advice on how to seek that relief. Volunteers also wrote brief synopses of the immigrants’ cases for circulation to a listserve of attorneys who might be able to represent them.


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CIVIL & HUMAN RIGHTS

Reflecting on Decades of Pro Bono Work: David Harris

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David L. Harris, former chair of the Litigation Department and 35-year veteran of the firm, has logged thousands of pro bono hours in civil rights cases over his career.

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n describing a 35-year legal career that is striking for its unwavering commitment to pro bono, David Harris, who retired from Lowenstein last year, eloquently reflects on the causes that have triggered his activist instincts. “Usually people who had power over my clients were abusing their power, and that angered me. Although people in power say they believe in our freedom, they believe in power more. Sometimes you have to protect people you don’t like to protect the freedoms they’re exercising.”

Perhaps no case better exemplifies David’s philosophy than the time he represented a man with an extensive criminal record who had called the police about a domestic dispute. When the police reacted with contempt to the man’s complaint, he pulled out an old copy of the Constitution, claiming he had rights. The cops severely beat him, and he languished in jail for a couple of days before receiving treatment. As Patrick Whalen, a Trenton-based lawyer who worked with David on this and other police brutality matters, recalled, “Everyone at the trial was awed by David’s style and passion. During his closing argument, David rolled around on the floor in front of the jury to illustrate the beating the client endured. Our win in that case set the tone for major changes in Trenton’s police department that reverberate to this day. I learned from a trial lawyer master.” David took on his first pro bono case while still a law student at Rutgers. His client was a local woman whose apartment was invaded by police looking for her absent son. Though the police didn’t have a warrant, they proceeded to terrorize her family and drag her down the stairs, leaving her on the sidewalk in the cold. “The other side couldn’t beat us – the case was too good and too embarrassing for the city,” David recalled. The client, however, attended the same church as the city’s lawyer and was harassed by other church members into accepting a settlement. “After the settlement went on record, my client fell into my arms and said, ‘David, I’m so sorry, I wasn’t strong enough.’ That was my hardest case.” David’s commitment to pro bono has served as an inspiration to Gary Wingens, Lowenstein’s Managing Partner, and many others at the firm. “David’s energy is boundless. He would seamlessly shift from managing these extremely complicated litigation matters for corporate clients to passionately representing disadvantaged individuals and groups against powerful institutions. In his dogged pursuit of justice, his civil rights work often resulted in far-reaching institutional reforms,” said Gary. In a career overflowing with memorable pro bono cases, two lawsuits in which David played a pivotal role stand out. The first, in which Lowenstein served as co-counsel with Children’s Rights, Inc., alleged widespread failures in the state’s child protective services. The pro bono team achieved a wideranging settlement that resulted in wholesale reform of the state’s foster care system.

“IN HIS DOGGED PURSUIT OF JUSTICE, HIS CIVIL RIGHTS WORK OFTEN RESULTED IN FAR-REACHING INSTITUTIONAL REFORMS.” Gary Wingens, Managing Partner

The second matter, which lasted seven years and finally settled in 2014, pitted pro bono plaintiffs Education Law Center, Disability Rights New Jersey, Statewide Parent Advocacy Network, and The Arc against the state Department of Education. The lawsuit aimed to stop the state from violating the rights of children with disabilities to receive a “free and appropriate public education” in the “least restrictive environment,” as guaranteed by federal law. “Some districts do a good job of including children with disabilities in general education classrooms and others do a horrible job. For seven years, the state refused to impose any real restrictions on districts that didn’t integrate kids with disabilities and didn’t have a robust review of education plans,” said David, who led the Lowenstein team. The sweeping settlement requires the state to identify districts that will be subject to intensive training and oversight by a stakeholders’ committee that includes members appointed by the pro bono plaintiffs. Ruth Lowenkron, Senior Staff Attorney at Disability Rights, worked closely with David on the lawsuit. “David was 100% committed to ensuring that children with disabilities were not excluded or provided an inferior education. He litigated the heck out of the case.” As David reflects on the future, he remains hopeful, despite the inequalities that persist. “Lawyers need to find places where they can be the monkey wrench in the oppressive machine. I’ve recently met a lot of young people who are planning to dedicate themselves to charitable work, which has the potential to create a different kind of psyche in this country.” “The firm is extremely proud of David’s accomplishments. He is a shining example of the positive impact pro bono work can have on a lawyer’s community and career,” said Gary. Many others agree. He’s been honored by diverse organizations for his pro bono service, including, most recently, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.


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CIVIL & HUMAN RIGHTS

Championing Law Reform through Friend-of-the-Court Briefs Lowenstein participates in civil rights matters and highimpact law reform cases by filing amicus or “friend-of-thecourt” briefs with the United States Supreme Court, federal circuit courts of appeals, and state supreme courts.

In Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, the United States Supreme Court considered whether two family-owned, for-profit corporations are entitled to a religious exemption from a provision of the Affordable Care Act that would otherwise require them to provide their employees with health insurance coverage for all government-approved contraceptives. Lowenstein filed a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of law professor Frederick Mark Gedicks and 20 other constitutional law scholars urging the Court not to grant the religious exemption. The brief argued that allowing an exemption for those with religious objections to contraception would violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, which prohibits the government from shifting the costs of the exercise of a religious belief from those who practice the religion to those who do not.

In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court granted the corporations the religious exemption, but did so with the understanding that contraceptive coverage can be provided by the government or in another way at little additional cost to the employees – thereby avoiding the cost-shifting that would otherwise be prohibited by the Establishment Clause.

