Rutgers Law School’s clinics in Camden and Newark have a long-standing reputation for excellence. This year, the program is set to advance further with the appointment of two new associate deans for clinical education: Sandra Simkins in Camden and Randi Mandelbaum in Newark.
Here, get to know the new deans, learn about their goals for clinical education at Rutgers Law, and discover what’s in store under their leadership.
Sandra Simkins, associate dean for clinical education, Camden
Professor of Law Sandra Simkins is returning to the role of associate dean for clinical education after a hiatus of several years. As the director and co-founder of the Children’s Justice Clinic, a former MacArthur Grant recipient, and Department of Justice Due Process Monitor, Simkins brings with her a wealth of experience, including valuable insights gained from managing Rutgers Law’s externship program, teaching legal writing, and serving as dean of students.
“What appealed to me most about returning to this role was the amount of expansion that has happened over the past couple of years,” she says. Previously focused on honing direct representation skills, Rutgers Law’s clinics have expanded their offerings thanks to increased funding. Now, students can explore additional clinical opportunities in legislative advocacy, entrepreneurship, medical/legal partnerships, and more. “Clinic remains the best experience you can have in law school, and it’s the most exciting capstone experience because it’s the only place where students get to be lawyers serving real clients with real cases and high stakes,” says Simkins. “Clinic has always been amazing but, with new funding, we’ve been able to create new programs, which is exciting.” Simkins is also excited about investing in the next generation of clinical teachers and
supporting them in their own scholarship. The large number of clinicians at both law schools presents a great opportunity for new clinicians to create a community and learn from each other while they teach students and represent clients. Additionally, one of Simkins’ key goals going forward is to foster a sense of community among clinic students. “I want to create opportunities for students to learn not just from their own clinic experiences, but also from other students in different clinics,” she explains. Randi Mandelbaum, associate dean for clinical education, Newark
Randi Mandelbaum, professor of law and founding director of the Child Advocacy Clinic, most recently served as deputy director of clinical education on the Newark campus. As such, stepping into the role of associate dean was a natural progression. “It’s an honor and a privilege to lead what I’ve always believed is a wonderful and strong clinical program,” she says.
Mandelbaum’s immediate focus is on launching two new clinics in Newark: the Ruth Bader Ginsburg Women’s Rights and Gender Justice Clinic, supported by a generous external grant, and the Mediation Clinic, funded by
the New Jersey State Bar Foundation. “We’re expanding rapidly, so I want to ensure these new clinics have a strong footing and are able to thrive,” she explains. This involves securing appropriate office space and hiring and onboarding new staff. She also expressed the need to support junior clinicians, who are now on the tenure-track. “These faculty members now have the added responsibility of conducting research and publishing scholarship,” Mandelbaum notes. “I want to make sure they are fully supported.”
In addition to these immediate goals, Mandelbaum is committed to the ongoing growth of the clinical program. She faces the challenge of balancing a high demand for clinical opportunities with limited available spots, all while ensuring that the Newark clinics continue to meet the needs of the local and statewide community. “Clinical education serves a dual purpose: training law students to be excellent and reflective practitioners, while also addressing community needs,” she explains. “My goal is for our programs to continue to grow and evolve in a way that supports this dual mission.”
Clinical Programs Receive Major Grant from NJSBF
The New Jersey State Bar Foundation awarded more than $4 million in multi-year grants to support new and existing law school clinics at Rutgers Law School in both Camden and Newark.
In keeping with the foundation’s mission of advancing the profession of law through public service, more than $6.4 million in new funding provided will support 14 clinics at Rutgers and Seton Hall law schools in New Jersey.
“Clinics give law students practical experience in providing legal aid in the areas of public
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service, social justice, gender justice, family law, mediation, entrepreneurship and more,” said Charlie Stoia, president of the New Jersey State Bar Foundation. “We are thrilled to provide funding to help prepare students for the practice of law.”
In Rutgers Law’s Clinical Program, about 250 law students provide pro bono legal services to over 500 clients each year. With the new grant funding, approximately 50-60 more clinical law students will be able to participate in the clinics each year and support additional clients.
“Rutgers Law School extends our deepest gratitude to the New Jersey State Bar Foundation for its generous commitment to our life-changing clinical programs,” said Johanna Bond, Rutgers Law School Dean. “This funding allows us to continue providing the highest caliber legal training for our clinical students, support innovation for clinical professors, and ensure a positive impact on the communities we serve.”
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Rutgers Law School Associate Dean for Clinical Education–Newark Randi Mandelbaum
Rutgers Law School Associate Dean for Clinical Education–Camden Sandra Simkins
Child Advocacy Clinic Co-Hosts Two National Conferences
Randi Mandelbaum, Director of the Child Advocacy Clinic (CAC), is excited to report that the CAC co-hosted two successful national conferences this year. The first conference, co-sponsored by the Rutgers Center for Gender Justice and Law, the Rutgers Women’s Rights Law Review, and the Rutgers Institute for Professional Education took place on October 12, 2023, focusing on the question of how the child welfare system should be transformed. Titled “What’s Next? Supporting Children, Youth and Families in a Post-Abolition World,” it was attended by over 80 people at the law school, and roughly 150 people on Zoom.
The conference adopted the presumption that the child welfare system is dysfunctional, harmful, and racist, and focused its attention on solutions and how the system can be reimagined in both the short and long terms. The day opened with Professor of Law, Emerita, Jane Spinak, from Columbia Law School, discussing her new book, “The End of Family Court: How Abolishing the Court Brings Justice to Children and Families.” It was followed by four panels made up of academics, practitioners, and lived experts
CONTENTS
Participants attend “What’s Next?: Supporting Children, Youth & Families in a Post Abolition World” Conference in October 2023 at Rutgers Law School.
(youth and parents with experience in child welfare in New Jersey and New York.) Perhaps the most powerful panel was the very first one, which consisted solely of impacted youth and parents, who discussed their experiences in an incredibly candid and impassioned manner.
The second conference took place on June 14, 2024, and was centered around the issue of how child welfare agencies across the country could better support immigrant children and youth in its custody. Professor Mandelbaum and Professor Joanne Gottesman, Director of the Immigrant Justice Clinic, partnered with Casey Family Programs, in planning and sponsoring this convening. They were aided by a planning committee of exceptional advocates from across the country who have knowledge and experience with this issue. Nine jurisdictions were targeted and child welfare agency leaders, attorneys who represent children in child protection proceedings, and immigration practitioners were invited from each of these nine places. The day was filled with presentations to educate the attendees,
as well as two breakout groups, one in the morning based upon the role of the person, and one in the afternoon, formulated by jurisdiction. Feedback from the day was extraordinary, with many attendees exclaiming that such a convening has long been needed. Copious notes were taken and have now been compiled into a report by Casey Family Programs. The planning committee intends to review this report in order to plan next steps.
