VOLUNTEER LAWYERS FOR JUSTICE INC

VLJ is a comprehensive, statewide pro bono program for New Jersey based in Newark. VLJ’s mission is to improve the lives of economically disadvantaged and at-risk adults, children and families in New Jersey by empowering them with the tools, advice and pro bono representation to obtain fair and equal treatment within the legal system. VLJ provides education, counseling, advice and direct legal services to the over 400,000, or one out of three, New Jersey residents living at or below poverty who face a civil legal problem each year. Created in 2001 by a small group of advocates concerned about the scarcity of free legal services for the poor, VLJ has grown from an Essex County-based program run by one part-time staff person relying on thirty volunteers, to a statewide organization with a staff of twelve, including eight legal staff, and more than fifteen hundred volunteers who have donated their time and expertise to assist thousands of indigent clients in almost every area of civil law.

VLJ currently operates a number of distinct legal programs in the areas of bankruptcy, family, consumer, special education, veteran’s assistance, prisoner reentry and disaster response. Those programs include legal counsel and advice clinics, educational or "know your rights" seminars, and direct referral of cases to volunteer attorneys who are trained, recruited and mentored by VLJ. VLJ’s programs have garnered several awards including the New Jersey State Bar Association's Pro Bono Award, The Community Builder Award from the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice and the Bernard Kuttner Award from the Essex County Bar Association.

The goal of VLJ is to provide innovative, effective and efficient programs to respond to large groups of people in emergent need. VLJ regularly launches projects to respond to emergent needs in the community, and does so in reliance on thousand of advocates who donate their time to assist those in critical need.

VLJ operates legal education seminars through which it educates the public as to how to resolve legal issues they may be facing; legal clinics at courthouses and otherwise through which volunteers provide legal counsel and advice in specific legal matters; and a direct representation program through which volunteers directly assist specific clients with their legal cases from beginning to end