The Constitution protects everyone, even the most unpopular. This was the principle Lowenstein defended in 2014 when, at the request of the New Jersey Supreme Court, the firm filed a friend-of-the-court brief and participated in reargument in In re Civil Commitment of D.Y., on behalf of the ACLU and Disability Rights. The state sought to place D.Y. in indefinite civil commitment after he had served his complete criminal sentence for sexual assault. D.Y. wanted to represent himself during his commitment hearing, but the trial court denied his request, requiring him to appear through appointed counsel instead. D.Y. appealed, asserting that he had as much right to represent himself in his civil commitment proceeding as criminal defendants have at their trials. Unsatisfied with the arguments presented, the state supreme court asked Lowenstein to file an amicus brief. Citing a long tradition of individuals representing themselves in civil commitment proceedings dating back to 13th-century England and continuing throughout the

LAW PROFESSOR AND FORMER FEDERAL APPEALS JUDGE MICHAEL MCCONNELL INCLUDED THE FIRM’S AMICUS BRIEF IN THE SYLLABUS FOR HIS FIRST AMENDMENT CLASS AT NYU LAW SCHOOL IN THE FALL OF 2014.

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state’s history, Lowenstein argued that the federal and state constitutions guarantee D.Y. the right to control his own defense when the state seeks to deprive him of his liberty. In a unanimous opinion, the Court held that state law guarantees individuals facing civil commitment after serving sentences for sex crimes the right to represent themselves so long as they are competent to make the decision to waive counsel.

Standing up for Victims of Human Trafficking Upon referral from the Tahirih Justice Center’s Human Trafficking Pro Bono Legal Center, the firm recently assisted “Marsha,” a trafficked domestic worker, in reporting her traffickers to federal law enforcement authorities. The firm served as Marsha’s representative while she assisted the authorities in their criminal investigation of the trafficking enterprise from which she had escaped. Marsha is a native of Costa Rica who was brought to the United States for what she believed was a legitimate job as a live-in nanny for a wealthy family. Through a church that sponsored domestic workers, Marsha was referred to a family that promised her a salary of $400 per week, which she hoped to use to support her own family in Costa Rica. But Marsha soon realized that everything she was promised was a lie. The family demanded that Marsha work 17 hours a day and paid her a fraction of the salary she had been promised. Her employers deprived her of food and prohibited her from leaving the home; she survived by eating the family’s leftovers from the garbage. Marsha’s employers threatened her with physical harm if she complained, but Marsha had grown physically ill from lack of nutrition and decided she had no choice but to flee. In addition to serving as a liaison to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the firm also secured the help of intergovernmental organizations to assist Marsha with returning to Costa Rica when she expressed a desire to be reunited with her family. These organizations arranged for her to fly back to Costa Rica and, to keep her safe, relocated her and her family to a

HER EMPLOYERS DEPRIVED HER OF FOOD AND PROHIBITED HER FROM LEAVING THE HOME; SHE SURVIVED BY EATING THE FAMILY’S LEFTOVERS FROM THE GARBAGE.

remote area far from the town where she was trafficked. They also gave her six months of transitional funding, monthly stipends, and medical care, and negotiated on her behalf to persuade the Costa Rican government to continue providing benefits to Marsha and her grandchildren.

Defending a Patient’s Right to Treatment and Protection from Harm In 2013, Lowenstein was appointed by a federal district court to represent “Brian” in two federal civil rights lawsuits he had filed arising out of his involuntary commitment to a state psychiatric hospital. The first lawsuit challenged the hospital’s policies regarding escorts and travel between buildings, which had prevented Brian from receiving the mental health treatment he needed because all his assigned therapy programs were held in a building he could not access. The second lawsuit related to the same hospital’s failure to protect Brian from an assault by two violent patients, even though the hospital had learned of these patients’ threats against Brian beforehand. The assault resulted in a permanent injury to Brian’s hand. The Lowenstein team, along with co-counsel at the Seton Hall Center for Social Justice, litigated the case and obtained a favorable monetary settlement for Brian for the deprivation of his civil rights. After almost 12 years of involuntary commitment, Brian has been released from the psychiatric hospital and is using his settlement funds to invest in real estate and pursue higher education.


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ACCESS TO JUSTICE

Expanding Pro Bono Representation for Bankruptcy Clients

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n elderly couple receives harassing phone calls day and night from creditors. A college-educated single mother loses her job during the Great Recession and, after a series of further setbacks, moves back in with her parents before joining the army in an effort to get her life back on track. Parents with two sets of twins find themselves mired in debt after a layoff, fighting creditors who torment the wife’s mother and sister about their family’s financial difficulties.

Stories like these are all too common since the economic downturn in 2008. Eager to assist the ever-increasing number of people buried in insurmountable debt, Volunteer Lawyers for Justice (VLJ) partnered with Merck in 2009 to launch a program that provides legal representation to indigent debtors in Chapter 7 bankruptcy proceedings. A successful Chapter 7 petition releases individual debtors from personal liability for most of their debts and prevents their creditors from taking collection actions against them. Unsurprisingly, the requests for assistance came pouring in. Unable to meet the demand, VLJ and Merck recruited Lowenstein’s bankruptcy lawyers to come on board to take on individual clients and mentor the participating Merck attorneys. “It’s so gratifying that as bankruptcy lawyers we’re helping keep the pro bono commitment alive, particularly in our practice where there hasn’t traditionally been much opportunity for pro bono work,” said Lowenstein Partner Mary Seymour, who oversees the program at the firm. One client, “Anne,” searched the Internet for different programs before landing at VLJ, which sent her to Lowenstein Counsel Cassandra Porter. “I had an absurd amount of debt, and as much as I tried to make the right decisions about how to handle it, I kept making the wrong ones. I was also unemployed. With VLJ’s and Lowenstein’s help, I was able to obtain Chapter 7 relief and join the military without the stress of worrying about how I would pay my many bills and still send money home to my son. Without VLJ’s and Cassandra’s help, I can’t even fathom how I would have handled everything,” said Anne. “Bankruptcy is a solution only to a point. Helping people understand their rights and get beyond daily phone calls and harassment, so they are able to keep up with their bills and adopt solutions and strategies to manage their expenses,