Both Professors Mandelbaum and Gottesman are excited to be part of this important work, which is based upon the project they co-lead, where staff attorneys (Cosette Douglas, Ariela Herzog, Cesarina Pena, and Elizabeth Yaeger) from their two respective clinics represent all children in New Jersey’s foster care system who need an immigration attorney. This program is viewed as a national model and the “gold standard.” They were eager to invite their collaborators from the New Jersey Department of Children and Families to present at the Convening on their joint project.
New Jersey Innocence Project Hosts Summit
The New Jersey Innocence Project at Rutgers hosted the 2024 Northeast Mid-Atlantic Regional Innocence Summit. Nine network organizations across six states participated in the summit at Rutgers Law School in Newark in June. Attendees tackled important topics including bottlenecks in case development, bringing race to the forefront of innocence work, and using data to advance litigation. They
also made art at GlassRoots, a local nonprofit, dined at Vibe BBQ, and received media training from Slowey McManus Communications.
the video “Rutgers Advocates for Innocence”
The New Jersey Innocence Project at Rutgers hosted the Innocence Network’s 2024 Northeast Mid-Atlantic Regional Summit at the law school in Newark in June 2024.
Clinic’s Advocacy Frees Youth from Lifelong Registry
The Criminal and Youth Justice Clinic (CYJC) achieved a significant victory in the New Jersey Supreme Court on July 1, when the Court held that youth placed on the sex offender registry have the right to be removed at any time, as long as they can prove they are not likely to pose a threat to the safety of others.
Under the previous interpretation of the law, children on the registry were required to wait 15 years before they could apply to be taken off. If they had any subsequent offense—even a petty crime like disorderly conduct—they were barred permanently from removal.
The clinic served as amicus curiae and represented the ACLU of New Jersey on this case (In the Matter of Registrant R.H.) as well as a companion case (In the Matter of Registrant J.A.), which raised a constitutional challenge to prohibiting the removal of youth with subsequent delinquency offenses from the registry.
Professor of Law and CYJC Director Laura Cohen has been concerned about the inclusion of children and adolescents on the state’s sex offender registry for the last decade.
“Registered youth are stigmatized in myriad ways and with devastating consequences,” she explains. “They often cannot live with their families, are excluded from public housing, and become homeless at a young age. They can be pushed out of school, sports, and community organizations, and face difficulty obtaining and holding a job. And, they may suffer vigilante violence and are often social outcasts.”
“As a result of this ostracization, they have disproportionately high rates of sexual victimization, depression, and suicide,” Cohen points out. “Worse still, there is no legitimate public safety justification for inflicting these harms on young people.”
In fact, while the registry was created to protect the public from sex offenders considered predatory and irredeemable, two decades of data has shown that the recidivism rate for children who commit sex crimes is lower than 3 percent—far lower than the rates for almost any other cohort of people entangled in the legal system.
“For all these reasons, over the last several years, the CYJC has pursued various litigation and policy advocacy avenues toward removing youth from the registry in New Jersey,” Cohen says. “It’s important to remember that children found to have committed offenses still are held accountable and face significant consequences for their actions including, often, incarceration. Registration is an additional, potentially lifelong penalty that bears no rational relationship to community safety or children’s wellbeing.”
For former clinic student Emma Enright ’24, drafting and finalizing the J.A. brief not only provided an “incredible and valuable” learning experience, but also completely transformed her opinion on the sex offender registry and its requirements.
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Education and Health Law Clinic Represents Children’s Advocates in Landmark Settlement
For children with disabilities, the timely implementation of special education programming and services is crucial for their learning, literacy, and overall development. This urgency is reflected in the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which mandates that disputes over special education services be resolved within 45 days. However, a recent class action lawsuit including more than 5,000 children with disabilities and their families revealed that the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) has failed to meet this requirement for decades.
On April 11, 2024, in C.P. v. New Jersey Department of Education, a U.S. district judge approved a settlement that can begin to right these wrongs. Playing a significant role in this achievement was the Rutgers Education and Health Law Clinic (EHLC), which represented several non-profit advocacy organizations as amici curiae throughout the litigation.
Making a Difference for New Jersey’s Families
The EHLC, which provides free legal representation to low-income parents of children with disabilities in special education, early intervention, and school discipline matters, learned of the case in the summer of 2019.
“Having witnessed the significant harms the delays caused on our own client population and knowing that any decision in the matter would directly affect the clients and communities we serve, we agreed to represent several non-profit organizations, associations of attorneys, and advocates who are dedicated to advocating on behalf of children with disabilities and who are passionate about this
issue,” says EHLC’s Jennifer N. Rosen Valverde, distinguished clinical professor of law and Nadine Taub Scholar. Amici curiae members included SPAN Parent Advocacy Network, Education Law Center, Disability Rights New Jersey, Advocates for Children of New Jersey, and the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates.
Throughout the process, Valverde and the EHLC took on a more involved role than is typical for amicus curiae. They briefed numerous motions, argued those motions in court, and Valverde was prepared to serve as the plaintiff’s first witness had the matter gone to trial. When EHLC expressed concerns to the judge about the initial settlement, he advised the parties to take amici’s concerns seriously. Valverde was invited by the parties to participate in settlement negotiations. Later, she testified in favor of the final settlement at the fairness hearing.
“This case is about critical educational and developmental time lost for children with disabilities when enforcing their rights under the IDEA,” explains Valverde. “Time is even more crucial for children living in households that are low-income or poor due to the triple harm of poverty, disability, and inappropriate educational programming. Studies have shown that delays in the identification and remediation of childhood disability can have significant adverse effects on the child—because disabilities may become ingrained and less responsive to treatment—and their families, by increasing stress and affecting parents’ ability to work and care for the family’s basic needs. The fact that it took nearly five years to resolve the
matter is not only ironic, but also exceedingly frustrating and sad. While the settlement isn’t perfect, it provides needed parameters to repair the State’s broken dispute resolution system and I am cautiously optimistic that compliance will be achieved.”
In the end, the settlement addresses many of amici’s concerns. First, it mandates the appointment of a compliance monitor to help NJDOE meet its 45-day obligation and provide regular reports to the public on NJDOE’s progress. Until 95 percent of cases are decided within 45 days, the federal court will retain jurisdiction. Families affected by past violations of the 45-day rule now have two years to pursue legal claims against NJDOE.