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is extremely rewarding,” said Cassandra, who serves as the liaison between Lowenstein and VLJ. In addition to helping individual clients achieve a fresh financial start, the firm won a significant victory that should clear the way for increased pro bono representation of lowincome bankruptcy petitioners nationwide. In the aftermath of the recession, the demand for pro bono bankruptcy assistance surged. Nationally, personal bankruptcy filings involving pro se debtors increased 208% between 2006 and 2011. Yet bankruptcy is a technical field in which selfrepresentation is perilous. Surveys show that self-represented litigants applying for personal bankruptcy are more than nine times as likely to have their cases dismissed as those who are represented by counsel. VLJ has witnessed firsthand how the recession produced a debt crisis among its low-income clients, and the increased demand for bankruptcy representation has not abated. “The improvement in the economy has not necessarily reached the most vulnerable people. In fact, we don’t advertise the program. We don’t need to. Clients find us. If we advertised, our numbers would explode,” remarked Jessica Kitson, Managing Attorney at VLJ. Despite the acute and growing need, VLJ had trouble convincing law firms to participate in its bankruptcy program. Many firms believed that it would pose a conflict of interest for them to represent low-income debtors while also representing corporate and litigation clients that are common creditors of low-income people – including health care entities, utilities, and communications companies. To address this perceived ethics issue, which significantly impeded broader pro bono participation, VLJ asked Lowenstein to request an ethics opinion from New Jersey’s Advisory Committee on Professional Ethics. Unfortunately, that committee only reinforced concerns about a possible conflict of interest, deferring in its opinion to the potentially “inflated expectations of loyalty” of an “unreasonable client.”

appropriate safeguards, a volunteer attorney may represent a low-income debtor who has no assets available for distribution to creditors in a personal bankruptcy matter even if the attorney’s firm represents one or more of the debtor’s creditors in unrelated matters. The opinion is the first of its kind in the nation by a high court. It should therefore help to dispel unfounded concerns that have long inhibited firms around the country from engaging in pro bono bankruptcy projects. Moreover, in his unanimous opinion for the Court, Chief Justice Stuart Rabner made a strong case for pro bono service in general:

“WE COMMEND THE LAWYERS IN THIS AND OTHER PRO BONO INITIATIVES WHO OFFER THEIR SKILL AND HELP AT A TIME OF NEED. BY DOING SO, THEY HELP BRIDGE THE JUSTICE GAP THAT LEAVES MANY LOW-INCOME RESIDENTS... WITHOUT LEGAL SERVICES.” The clinic has assisted more than 165 clients since 2009. During that time, 48 Merck attorneys, paralegals, and administrative associates and 53 Lowenstein lawyers, summer associates, and other professionals have donated more than 4,700 pro bono hours to the cause. “Lawyers from all over the private bar attended a training at Lowenstein after the court’s ruling and are now expressing interest in participating. We’re in very good shape,” said Jessica, optimistic about the future of the VLJ program.

Believing the Advisory Committee’s opinion to have been mistaken, the firm took an appeal on VLJ’s behalf to the New Jersey Supreme Court. In July 2014, that Court reversed the Advisory Committee, finding that volunteer lawyers staffing the clinic do not face a conflict of interest under the rules that govern the professional conduct of the bar. With


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ACCESS TO JUSTICE

Serving Our Veterans The Veterans Justice Initiative is a partnership founded in 2011 by Merck, Legal Services of Northwest Jersey (LSNWJ), Lowenstein, and Community Hope. Community Hope, itself a long-term pro bono client of the firm, serves veterans and their families and provides transitional and supportive housing for those with substance abuse and

mental health issues. LSNWJ staff attorneys and volunteer attorneys from Merck and Lowenstein provide a range of free legal services to veterans residing at Community Hope, assisting with family law matters, bankruptcy, criminal record expungement, driver’s license restoration, and applications for disability compensation from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Through the Veterans Justice Initiative, Lowenstein also co-counsels with BristolMyers Squibb and Sanofi in VA benefits matters.

“Gary” is a Vietnam-era veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps who was assaulted by fellow Marines during his time in the service and developed debilitating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a result of this incident. Gary sought Lowenstein’s assistance after the VA denied his disability compensation claims for service-connected PTSD because it determined that there was no evidence that Gary was assigned to the navy ship where he claimed that the assault occurred, and that Gary had presented conflicting accounts of the assault.

Vietnam veteran “Gary”

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PH OTO BY B E RN ARD D E L IE RR E

Through Lowenstein’s extensive research and an examination of decades-old military records located at a national archive, the firm was able to demonstrate the VA’s errors on appeal. We located evidence showing that Gary’s unit was assigned to the navy ship where Gary claimed that the assault occurred during the time period that he had identified. We also discovered that the perceived lack of consistency in Gary’s account regarding the location of the assault originated from an error in the notes of a VA social worker who had been counseling Gary. After identifying the mistake to the social worker, he acknowledged the error and issued a written statement of correction that we submitted to the VA in support of Gary’s appeal.


In May 2014, after Gary’s claim had been pending for almost four years, the VA granted our appeal and reversed its decision denying service-connection for Gary’s PTSD. The VA awarded Gary over $1,300 per month in disability compensation, as well as significant retroactive compensation dating back to the filing of his initial claim. This was a tremendous financial victory for Gary, who was behind on rent and facing eviction from his apartment.

WHITE HOUSE FORUM ON INCREASING ACCESS TO JUSTICE The federal Legal Services Corporation, the single largest funder of civil legal aid for low-income Americans, featured the Veterans Justice Initiative in its 2014 White House Forum on Increasing Access to Justice. The Initiative was selected, along with only two other pro bono programs in the nation, as a leading example of service to low-income clients through innovative nonprofit-private partnerships.

Protecting Survivors of Domestic Violence Through partnerships with Partners for Women and Justice, Her Justice, and the Rachel Coalition, the firm represents survivors of domestic violence in obtaining restraining orders against their abusers and resolving custody and child support issues.

“Andrea” had on several occasions been the victim of her boyfriend’s violent temper. The situation came to a head when he started punching Andrea during an argument in her car. Andrea managed to get out of the car and call the police. Her boyfriend fled the scene as the police arrived. Taking note of the visible bruising on her face and upper body, police officers assisted Andrea in obtaining a temporary restraining order. Andrea then turned to Lowenstein to help her obtain a permanent one. The Lowenstein team persuaded the trial court that Andrea was in continuing need of protection from her now ex-boyfriend because of the couple’s cyclical history of violence. The court granted Andrea a final restraining order that prevented her ex-boyfriend from having any contact with her or her four children, and allowed this family to begin rebuilding their lives without fear of further abuse.

“Ruth” struggled to raise her two children comfortably and to make ends meet after her husband became physically

and emotionally abusive before leaving the marital home for another woman. After her estranged husband returned and attempted to strangle her, Ruth got a protective order. The firm represented Ruth in her subsequent child and spousal support proceedings and secured a final order of support. The monthly support is automatically deducted from the estranged husband’s paycheck, so Ruth can now depend on this reliable stream of income, which she uses to pay rent and to purchase food and clothing for her children.

“Tanya” suffered years of abuse at the hands of her boyfriend, with whom she shared a child. She sought a restraining order after her boyfriend threatened her with knives and punched her repeatedly in the face, causing severe injuries and blood loss. Lowenstein represented Tanya in her final restraining order hearing, which was hardfought and tried over the course of two days. Tanya’s now ex-boyfriend argued that Tanya was lying about the abuse in order to obtain a U-Visa, which is a form of immigration relief available to immigrants who have been the victims of crimes while in the United States. He also opposed Tanya’s requests for full custody and the amount of child support she was seeking. Through Tanya’s testimony, the testimony of neighbors who had witnessed the abuse, photographic evidence, and an effective cross-examination of the defendant and his mother, Lowenstein was able to establish the history of abuse and convince the judge that Tanya and her child needed permanent protection. At the close of the trial, the judge granted the final restraining order, and awarded Tanya full custody and a favorable child support payment.


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COMMUNITY BUILDING

Representing Nonprofits

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owenstein represents nonprofit organizations serving low-income communities in matters referred by the Pro Bono Partnership, the Lawyers Alliance for New York, New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, and the Law Foundation of Silicon Valley. On behalf of its nonprofit clients, the firm assists with a wide range of corporate matters, including drafting organizational documents, filing certificates of incorporation, negotiating contracts, advising on employment or governance issues, handling real estate transactions, and managing nonprofit mergers.

The New Jersey Community Development Corporation (NJCDC) is a private, nonprofit community development and social service agency founded in 1994 that provides, among other things, neighborhood revitalization, youth development, education, and affordable housing. NJCDC and its subsidiary, 75 Spruce Street Development, Inc.,

turned to Lowenstein for advice and counsel in a complex refinancing of three multimillion-dollar loans. The funds from these loans were used to construct the Community Charter School of Paterson, an independent public school governed by a board of trustees, community members, and NJCDC representatives that serves 700 children in grades K-6.

Mae Watson Grote, Founder and Executive Director of The Financial Clinic, envisions a nation where everyone is financially secure. To make that vision a reality, she is transforming lessons learned as a welfare advocate into large-scale, system-level solutions and social innovations that allow working low-income individuals to achieve financial stability. The Financial Clinic gives families and individuals the tools they need to address their immediate financial challenges and helps them set long-term financial goals. The Lowenstein team assisted The Financial Clinic by reviewing and preparing a core set of agreements to govern its partnerships with advocacy groups, researchers, think-tanks, practitioners, and policymakers. In addition, the Lowenstein team advised The Financial Clinic on intellectual property matters, ensuring that its website complied with applicable regulations.

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Literacy New Jersey is a nonprofit organization working to change people’s lives by improving their literacy. It offers individualized one-on-one instruction and small group tutoring in basic reading, writing, mathematics, and conversational English for adults. To increase awareness of adult illiteracy and improve the accessibility and sustainability of its programs, the organization decided to merge several affiliates in order to create a statewide volunteer network. Lowenstein assisted with the merger, providing advice on the organizational structure of the newly merged entity, performing due diligence on all the merged entities, and reviewing and revising both organizational and governance documents.

Lowenstein continued its representation of NewSchools Venture Fund, a national nonprofit dedicated to education reform. Through its Seed Fund, NewSchools invests in technology companies focused on improving public education. Among many other interesting transactions, the firm’s Tech Group advised NewSchools on its investments in EdSurge and Newsela, analyzing deal terms and negotiating deal documents. EdSurge is an independent information resource to help educators discover the best education technology products and how to use them, and to inspire developers to build relevant new products. Newsela publishes high-interest news articles daily at five levels of complexity for grades 3-12, coupled with Common Core-aligned quizzes to give educators and parents insight into students’ strengths and weaknesses in reading and critical thinking. Through these investments, NewSchools advanced its goal to integrate promising technologies into public school classrooms.

Lowenstein provided legal advice to the Black Maria Film Festival, a project of the Thomas A. Edison Media Arts Consortium. This film festival is an annual juried international competition of short films in all genres. Following the Festival’s premier in February, it travels throughout the year and is hosted by notable institutions across the United States and abroad, such as the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., among many others.

Winners of Director’s Choice Awards at Black Maria Film Festival

Lowenstein assisted the organization with the review and revision of its bylaws and film-submission guidelines. The firm has also advised on several intellectual property, corporate, and insurance matters.