“Drafting briefs for this case allowed me to have real-world legal experience on a compelling and timely legal issue, while simultaneously allowing me to advocate for justice for a highly vulnerable population,” says Nicole M. Virella Almanzar ’20, who worked on this case as a student in the EHLC. “The legal issues at hand in this case will have long-standing effects on the special education process in New Jersey and I’m grateful to the Education and Health Law Clinic for giving me the opportunity to work on this matter.”
Professor of Law and CYJC Director Laura Cohen
Former clinic student Emma Enright ’24
NEW THIS YEAR
NEW FOR 2025: LEGISLATIVE AND POLICY ADVOCACY CLINIC
Law school coursework tends to concentrate primarily on the court system, often giving less attention to the legislative process and lawmaking. However, that’s set to change at Rutgers Law School in the spring 2025 semester with the introduction of the Legislative and Policy Advocacy Clinic, led by Professor Ruth Anne Robbins.
The basis for this clinic began taking root about eight years ago, when students embarked on a research project about the laws surrounding restraining order hearings. Over time, the project caught the attention of legislators, who saw the potential for Rutgers Law students to support additional initiatives. Eventually, says Robbins, “it got to the point where we were doing clinical work and decided this should be a formal clinic.”
This new clinic will focus on lawmaking at the legislative level, with a particular emphasis on gender justice. Additionally, the clinic will engage in community education projects ranging from printed communications to workshops and research initiatives. “Our work may not always be about active legislation,” explains Robbins. “We also want to be a resource for public interest organizations involved in policymaking and for the legislature itself.”
In addition to participating in research and outreach, clinic students will have opportunities to network with legislators and community-based partners, and attend legislative sessions in Trenton. “We send law students to watch court proceedings all the time, but we don’t typically send them to watch voting sessions of the full assembly or senate, nor legislative committee meetings,” says Robbins. “We want this clinic to expose students to lawmaking in a way they don’t often experience in other courses they’re taking.”
Housing Justice Program Scores Win for Camden Tenant
By all accounts, the Housing Justice Program in Camden, which provides experiential learning opportunities for law students through the Housing Advocacy Clinic, recently achieved a significant win: a judge agreed with Managing Attorney Ashley Maddison ’19 that her client’s rental home was so unsafe it was uninhabitable, ordered the landlord to pay for six months of relocation expenses, and allowed the client to retain nearly $7,000 in withheld rent payments. But the reality is much more complicated, shedding light on the need for support and education right in Rutgers Law School’s own backyard.
“While this is a substantive win and a successful financial outcome for the client, it also demonstrates the influence the tenant community is having on the court’s approach to issues related to substandard housing,” says former Housing Advocacy Clinic Director Caryn Schreiber. “This is all too common within our client communities generally, nationwide, and within historic Black and brown communities like Camden in particular.”
This client’s journey began in early March 2023, when she contacted the City of Camden about issues related to the home she had been renting for several years. An inspector visited the property and found a litany of code violations including a deteriorating porch, dysfunctional doors and windows, dangerous electrical wiring, subpar plumbing and HVAC, and a hole in the roof that allowed critters to take up residence in the house.
Less than two weeks after the code violation citations were issued, the landlord filed for eviction on the basis of nonpayment of rent.
With a July court date looming, the tenant sought help from the Housing Justice Program at Rutgers, and it was then that Maddison began negotiating with the landlord to address the issues.
“We essentially presented him with a clear list of what needed fixing, a timeline of one month, and a good faith payment from our client of one month’s rent to get work started,” Maddison said. “After that month, very little if anything was done.” Meanwhile, the client deposited withheld rent with the court, as ordered, to invoke the habitability defense.
By mid-September 2023, a notice of unsafe structure was placed on the building, barring entry or occupancy for safety reasons. So, when Maddison appeared before a judge for the resulting habitability trial, she asked for 100 percent rent abatement and relocation assistance. The good news is that the judge agreed, granting the client complete forgiveness on her unpaid rent and up to six months of hotel room payments.
“I hope that this outcome will result in a stable, safe housing situation for the tenant’s family,” said Taylor De La Peña, former program coordinator at the law school’s Camden
Housing Justice Project. “She has three young children with serious health issues, who require her full-time care. Had she moved out of the home without pursuing this outcome, the landlord would have sued her for rent due. Now she will be able to use the money she withheld to obtain stable housing for her family and set them up for success in the future.”
But, as in many cases like this, “a win isn’t really a complete win,” says Maddison. This family of four (plus two dogs) spent time off and on in a single hotel room, relying on an uncooperative landlord to pay the bill, at times having to stay in their car. Because the home had been deemed unfit for entry, the family also left behind all their housewares, pantry items, cold-weather clothing, and other necessities. And, of course, finding suitable and affordable housing has proven difficult in the current market conditions.
Plus, the team has already had to defend the win in court multiple times since trial, attempting to maintain and enforce the order. Former Housing Advocacy Clinic law students Kaitlyn Owens ’24 and Nicolas Hansen ’24, who were supervised by Schreiber, were enlisted to aid in this effort. They successfully defended against a motion for reconsideration aimed at overturning the relocation assistance award. This past spring semester, former Housing Advocacy Clinic law students Skylar Ricci ’24 and Samuel Kim ’24 took the reins, filing an affirmative complaint seeking to convert the relocation assistance award into an enforceable money judgment. That judgment—entered this July after a trial argued by Maddison—comes a year after the first court date for this client, highlighting the time and resources involved in asserting tenants’ rights. “While this family still faces challenges, the long-term impact of this decision is huge— they are on the path toward safe, stable housing,” explains Maddison. “But, because asserting habitability claims can be a lengthy and risky process, many tenants fear contacting city or county authorities or going through litigation to secure their right to safe housing. Community-wide impact can only happen if more people hold their landlords accountable for unsafe conditions, and we spread the word that tools exist to help tenants enforce their rights. Our neighbors and fellow community members deserve better.”
Housing Justice Project Managing Attorney Ashley Maddison ’19 and former Program Coordinator Taylor De La Peña
More than Three Dozen People Take U.S. Citizenship Oath at Rutgers Law
Private First Class Jahvaughn Chedale Gabbidon achieved his dream of becoming a U.S. citizen after serving nearly two years in the U.S. Army. “I decided to become a [U.S.] citizen because I want to be a part of America,” the Jamaica native said.
Suren Theshan Rajakaruna from Sri Lanka decided to naturalize after coming to the U.S. as a student and living here for 20 years. For him, obtaining citizenship was a means to participate in the democratic process and contribute to his community.