For more than a dozen years, Lowenstein has partnered with Kids Corp, a nonprofit provider of academic and health care programs for families in Newark. In December 2014, the firm represented Kids Corp in the sale of approximately 123 acres of land to a municipality that has promised to preserve the property as open space. Kids Corp had used the property for more than 20 years as a summer camp and mountain classroom for Newark’s children. The sale will enable Kids Corp to move its summer camp operations closer to Newark, which will allow it to advance its mission more efficiently and effectively.


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COMMUNITY BUILDING

•

Pursuing Patents for Low-Income Inventors Through the California Lawyers for the Arts Inventors Assistance Program, Lowenstein represents low-income inventors seeking patents. The program capitalizes on the unique skills of patent attorneys and agents by pairing them with low-income inventors to file patent applications or assist with appeals. Permanent magnet alternator with removable stator coils

In one case this year, the firm helped a client, Moderustic, keep its patent. Moderustic had acquired two patents for methods of creating tumbled, tempered glass fragments for use in fireplaces or fire pits. Moderustic had exhausted its resources with prior counsel in an unsuccessful defense of one of its patents, and that patent was invalidated on the ground that Moderustic’s method too closely resembled an earlier method. Prior counsel had also been

unsuccessful in persuading the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) that the method in Moderustic’s remaining patent was novel enough to warrant continued protection, and that patent was also on the verge of being invalidated. Lowenstein stepped in to make the case, negotiating with the USPTO and drafting an amendment that sufficiently distinguished the Moderustic method from the earlier one, enabling the client to maintain its valuable patent.

Another patent pro bono client sent this letter to his lawyer: We feel extremely fortunate that you were assigned to review and revise our feeble attempt at preparing a nonprovisional patent application. The extra effort and thoughtfulness you put into our modest project were far beyond our expectations, and we are very grateful. We were impressed by your ability to quickly gain a thorough understanding of the subject matter and by your initiative in converting the primitive hand-drawn figures to professional renderings. Your informed fineViews of a Protective Sheath for Chest Catheters

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Representing Start-ups in Low-Income Neighborhoods Through a partnership that began in 2012, Lowenstein, the Law and Social Entrepreneurship Association at NYU Law School, and Rising Tide Capital, a community development organization, have worked together to provide legal assistance to start-ups based in low-income neighborhoods. Lowenstein lawyers and NYU law students facilitate workshops for small business owners and represent entrepreneurs whose business plans have advanced to the stage where legal assistance is necessary.

Lowenstein attorneys and two first-year NYU law students teamed up to represent entrepreneur Rene Mayo with her start-up company, Noggin Seeds LLC – a website design and commercial and video production company. The team conducted a thorough review of Noggin Seeds’ form

tuning and text clarifications resulted in a finished product that fully conforms to the USPTO standards, giving it a far better chance of acceptance. We appreciated your collaborative approach, and your willingness to entertain all questions, no matter how obtuse, allowed us the freedom to ask those questions without feeling self-conscious. You promptly addressed the few discrepancies that we identified, whether by correction or discussion. Your invaluable contributions will make an enormous difference in how the application is evaluated by the USPTO. We would recommend you without reservation to anyone seeking patent counsel and/or application preparation.

contracts and determined that they contained a number of unfavorable terms that created risk for the business. As Rene explained: “Discussing my business with Kim Diamond and her team in order to revise and legally structure my contracts opened up my eyes to a ton of pitfalls that were created by not using the right amount of detail; too much can be just as detrimental as too little. This has allowed me to avoid issues in business that were recurring for me, as well as to become more effective in negotiation.” The team substantially revised all the form agreements in a manner that provided both Rene and her company with legal safeguards, while promoting Noggin Seeds’ best interests from a business perspective. Noggin Seeds has been able to thrive with these foundational documents in place. “Having these protective documents allows me to have peace of mind while doing business, and helps to brand my company as fair and professional,” said Rene.

“DISCUSSING MY BUSINESS WITH KIM DIAMOND AND HER TEAM IN ORDER TO REVISE AND LEGALLY STRUCTURE MY CONTRACTS OPENED UP MY EYES TO A TON OF PITFALLS THAT WERE CREATED BY NOT USING THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF DETAIL; TOO MUCH CAN BE JUST AS DETRIMENTAL AS TOO LITTLE. THIS HAS ALLOWED ME TO AVOID ISSUES IN BUSINESS THAT WERE RECURRING FOR ME, AS WELL AS TO BECOME MORE EFFECTIVE IN NEGOTIATION.” Rene Mayo, Noggin Seeds LLC


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HOUSING

Keeping People in Their Homes

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onsider these facts: Essex County is home to more than 20% of the state’s public assistance recipients. Welfare amounts have not increased in more than 20 years, while housing costs have risen exponentially. More than 40,000 eviction actions are filed in the county annually, causing the displacement of tens of thousands of people. Felipe Chavana, Executive Director of Essex-Newark Legal Services (ENLS), an organization that provides free legal services to low-income clients, recites these grim statistics to emphasize the urgent plight of the people who walk through ENLS’s doors every day.

It was against this backdrop that Alan V. Lowenstein, founder of Lowenstein Sandler and a longtime supporter of ENLS, saw an opportunity for the firm’s lawyers to fulfill their professional responsibility to give back to their communities. He approached Felipe in 1990 to propose a special partnership that would allow Lowenstein associates to gain client and courtroom experience while providing the organization the equivalent of an additional fulltime staff lawyer whose salary would be absorbed by the firm. The resulting fellowship program, now approaching its 25th year, permits Lowenstein associates to work in ENLS’s housing unit for rotating full-time terms of four to six months. “Since the fellowship program’s inception, Lowenstein associates have in effect collectively added a full-time attorney to our ranks – that’s thousands of cases we would not have been able to take on but for the existence of the Lowenstein fellows. The impact of the program has been huge,” said Felipe. In addition to its housing work, ENLS provides legal assistance in the areas of government benefits, consumer law, family law, elder law, and safety net case management for the homeless. At its height, the organization handled 5,500 cases annually. “Now we’re down to about 3,500 cases, not because the need has decreased but because of budget cuts, which have impacted our staffing levels and our hours of operation. Approximately half of our cases are housing-related,” said Felipe. “While the vast majority of landlords are represented by counsel in eviction actions, 99% of tenants are not,” said Lowenstein Associate Meg Slachetka, who served as a fellow in 2014. Due to staff reductions, ENLS is unable to accompany most clients to housing court. “The ENLS lawyers prepare the clients, type up the documentation, and counsel them on what to say in court. This sometimes