He said, “[Becoming a U.S. citizen] is one way for me to give back, express my voice, and be part of the decision-making. It’s something that I never had the opportunity to do.”
Their stories echo those of the 40 individuals from 20 different countries who joined them in becoming U.S. citizens at Rutgers Law in Camden on March 20. This is the second year Rutgers Law held a naturalization ceremony. The first ceremony was so moving that it motivated Rutgers Law student Nayomi TorresVelez ‘24 to organize this year’s event with fellow law student Kee Min ‘24.
“In 2023, I had the privilege of attending a naturalization ceremony hosted by the Immigrant Justice Clinic, where one of the clients I previously assisted became a naturalized citizen,” she said. “This experience, along with my ongoing involvement with the clinic, highlighted to me the importance of the naturalization process to immigrants, as well as the need for a community celebration of this significant achievement.”
A celebration with family and friends is very much in order. As Rutgers Immigrant Community Assistance Project Managing Attorney Jason Hernandez pointed out in his remarks, the immigration process is not easy.
“According to the American Immigration Council, as of 2024 there are approximately 7.4 million immigrants who are eligible to naturalize in the United States but have not yet done so,” he said. “Despite that statistic, here you are. As so many still journey toward the horizon, I hope you will reflect positively on the grit and perseverance it took to arrive at this point and feel proud.”
The Oath was administered by Rutgers Law alumna and Hon. Chief Judge Renée Marie Bumb ‘87, U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. The ceremony also included remarks from the former Associate Dean for Students Affairs in Camden, Louis Thompson, who urged the newly minted citizens to seize the opportunities afforded by citizenship and contribute to the nation’s progress without delay.
“We citizens must always do what we can to be sure it is a dream everyone here has and can make come true,” he said. “Seize the opportunities and exercise the duties citizenship affords you. Help make the choices that face this nation. Make yourself heard, and please don’t wait.”
To that end, a voter registration drive was held following the ceremony for the second annual event. Field Director Keith Dorr, of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services Mount Laurel Field Office, also returned as emcee with his staff collaborating on the ceremony.
Above: Forty individuals from 20 different countries officially became U.S. citizens at Rutgers Law in Camden in March 2024 at the law school’s second Naturalization Ceremony.
Right: Immigrant Justice Clinic Director Joanne Gottesman hands American flag to Private First Class Jahvaughn Chedale Gabbidon.
Immigrant Justice Clinic Director Joanne Gottesman came up with the idea for the Clinic to host an oath ceremony and gave the opening remarks.
“One of the privileges and pleasures of my job as an immigration attorney is the opportunity to listen and hear my clients’ stories. And sometimes I even get to help them tell their stories. And those stories are amazing.” She added, “To those of you taking the oath today— and changing your names today—I don’t know your stories. But I can feel them filling this room to the rafters. And I am honored to have the opportunity to share this brief moment in your immigration story with you.”
the Rutgers Law Clinic Video
View the Flickr gallery of the U.S. Naturalization Ceremony in Camden
Clinic Wins Asylum for Family of Four
By Hanna Wargula ’25
I began my time with the Immigrant Rights Clinic in January 2023 as a part of my experience as an Immigrant Rights Fellow. I was in my 2L year and was paired with Avinash Khurana, a 3L evening student. We were assigned an asylum case for a family of four from West Africa and were supervised by Leena Khandwala, the managing attorney for the Immigrant Rights Clinic. The only completed step in their immigration process was their asylum applications.
Obviously, receiving the message that we would be taking on asylum cases for four people instead of the expected one or two was quite intimidating. It became even more so when we learned how early in the process they were. But we immediately got to work with the clients to learn their story and create a narrative to bring to the immigration court. One of the first things we came to know was how much information is valuable to an asylum case. Between country conditions research, interviewing the clients, and research relating to the client’s identity, Avi and I were constantly working on collecting all of this. With this information, we then began the legal briefs. When the semester ended and Avi graduated, I decided to continue working on the case solo. Some of the tasks of the summer included having one of the clients evaluated by medical experts, speaking with a witness from the clients’ home country, and finalizing all materials for submission to the court. The client’s court date arrived in October, and I appeared at the Newark Immigration Court with Pina Cirillo, a supervising attorney with the Immigrant Rights Clinic. Pina’s experience in the court helped me feel so much more comfortable during this nerve-wracking experience. The joy that came with finding out the clients were granted asylum made every effort worth it. A few of the most valuable skills learned from this case were patience, persistence, and how to be an effective advocate.
It is hard to imagine the difficulty of creating a successful immigration case and navigating the complications that come with an asylum case without legal representation. A few of the setbacks with this case alone included a last-minute judge and court change, incorrectly issued Employment Authorization Documents, and fingerprinting scheduling issues that led to an eight-month delay to the final decision. For eligible immigrants in New Jersey, having access to services from the Rutgers Law Clinic makes the immigration process understandable and allows them a fighting chance in a system that can often seem impossible. Being a part of this has been the greatest privilege of my education journey.
Professor, Students Help Domestic Violence Law Cross the Finish Line
Years of work by Professor Ruth Anne Robbins, her students, and their partners at the NJ Coalition to End Domestic Violence (NJCEDV) culminated on January 8 in the signing of bill A-1475, which requires the court to consider information regarding coercive control in domestic violence proceedings.
Coercive control is a hallmark of abusive relationships and includes behaviors like isolating the victim from family and friends and controlling access to medication, medical treatment, or transportation. Previously, coercive control was not included in the New Jersey Prevention of Domestic Violence Act (PDVA), meaning that judges were not required to consider these abuses for victims seeking a restraining order. Effective immediately, that has changed thanks to this new law.
“Fundamentally, coercive control undermines a victim’s autonomy and individual freedom, and we heard countless stories from victims about how this type of abuse has devastated their lives,” says Matt Divis ‘23, who worked with Robbins on this project during his time as a student. “The bill also provides notice to litigants in family court—the majority of whom are unrepresented. Understanding the PDVA can prove challenging even for seasoned attorneys, so this is a step in the right direction on that front as well.”
According to Robbins, this new law codifies and clarifies two New Jersey court decisions from several years ago, one by the New Jersey Supreme Court and one by the Appellate Division. “Those two decisions introduced the idea of a need test a victim must prove,” she explains. “Since that time, however, courts have not coalesced around standards for the family court judges to use. This new law does just that.”
Indeed, the new law amends the PDVA to include a list of abusive behaviors that can help victims substantiate their need for a restraining order, puts litigants on notice
Professor Ruth Anne Robbins
that they must provide such evidence in their pursuit of protection, and permits judges to consider evidence of coercive control in their analysis of whether the victim “needs” a restraining order.
On the one hand, working with Rutgers Law has been beneficial to the Coalition. “The research and outreach from Rutgers Law School was instrumental in helping to educate the legislature on the importance of judges considering coercive control in domestic violence cases,” says NJCEDV’s Legal Director Denise Higgins. On the other, this was also a valuable experience for the School’s law students.
“So much of law school focuses on litigation, and I knew very little about the legislative process and legislative advocacy,” says Divis. “We submitted statements at different stages and testified in front of the judiciary committee. We also met with a number of state officials throughout the process. While we (as students) were not experts, it felt like our research and testimony was heard and we were able to make a real-world impact.”
Graduating Law Student Receives Prestigious IP Scholarship
Jing Kong ’24 received a 2024 Hon. Giles S. Rich Diversity Scholarship. This competitive and prestigious award is granted each year by the New York Intellectual Property Law Education Foundation (NYIPLEF) to a minority student representing a group that has been traditionally underrepresented in the legal profession. A trailblazer both personally and professionally, Kong is the first in her family to attend college, earn a Ph.D., immigrate to the U.S., attain U.S. citizenship, and earn a J.D. This past summer, she launched her legal career as a summer associate with the life sciences patent litigation team at O’Melveny & Myers and passed the patent bar exam.
As a child, Kong developed an early passion for writing and often penned original stories to share with her friends. Still, when the time came to decide on a career path, she chose to pursue a degree in chemistry. “Growing up in China, interest isn’t a dominant factor when selecting a major,” she says. “I was good at
chemistry, and chemistry is so fundamental to this material world and our daily life, so my goal was to work at a large company doing lifesaving research.”
After earning a Bachelor of Science from Nanjing University in China and a Ph.D. from Carnegie Mellon University, she achieved her goal—she was hired by Johnson & Johnson to work as a senior scientist and, six years later, was promoted to patent liaison. In this role, she leveraged her experience in new product development to serve as an intermediary between members of the research and development team and in-house patent attorneys. During her years at J&J, she realized she had something in common with the patent attorneys: they all shared a background in science and a knack for writing. “I dove into the LSAT and said to myself that if I got a good score, I would go to law school to become a patent attorney,” she recalls.
Hanna Wargula ’25
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Kong started evening classes at Rutgers Law in 2021 while maintaining her full-time position at J&J. But the true test came when she was unexpectedly laid off during her pregnancy in 2023. The loss of her job also meant the loss of her health insurance, just as her pregnancy became complicated and her son endured a serious accident at school that resulted in two broken arms. Soon after, she gave birth to her third son and her parents immigrated from China after three long years of COVID separation. But she never slowed down. As a law student, Kong was co-president of Rutgers Law’s Immigration Rights Collective, served as a student representative on the Asian Pacific American Law Students Association, was a student mentor for first-year students, and honed her IP skills as
a member of the Intellectual Property Law Clinic, where she helped clients on trademark and patent related matters. “I’ve been through so much in 2023, but I feel now that I can do anything,” she says.
If you ask John R. Kettle III, Judge John W. Bissell Scholar and director of the Intellectual Property Law Clinic, it’s no surprise that NYIPLEF sees something special in Kong.
“Her being selected as the recipient of this prestigious scholarship is testimony to her hard work, academic achievements, and promise as a future member of the intellectual property bar,” he says. “I look forward to Dr. Kong’s continued success and her valuable contribution as a member of the IP bar. I am certain that her dedication to and passion for the study and practice of intellectual property law will continually grow.”
New Rutgers Law Grads Receive IP Clinic Awards
Nicole Ryu ’24 and Francis G. Tiongson ’24 are the latest recipients of the Intellectual Property Law Clinic Award, which recognizes their exceptional proficiency in the clinical practice of intellectual property law and acknowledges their excellent leadership and teamwork with fellow clinic students.
“Both Nicole Ryu and Francis Tiongson distinguished themselves from fellow clinical law students by demonstrating a remarkable level of knowledge of intellectual property law and outstanding proficiency in serving the various needs of the clients assigned to them,” says John Kettle, director of the Intellectual Property Law Clinic. “They also went consistently above and beyond in assisting their fellow colleagues in the clinic, despite their own extraordinary demands in attending to their respective client matters.” In addition to gaining recognition and the ability to distinguish themselves in the job market, each student received a $500 award.
Ryu, a West Orange, New Jersey native and first-generation law school grad, calls working
in the IP clinic “one of the most significant experiences [she] had in law school.” She not only relished collaborating with clients and classmates (“rare in a normal classroom setting,” she adds), but valued working directly with the creators, inventors, and entrepreneurs served by the clinic. Her proudest moment was finishing a draft patent application—a task that was initially intimidating, but one that illustrated the value of working with real clients. “It’s one thing to know the theory of IP ownership rights; it’s a whole other beast to apply those rights practically,” agrees Tiongson. “I enjoyed contemplating the big picture and how to best protect a client’s interests.”
Tiongson, a Bound Brook, New Jersey native, will begin his career as an associate at Fox Rothschild in Morristown, New Jersey, and Ryu has accepted a position as associate at O’Melveny & Myers. “I am glad to be a co-winner of this award with my friend, Nicole, and I know we will do amazing things in our careers,” Tiongson says.
NEW THIS YEAR
DISPUTE RESOLUTION THE FOCUS OF NEW MEDIATION CLINIC
While litigation remains a key aspect of legal practice, mediation is becoming an increasingly vital service that attorneys offer their clients. In response to this trend, Rutgers Law School launched a Mediation Clinic in the fall 2024 semester. The clinic is led by Visiting Assistant Professor of Law Felicia Farber, who brings over 20 years of dedicated practice in dispute resolution services to this position. “The main goals of the clinic are for the students to develop strong dispute resolution skills and techniques through experiential learning and to apply them in a range of contexts and settings,” Farber says. “Our objective is for students to elevate their lawyering skills, excel in problem-solving processes, and become invaluable assets to future employers.”
In addition to conducting actual mediations, students will participate in hands-on training through role play and simulations in class. Farber is also planning for students to gain fieldwork experience in the courts and with other organizations. “Rutgers Law School recognizes that negotiation and mediation should be an increasingly important part of the education it offers its law students in order to prepare them for their future careers in the legal field,” says Farber. “It is now universally recognized that good problem-solving and conflict management skills are vital to a lawyer’s ability to counsel clients, serve as advocates, and effectively resolve disputes and negotiate settlements.”