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EFFECT OF BUDGET CUTS ON NUMBER OF CASES ENLS HANDLES ANNUALLY 5500 5000

At the height of the organization

4500 Today

4000 3500

ENLS anticipates receiving an increase in funding in 2015, which will allow the organization to hire additional staff lawyers and return to a five-day workweek. “Our clients face dire consequences without representation. It’s our imperative to squeeze in as many clients as we can so they don’t experience the horrors of homelessness,” said Felipe, determined that ENLS will continue to make a positive and long-lasting difference in the lives of the people who seek its assistance.

CASES HANDLED ANNUALLY

works, but if there’s a language barrier or the client has a disability, it can be a real challenge. As a fellow, however, I was able to take on full representation of as many clients as I could handle, which meant that I often appeared in court three times per week.” From the professional satisfaction of winning cases before a judge to the personal sense of accomplishment that derives from helping families stay in their homes, working at ENLS has had an immeasurable impact on the Lowenstein fellows. “I can’t say that my Lowenstein corporate clients have hugged me before, but whenever I went to court for ENLS and presented a case, every single client hugged and thanked me. You realize that you have made a tremendous difference in the lives of these people and their families,” said Meg. For Lowenstein Associate Frank Catalina, who was a fellow in 2011, the experience improved his interpersonal and problem-solving skills. “When you have your own cases with your own clients, you need to deal with everything that entails – from going to court with less than perfect information to working out a deal in the courthouse hallway to learning new facts on the fly.” Lowenstein Partner Miguel Pozo has vivid memories of his tenure as an ENLS fellow in the late 1990s, particularly of his clients’ children. “The clients are not people who suddenly decide to stop paying their rent. They are usually struggling with precarious life situations beyond their control. If the clients are evicted, their children might end up in shelters or foster care. By helping the parents keep their homes, you’re altering the course of their children’s lives in a very dramatic way.”

Achieving Compliance with Affordable Housing Obligations In a unanimous decision in the continuing litigation over how to achieve compliance with affordable housing obligations, the New Jersey Supreme Court held that lowand moderate-income families and their advocates may challenge exclusionary zoning in court, rather than having to wait for the Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) to issue rules that may never come. The decision is a victory for balanced planning aimed at the inclusion of households of all income levels in our communities. In an earlier decision, the Supreme Court invalidated the last iteration of rules COAH had issued to enforce the state constitution and the Fair Housing Act. Despite numerous court orders, COAH failed to adopt revised rules at all, let alone rules that complied with the court’s decision. Leading up to this standstill, the firm filed another friend-of-thecourt brief on behalf of New Jersey Future, the American Planning Association, and the Housing and Community Development Network calling for an end to the 15-year wait for COAH to fulfill its duties. Under the recent decision, municipalities will have a 120day window to go to court to demonstrate compliance with their affordable housing obligations. After that, municipalities may face litigation if they fail to zone for residences affordable to low-income seniors, people with disabilities, and working families who want to live near their jobs and where their children can go to good schools.


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CRIMINAL JUSTICE

Challenging the Transfer of Juveniles to Adult Prison

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hen he was a teenager, “Yamin” was sentenced by the family court to serve six years in the custody of the Juvenile Justice Commission (JJC). While there, he received and responded positively to rehabilitative and educational programming. Then one day, an administrator told him he was being recommended for transfer to an adult prison within the Department of Corrections (DOC) because of earlier disciplinary problems. “I was never supposed to leave,” he said. “I was supposed to stay here where my judge sent me to stay.” Although Yamin contacted his lawyer, JJC policy at the time did not allow lawyers to appear at transfer hearings. Instead, the JJC appointed one of its own employees to serve as Yamin’s representative, but this “ombudsman” did not investigate or present any evidence to counter the transfer recommendation – such as Yamin’s improved behavior or his progress in school and counseling. The JJC also did not disclose the full record to Yamin. After a 10-minute hearing where no witnesses were called, the JJC approved Yamin’s transfer. The Rutgers-Newark Criminal & Youth Justice Clinic (Rutgers Clinic), which had represented Yamin since he first entered JJC custody, appealed. The appellate court ordered a new hearing on whether Yamin should have been transferred

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in the first place. In addition, the court asked for evidence that would inform its later consideration of what process is due to juveniles facing transfer to an adult prison. The Rutgers Clinic teamed up with Lowenstein and the ACLU to prepare for this trial. “Our timeline was tight,” recalled Lowenstein Pro Bono Counsel Natalie Kraner. “We worked with several renowned experts to develop a record that would help the court understand what it means for a teenager to be placed in an adult prison system and subjected to extended solitary confinement.” “Lowenstein lawyers were in the adult prison with Yamin on a regular basis,” added Professor Laura Cohen of the Rutgers Clinic. “Having that kind of interaction with the team sent him a clear message that due process could be achieved.” The team’s hard work paid off. On the morning of the hearing, the attorney general offered to settle the case, and Yamin was transferred back to the JJC the following day.