Leading the Way
At the suggestion of Rutgers Law Dean Johanna Bond, a former clinical professor, a clinical pedagogy series has been developed for new and junior clinical faculty and teaching fellows. The series began with a day-long program on August 21 in Newark and continues throughout this academic year.
Jing Kong ’24
L to r: Associate Dean for Advancement Robert Steinbaum, Adjunct Professor Stanley Tso, Francis Tiongson ’24, IP Law Clinic Director John Kettle, Nicole Ryu ’24, and Associate Dean for Clinical Education–Newark Randi Mandelbaum
Clinic Urges U.N. Probe into Law Enforcement’s Failure to Investigate U.S.
Rapes
The Rutgers Law School International Human Rights Clinic sent a formal request for an investigation to two United Nations Investigative Bodies: the Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women and Girls and the Commission Against Torture. The request urges them to investigate the United States’ failure to investigate rape, and to test and process “rape kits.”
There is a rape epidemic in the U.S. Nearly one in every five U.S. women has been raped in her lifetime. Rape kits—forensic exams conducted after a rape to collect DNA evidence from victims’ bodies—are critical tools for investigating and prosecuting rapes. DNA evidence is over 99% reliable in identifying rapists. Because 91 to 95% of rapists are serial perpetrators, testing rape kits can help stop serial rapists.
As of 2022, as many as 25,000 rape kits remain untested—they are sitting in police stations, warehouses, and crime labs across the country. Since the Violence Against Women Act was passed in 1994, the federal government has issued billions of dollars in funding to specifically test rape kits, in an effort to eliminate the rape kit backlog. The cost of testing rape kits is covered by many federal grants to law enforcement. However, law enforcement spend those funds on other matters rather than testing rape kits.
“International organizations and the United States recognize failures to investigate sex crimes against women as a form of gender discrimination, and a human rights violation,” said Penny Venetis, Distinguished Clinical Professor of Law and Director of the International Human Rights Clinic. “Law enforcement does not give rape the same attention as it does other violent crimes. Law enforcement also treats rape victims very differently than victims of other violent crimes. It belittles their claims and accuses them of lying.” International bodies and the U.S. government have criticized law enforcement for failing to test rape kits. In 2011, an investigation by the former Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women and Girls noted that U.S. law enforcement are chronically and systematically failing to investigate reports of rape. In 2015 and again in 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) found that there was endemic gender discrimination in the failure of law enforcement to investigate rape and test rape kits. The DOJ stated that law enforcement must, at minimum, “collect and preserve” evidence and ensure “medical exams, including ‘rape kits’ are completed and analyzed in a timely manner.”
Former clinic student, Maihan Alam ’24, said she was excited to be working on this very important project. “Victims who submit to the
invasive, traumatizing, and lengthy rape kit exams want their rapists to be prosecuted and want to protect other women. They are often devastated to learn that near-foolproof DNA evidence is purposely never tested.”
Another student working on the project, Samantha Little, believes that “it is critical to draw international attention to the fact that routine criminal investigations are not conducted for rapes. The international community needs to urge the U.S. to comply with international law that requires that rape be taken seriously, and that rape victims be treated with the same respect as victims of other violent crimes.
Read the letter to the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women and Girls and the Special Rapporteur on Torture >>>
Expungement Law Project and Law School Alum Help Expunge Records
The Rutgers Law School Expungement Law Project (ELP) is making a difference in the lives of New Jersey residents burdened by outdated or erroneous criminal records.
ELP provides free legal assistance to low-income individuals seeking to clear their criminal records. Led by Clinical Professor Meredith Schalick, the clinic has been pivotal in helping more than 300 people navigate the complex expungement process since its inception in 2018. Clients are given a chance to start anew by obtaining court-ordered expungements, which are essential for securing employment, housing, and other opportunities.
Despite these victories, many clients face challenges due to delays in processing expungement orders by the New Jersey State Police, leaving their criminal records accessible long after a judge has granted their expungement. This backlog is not only damaging to those trying to rebuild their lives but also exacerbates economic and racial disparities in the state’s criminal justice system.
In the fall of 2023, ELP supported the New Jersey Office of the Public Defender in filing a class action lawsuit against the State Police for failing to process nearly 50,000 expungement orders.
Rutgers School of Criminal Justice (SCJ)
Associate Professor Sarah Lageson helped prepare the lawsuit. She had previously spent years researching how online access to criminal records—including expungements that are granted but not made public for years–can damage lives and perpetuate inequality. After hearing the stories of people who were impacted by erroneous or decades-old criminal records, often for minor crimes, Lageson jumped into action. In 2023, she received a degree from Rutgers Law School so she could fight the problem in court.
“It was a way to bring the research into practice and do the lawyering skills required to do expungement,” said Lageson. “It feels good to take my knowledge and not only apply it in a policy context but help people more directly. It’s been an amazing opportunity.’’
She hopes both her research and her work as a lawyer prompt questions about how America
views criminal records and the lasting impact the data can have on people’s lives. Although progress has been made nationwide, and especially in New Jersey, with laws to hasten expungements, including arrests for cannabis possession, Lageson said more change is needed. The real-life consequences are too great.
“People shouldn’t be held back this way,’’ she said.
Since the class action suit, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed a bill in January 2024 that made significant changes to expungement law and clarified several provisions regarding expungement procedures. The new law further expanded relief for individuals seeking an expungement to help advance opportunities in employment, education, and housing without a past criminal history hindering their efforts.
ADVOCACY FREES YOUTH
Continued from page 3
“Research has shown little to no benefit associated with registration and, particularly in the case of youth (who are extremely unlikely to recidivate), often does more harm than good,” she says. “Being cautiously optimistic, I hope the Court's decision is just the beginning and that, eventually, no youth will be subjected to Megan's Law.”
School of Criminal Justice
Professor Sarah Lageson ’23
Professor Jon Dubin
Wins Prestigious Pincus Award
On May 3, 2024, Jon Dubin, Board of Governors Distinguished Service Professor, Distinguished Professor of Law, Paul Robeson Scholar, and the Director of the Economic Justice and Public Benefits Clinic, was awarded the William Pincus Award from the American Association of Law Schools (AALS). This is the most prestigious national award that any law school clinical professor can receive. The award honors professors who have made an outstanding contribution to clinical legal education and is based on the professor’s record of scholarship, program design and implementation, and other activities beneficial to clinical education and the advancement of justice. Professor Dubin’s Newark clinical colleagues nominated him for this award and could not think of a more worthy recipient.
Professor Dubin was presented with the award at the AALS Conference on Clinical Education, held this year in St. Louis, Missouri. He received the award along with another outstanding clinical professor, Karen Tokarz, from Washington University Law School in St. Louis, Missouri. Professor Anjum Gupta compiled a video tribute that was shown right before he was called up to accept the award. Many of Professor Dubin’s Rutgers colleagues were on hand to watch him receive the award and celebrate with him. We are all so proud of Professor Dubin and honored to call him our colleague and friend.
Randi Mandelbaum, Tomica Burke Saul, Jessica Rofé, Norrinda Brown (Former Rutgers Law clinic director / Fordham Law School Associate Dean for Experiential Education and Director of Clinical Programs) and Greg Baltz
Community and Transactional Lawyering Clinic Establishes New Partnerships
As the only community-centered, transactional law clinic in New Jersey, the Community and Transactional Lawyering Clinic has continued its legacy of providing high-quality transactional pro bono services to Northern New Jersey individuals, not-for-profits, and for-profit business entities.
Clinic Co-Director Tomica Burke Saul’s students have worked to build relationships with New Jersey community organizations that support small businesses. The Clinic is proud to provide individual client representation and large-scale webinars and pop-up clinics to clients of Rising Tide Capital, The Hudson County Economic Development Corporation, Ascend Newark and Hudson Kitchen. Clients from these organizations represent a wide swath of industries, including food and beverage, childbirth services, home improvement, and wellness centers.
Professor Saul is also excited for a new partnership with the Rutgers Business School. This spring, her students hosted weekly legal office hours for The Rutgers Advanced Institute for the Study of Entrepreneurship and Development (RAISED). This initiative
supports Rutgers’ own student-entrepreneurs and justice-impacted entrepreneurs. In addition to drop-in office hours, Prof. Saul’s students developed programming ranging from LLC Formation workshops to Intellectual Property (IP) workshops in collaboration with the Rutgers IP Clinic.
NEW CLINIC FACULTY
JESSICA FRISINA | Assistant Professor of Law
Jessica Frisina arrives on Rutgers Law School’s Camden campus as assistant professor of law and director of the Criminal Defense and Advocacy Clinic. Frisina has a decade of criminal defense experience, most notably as assistant deputy public defender in the Newark branch of the New Jersey Office of the Public Defender. Her research and writing center on police-citizen encounters, the treatment of youth in the criminal legal system, and the ethics of criminal practice.
JESSICA ROFÉ | Assistant Professor of Law
Jessica Rofé, assistant professor of law and director of the Constitutional Rights Clinic on the Newark campus, arrives from New York University School of Law, where she was deputy director and supervising attorney at the Immigrant Rights Clinic. Rofé was also an Immigrant Justice Corps Fellow at Brooklyn Defender Services and an associate at Cleary Gottlieb in the firm’s Latin America practice. Her litigation, research, and teaching focus on the intersection of criminal and immigration law, deportation, detention, and the rights of individuals incarcerated across systems.
Clinic Co-Director Tomica Burke Saul
L to r: Newark clinic directors Charles Auffant, Anjum Gupta, Jon Dubin,
Clinic Director Jon Dubin with fellow Pincus Award winner Professor Karen Tokarz
NEW THIS YEAR
MEDICAL-LEGAL PARTNERSHIP CLINIC TO LAUNCH SPRING 2025
In spring 2025, Rutgers Law School will integrate students into its Medical-Legal Partnership (MLP) program through the Medical-Legal Partnership Clinic, led by Clinic Director and Supervising Attorney Jeremy Spiegel.
The foundation for this new clinic was laid seven years ago when Rutgers Law School partnered with the Camden Coalition, a local healthcare and social services network, to help patients address legal issues affecting their health and recovery. Since then, the MLP program has expanded significantly. The legal team has grown through a fellowship model, and additional partnerships have been established with Cooper Hospital’s Center for Healing and Maryville Integrated Care. Today, Spiegel and two Rutgers Law alumni serve over 250 clients annually, addressing a wide range of issues including housing, child custody, criminal matters, benefits, and more.
In addition to the traditional benefits of clinic work—giving students the chance to practice as attorneys—participants in the Medical-Legal Partnership Clinic will engage in multidisciplinary learning through close collaboration with medical partners. Because of the diverse needs of the clientele, clinic students will also take on a wide range of cases. “It’s a unique learning space where students will advocate for patients facing challenging legal matters while gaining insight from professionals with different backgrounds,” Spiegel says. “I am excited to see the students grow as they achieve great outcomes for our clients.”
Banner Year for Federal Tax Clinic
This year has been an eventful one for the Rutgers Federal Tax Clinic. Students developed a series of PowerPoint presentations for Make the Road, New Jersey, an organization that provides services to low-income immigrants throughout the state. Students also conducted several educational and outreach sessions for clients of Make the Road. The topics addressed included Basic Filing Rights and Responsibilities; Tax Issues Affecting Immigrants; and Federal Tax Credits Available to Low-income Individuals. The latest presentation, “How to Navigate the “Gig” Economy for Tax Purposes,” specifically addressed Uber and Lyft drivers’ requirements for recordkeeping and reporting.
Taxpayers are told in advance that the Clinic will meet privately with any participant to discuss individual tax problems at the end of each presentation. Following the success of
this program, the PowerPoint presentations are made available to other organizations who work with low-income immigrants, such as American Friends Immigration Rights Committee in New Jersey.
This year was also a banner year, case-wise, in obtaining refunds for several single fathers who were denied tax credits relating to their children. The students successfully facilitated significant refunds for several years of denied credits for each father. Each of these clients had been unsuccessful in navigating the tax system on their own and had been trying to prove their entitlement to these refunds and credits for several years. It was only through the perseverance of the Tax Clinic students that the refunds were all finally issued.
The Clinic will continue its presentation series this year.
PodcastPops
The law impacts every sector of society and every aspect of our lives. At a time when many ask “Why law?,” we ask “What more can law do?” Produced by Rutgers Law School, the award-winning “The Power of Attorney” is an inside look at the power of a legal education and what it means to be a lawyer. AVAILABLE ON:
CLINICAL FACULTY PUBLICATIONS 2024–2025
GREG BALTZ
n Tenant Union Law, Yale L. & Pol’y Rev. (forthcoming 2024)
LAURA COHEN
n The Anti-Racist Imperative of Infancy, 19 NW J. L. & Soc. Pol’y 177 (2024)
n Barriers to Innocence: Identifying, Investigating, and Undoing Wrongful Convictions (Forward), 76 Rutgers L. Rev. __ (2024)
JON DUBIN
n The Color of Social Security: Race and Unequal Protection in the Crown Jewel of the American Welfare State, 35 Stanford Law & Policy Rev. 104 (2024)
n Social Security Disability Law and Procedure in Federal Court [Treatise] (Co-authored with Carolyn A. Kubitschek, Thomson Reuters Publishing Co.) (2024 Ed.)
n Supplement to Social Security Law, Policy and Practice: Cases and Materials (Co-authored with Frank S. Bloch, West Academic Publishing Co.) (2024)
JOANNE GOTTESMAN
n Children, Culpability, and Conduct-Based Inadmissibiity in Immigration Law, 98 Tul. L. Rev. 65 (2023-2024), pp 65-98 (reprinted in Immigration Briefings forthcoming 2024).