“I WAS NEVER SUPPOSED TO LEAVE. I WAS SUPPOSED TO STAY HERE WHERE MY JUDGE SENT ME TO STAY.” “Yamin,” Lowenstein Pro Bono Client

Yamin’s drawing of the 6 X 8 ft. cell where he was confined for at least 22 hours per day for 100 days

“The transfer to an adult facility has enormous and lifelong consequences for these kids,” said Professor Cohen. Soon after he arrived at the adult prison, Yamin was placed in solitary confinement for 10 days and administrative segregation for 90 days because a guard found toilet paper stuffed inside the lock to his cell. During this period, he was confined to his cell at least 22 hours per day. He received no education, therapy, or rehabilitative programming. He had no contact with his family. He had no access to books, magazines, music, crosswords, or anything else that would stimulate his brain. He lost 30 pounds. And he lost hope. Yamin recalls talking to himself and having “crazy thoughts,” which he had no way to stop except by trying to sleep all day and night. Once Yamin returned to the general prison population, his situation did not greatly improve. He lost almost a year of progress in his rehabilitative and therapeutic programs. He was also cut off from his family: “I did not speak to my grandmother or any other relative for the 11 months I was in the DOC,” Yamin recalled.

a right to appointed counsel, an adequate opportunity to be heard, and an impartial decision-maker, among other things. New Jersey is one of only a handful of states that permit youth who have been sentenced to a juvenile facility to be transferred to adult prisons, and the only state that fails to provide counsel in this situation. “The Office of the Public Defender has said that it would represent the kids, most of whom they already represented at the trial level,” said Alexander Shalom, Senior Staff Attorney at the ACLU. Lowenstein, along with co-counsel, is now representing a coalition that includes the ACLU, Advocates for Children, the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, the Office of the Public Defender, the Parents’ Caucus, RutgersCamden Children’s Justice Clinic, and the RutgersNewark Criminal & Youth Justice Clinic, in urging the Appellate Division to invalidate the transfer regulations.

The story might have ended when Yamin returned to the JJC, except the JJC has since adopted revised transfer regulations that continue to lack basic protections such as


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CRIMINAL JUSTICE

MORE THAN Petitioning for Clemency to Reduce Unfair Sentences In January 2014, the U.S. Department of Justice announced a new initiative to grant executive clemency to reduce the sentences of certain federal prisoners. To qualify, a prisoner must • have been sentenced to a longer term than would be legal under current sentencing law and policy, • have no history of violence,

30,000 INMATES RESPONDED to a survey by the Federal Bureau of Prisons and requested help in preparing clemency petitions.

• have been a low-level offender without significant ties to any large-scale criminal organization, • have been incarcerated for at least 10 years, and • have demonstrated good conduct in prison. More than 30,000 inmates responded to a survey sent by the Federal Bureau of Prisons and requested help in preparing clemency petitions. The Department of Justice must consider, and the President must decide upon, each of these petitions before January 2017, when the President leaves office. Clemency Project 2014 – a coalition of several organizations committed to fair sentencing policies, including the American Bar Association, the ACLU, Families Against Mandatory Minimums, the Federal Defenders, and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers – was formed to help implement the initiative. Working with the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, the Clemency Project has reached out to private law firms to evaluate whether applicants qualify for clemency and, if so, to file clemency petitions on their behalf. In consultation with the Clemency Project, Lowenstein helped lay the groundwork for participation by the private bar, drafting agreements that will enable information-sharing with the Clemency Project while also preserving client confidences. Meanwhile, under the leadership of the firm’s White Collar Group, volunteers have completed intensive training in the intricacies of federal sentencing law and have undertaken representation of their clemency clients.

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Securing Health Care for Inmates In June 2014, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit rendered an important decision in Parsons v. Ryan, upholding the certification of a class of inmates who challenged the systematic denial of basic health care in Arizona prisons. Lowenstein had filed an amicus brief on behalf of leading national nonprofits including the American Friends Service Committee, the Center for Children’s Law and Policy, Children’s Rights, the Impact Fund, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, the National Center for Youth Law, the National Disability Rights Network, the National Immigrant Justice Center, the National Juvenile Defender Center, the Pacific Juvenile Defender Center, The Arc, and the Youth Law Center. These organizations advocate for immigrants, foster children, people with disabilities, juvenile offenders, and other populations who often end up in government custody. The amicus brief argued that class certification is appropriate when groups like these are exposed to a common, unreasonable risk of harm because of government action or inaction. The Ninth Circuit agreed.

Shortly after the decision, the parties settled the case on behalf of a class of more than 33,000 inmates in Arizona’s state prisons. Under the settlement, the Arizona Department of Corrections (ADC) must fix its broken health care system, meeting more than 100 health care performance measures. The ADC will monitor prisoners with diabetes, hypertension, and other chronic conditions; care for pregnant prisoners; and provide dental care. In addition, ADC will overhaul the rules governing solitary confinement for prisoners with mental illness, ensuring them more time out of their cells and increased access to mental health treatment.

• The coalition has attracted the attention of national foundations that will help sponsor a multiyear campaign aimed at the twin goals of creating viable alternatives to incarceration and insisting on more humane treatment of juveniles in state custody.

Reforming the Juvenile Justice System Through a coalition that we helped form two years ago with prominent academics, nonprofits, and the Office of the Public Defender, we have begun to reduce the harms suffered by juveniles in state custody for delinquency. In addition to litigation challenging transfers from juvenile custody to adult prisons, the coalition has engaged in a number of advocacy and reform efforts. • We conducted nationwide research on the use of solitary confinement in juvenile facilities that has garnered considerable press attention. Other advocates have relied on these data in successful campaigns to eliminate or limit the use of isolation in states and cities around the country.

Drawing of solitary confinement wing by juvenile in detention

• We are seeking through executive and legislative advocacy to eliminate or reduce the use of punitive solitary confinement in local juvenile facilities. • The coalition has hosted roundtables with various stakeholders – including police, corrections officers, prosecutors, public defenders, parents of children in the justice system, young adults who were in the system, legislators, and judges – to discuss and initiate reforms.