JENNIFER N. ROSEN
VALVERDE
n A Panoramic IDEA: Cabining the Snapshot Rule in Special Education Disputes, 55 Ariz. St. L. J. 1445 (2023)
n On Legal Guardianship: An Exploratory Assessment of Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices of Resident Physicians Medical Teacher, 2023 Sep 18:1-7. DOI: 10.1080/0142159X.2023.2256965 (with Barajas-Ochoa A, Mackie TI, and Fofana B)
KATHRYN SABBETH
n Who Says Evictions Should Be Efficient?, L. & Pol. Econ. Project (July 17, 2024)
TOMICA BURKE SAUL
n Reparative Entrepreneurship: The Business of War on Drugs Reparations, __ Colum. Bus. L. Rev. (forthcoming 2025)
SANDRA SIMKINS
n Public Interest Burnout: Seven Factors that Increase the Risk, 17 DePaul J. for Soc. Just. (2023)
JEREMY SPIEGEL
n Camden Coalition Medical-Legal Partnership: Year One Analysis of Civil + Criminal MLP Model in Addiction Medicine Setting, Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, March 2024
PENNY VENETIS
n Using State Constitutions and International Human Rights Law to Compel Law Enforcement to Process Rape Kits, 109 Cornell L. Rev. __ (2024).
MAJOR GRANT
Continued from page 1
“We are proud to support the growth of law clinics in New Jersey’s law schools and look forward to continuing for years to come,” said Stoia. “The foundation has supported clinics in prior years, but these grants mark the most robust investment in its history.”
These grant awards are made possible by funding from the IOLTA Fund of the Bar of New Jersey.
Read more about the New Jersey State Bar Foundation’s grants and co-sponsorships.
What the Funding Means
Sandra Simkins, Associate Dean of Clinical Education, Co-Director of Expungement Law Project, and Professor of Law, said, “The NJSBF has generously supported Rutgers’ clinical programs for decades. With this new funding we will be creating a new clinic, a MedicalLegal Partnership, led by Professor Jeremy Spiegel. This clinic will allow students to join with medical providers in serving clients whose legal issues present barriers to recovery from substance use disorders and complex conditions. We are also excited to welcome Viktoria Zerda as a new teaching fellow who will join myself and Professor Meredith Schalick in the Expungement Law Project.”
Randi Mandelbaum, Associate Dean for Clinical Education, Director of the Child Advocacy Clinic, and Professor of Law at Rutgers Law School in Newark, said, “We are so grateful for this funding from the New Jersey State Bar Foundation. The funding has allowed us to open a new mediation clinic, led by Professor Felicia Farber, and to hire two new teaching fellows. We are so pleased to be able to welcome Meghan Knapp, who will be the new teaching fellow in the International Human Rights Clinic, and Tara Pomparelli who will join Meghan as the new teaching fellow in the Community and Transactional Lawyering Clinic. The funding will also enable us to hire a paralegal to assist the clinical program more generally and it supports our existing Entrepreneurship Clinic in both Newark and Camden.”
UPCOMING FACULTY PRESENTATIONS
n Greg Baltz will present his article, Landlord-Tenant Collective Bargaining and the Resurgent Tenant Movement, at the Poverty Law Section’s New Voices program at the Association of American Law School Annual Meeting in January 2025.
n Jon Dubin will present his book, Social Security Disability Law and the American Labor Market (NYU Press 2021), in November in Little Rock, Arkansas, to the National Organization of Social Security Claimants’ Representatives’ Annual Eighth Circuit Conference.
n Sandy Freund will lead a panel at the American Bar Association conference in December 2024 on “How to Give an Opening Statement.”
n Ashley Maddison presents at Seton Hall University’s Annual Housing Justice Summit in October in Newark. Her panel will focus on the intersection of housing and family law.
n Ruth Ann Robbins will present at the 10th Biennial Applied Legal Storytelling Conference in July 2025 at the University of Michigan.
RUTGERS LAW SCHOOL–Newark Clinics 123 Washington Street, 4th Floor, Newark, NJ 07102 (973) 353-3000
Associate Deans of Clinical Education
Sandra Simkins, Camden
Randi Mandelbaum, Newark
Deputy Director of Clinical Education
Charles Auffant, Newark
CAMDEN
Child and Family Advocacy Clinic
Meredith L. Schalick, Director Civil Practice Clinic
Traci Overton, Director
Domestic Violence Clinic
Victoria Chase, Director
Denise Higgins, Managing Attorney, Domestic Violence Pro Bono Project
Entrepreneurship Clinic
Arthur B. Laby, Co-Director
Tara M. Pellicori-Stang, Adjunct Professor of Law
Expungement Law Project
Meredith L. Schalick, Co-Director
Sandra Simkins, Co-Director
Viktoria Zerda, Teaching Fellow
Housing Advocacy Clinic
Traci Overton, Supervisor
Sara Lynch, Visiting Assistant Clinical Professor
Ashley Maddison, Director, Housing Justice Program
Immigrant Justice Clinic
Joanne Gottesman, Director
Elizabeth Yaeger, Senior Staff Attorney, DCF/Immigration Project
Legislative & Policy Advocacy Clinic
Ruth Anne Robbins, Director
Medical-Legal Partnership Clinic
Jeremy Spiegel, Director
New Jersey Innocence Project at Rutgers
Nyssa Taylor, Managing Attorney
Jill Heilman, Staff Attorney
Megan McCracken, Staff Attorney
CLINICnews
RUTGERS LAW SCHOOL–Camden Clinics 217 North Fifth Street, Camden, NJ 08102 (856) 225-6375
Rutgers Immigrant Community Assistance Project
Jason Hernandez, Managing Attorney/ Adjunct Professor of Law
Mary Hewey, Program Coordinator
Administrative Staff, Clinical Programs
Angélica Latorre Aguirre, Assistant Director for Clinical Administration
Lidia Catoe, Program Coordinator, Clinical Administration