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COMMUNITY SERVICE

Lowenstein in the Community

550 300 125 1,000 pounds of food donated

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hours of volunteer service


care packages for foster youth

toys donated to children in need

COMMUNITY SERVICE ACTIVITIES • Through partner Together We Rise, created “Sweet Cases,” duffel bags filled with blankets, toys, coloring books and crayons, stuffed animals, and hygiene kits for foster children in all communities where the firm has offices • Through Project Cicero, collected books for donation to underresourced schools • Participated in Story by Story with Her Justice, climbing 43 flights of stairs to raise money for legal services for survivors of domestic violence • Prepared a meal at Community Soup Kitchen and Outreach Center • Through partner New York Cares, served a meal at the Carter Burden Center for Aging

• Through partner Jersey Cares, staffed the Community Food Bank’s mobile food pantry, which provides food staples to people without transportation • Sorted and organized food at the Second Harvest Food Bank’s distribution center • Collected over 300 pounds of food for Community Food Bank • Collected over 100 pounds of food for City Harvest

• With partner Kids Corp, collected more than 900 holiday gifts for Newark children in need • Participated in the Ronald McDonald House Stanford’s annual wishing tree drive, donating toys and gifts to children with cancer • Within months of opening the D.C. office, adopted two families for the holidays through the Salvation Army’s Christmas Angel Tree program.

• Collected food and funds for clients of Family & Children Services of Silicon Valley • Participated in the first Silicon Valley Gives Day by asking staff to contribute lunch money to the Ecumenical Hunger Program


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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

LOWENSTEIN WORKS WITH AND CONTRIBUTES TO A WIDE ARRAY OF NONPROFITS, INCLUDING: ACLU

Impact Fund

Advocates for Children of New Jersey

Innocence Project

American Conference on Diversity

Jersey Battered Women’s Services

American Friends Service Committee

Justice & Diversity Center of the Bar Association of San Francisco

American Heart Association

Kids Corp

American Planning Association

Kids In Need of Defense (KIND)

Big Brothers Big Sisters

Law Foundation of Silicon Valley

Black Maria Film Festival California Lawyers for the Arts CASA for Children of Essex County Center for Children’s Law and Policy Children’s Rights City Bar Justice Center Community Hope Cure Breast Cancer Foundation Cycle for Survival

Tahirih Justice Center The Arc

NJ LEEP

Thurgood Marshall College Fund

Legal Aid Society of New York Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County Legal Outreach Legal Services Foundation of Essex County Legal Services of New Jersey

Essex County Family Justice Center

National Alliance on Mental Illness

Essex County Legal Aid Association

National Center for Youth Law

Housing and Community Development Network

Statewide Parent Advocacy Network

Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law

Minding Our Business

Horizons Newark

New York Lawyers for the Public Interest

Seton Hall Law School

The Financial Clinic

Education Law Center

Her Justice

New Jersey Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts

Rutgers University Law Schools

NewSchools Venture Fund

Literacy New Jersey

Hedge Funds Care

New Jersey Parents’ Caucus

Rising Tide Capital

Lawyers Alliance for New York

Disability Rights New Jersey

Habitat for Humanity

New Jersey Institute for Social Justice

Rachel Coalition

The Acceleration Project

Diabetes Coalition of California

Free the Slaves

New Jersey Future

R Baby Foundation

Newark Day Center

Legal Services of Northwest Jersey

Essex-Newark Legal Services

New Jersey Community Development Corporation

National Disability Rights Network National Immigrant Justice Center National Juvenile Defender Center National Legal Aid & Defender Association National Multiple Sclerosis Society

Human Rights First

North Star Academy Charter School

Together We Rise

NYU School of Law

Uncommon Schools

OneJustice

Volunteer Lawyers for Justice

Our House Foundation

Wounded Warriors Family Support

Pacific Juvenile Defender Center

Wynona’s House

Partners for Women and Justice

Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights

Pro Bono Institute

Youth Law Center

Pro Bono Partnership

THE FIRM ALSO PARTNERS WITH CORPORATE LEGAL DEPARTMENTS AND VENDORS IN ITS PRO BONO PROGRAM, INCLUDING: Corporate Partners:

Vendors:

Bristol-Myers Squibb

Images by Bernard Delierre

Hewlett-Packard

Morningside Translations

Merck

Pro Bono Speaks

Prudential

Thomson Reuters WestLaw

Sanofi

TranZlations, Inc.

Wyndham

Veritext

Lowenstein accepts requests for individual pro bono assistance through referrals from approved legal services organizations. Individuals in need of pro bono legal help should contact their local legal services organization or bar association or visit www.lawhelp.org.

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PRO BONO COMMITTEE Matthew Boxer

Natalie J. Kraner

Thomas E. Redburn

Eric David Weinstock

Lowell A. Citron

Amiad Kushner

Mary E. Seymour

Catherine Weiss

David L. Harris

Allen B. Levithan

R. Scott Thompson

Benjamin A. Kimes

Miguel A. Pozo

Eric J. Weiner

STAFF OF THE LOWENSTEIN CENTER FOR THE PUBLIC INTEREST Joan O. Arbolante

Jeseñia Brown

Natalie J. Kraner

Denise Panzer

David Banker

Frank T.M. Catalina

Reynold Lambert

Brianne Perlman

Lawrence Bluestone

Jamie Kapalko

Robert J. Menendez

Catherine Weiss

CORE VALUES When you embrace core values that make you different, it radiates throughout your community and helps to elevate everything you do. And when you honor the trust people place in you, others return that trust. When you bring an entrepreneurial mind-set to the table, you help others see the possibilities of newer, better ideas. And when you anticipate rather than respond, problems can become opportunities. When you’re passionate and creative, you inspire passion and creativity around you. And when you’re generous, you can help people do things they never dreamed they’d do. When you work to connect clients and communities, you help connect them with unimaginable success.

IT’S A DIFFERENT WAY OF THINKING FOR A LAW FIRM, AND WE’RE PROUD TO SHARE IT WITH YOU.

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