We are thrilled to begin another academic year and are so honored to be leading our growing and impressive clinical programs. Our colleagues (both faculty and staff), along with Rutgers’ law students, never cease to amaze us with their passion, dedication, creativity, and sense of purpose. Walking around our respective clinic suites, we hear students nervously getting ready for their first client interviews, strategizing about how to frame a legal argument in a brief or draft a contract, and fervently discussing how to prepare for their first court appearances. The concomitant learning and advocacy are both heartwarming and inspiring.
This past year saw the creation of a Legislative and Policy Advocacy Clinic in Camden and a Mediation Clinic in Newark. For the 2025-26 academic year, the RBG Gender Justice and Women’s Rights Clinic will launch in Newark, with Professor Marcy Karin as its inaugural director, and the Criminal Defense and Advocacy Clinic will begin taking students in Camden, led by Professor Jessica Frisina. We are now up to a total of 21 clinics, 14 in Newark and 7 in Camden. Finally, in Newark, we were able to expand our administrative staff, with a paralegal, Samantha Figueredo, and a program coordinator, Gabrielle Casares.
In addition to these new enterprises and hires, the clinical programs have been hard at work, representing clients, engaging in community projects, and taking on various law reform efforts to meet the needs of community members in Newark, Camden, and in some
instances, all of New Jersey. The need has never been higher, especially given the attacks on immigrants, cuts in federal public assistance programs, and the high rates of poverty in both Camden and Newark. As you will read in the following pages, the clinics have been at the forefront of educating noncitizen community members on how to protect themselves against ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement), preventing tenants from being evicted, expunging records at community events, advocating on behalf of victims of domestic violence, parents of children with disabilities, and for innocent, imprisoned individuals to be
New: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Women’s Rights & Gender Justice Clinic
The new Ruth Bader Ginsburg Women’s Rights & Gender Justice Clinic (RBG Clinic) brings an intentional gender justice lens back to Rutgers’ powerful legacy of public interest lawyering. Inspired by Justice Ginsburg’s visionary leadership, the Clinic builds on her innovative, strategic use of litigation, legislation, education, and other forms of advocacy to advance women’s rights and dismantle systemic sexbased discrimination. It carries forward her integrated approach by offering law students a dynamic, hands-on opportunity to engage in real-world advocacy at the intersection of direct client representation, community collaboration, and the reflective study of lawyering.
The RBG Clinic revives and expands the former Women’s Rights Litigation Clinic in Newark, which was founded by Justice Ginsburg in the early 1970s and remained active until the early 2000s. The new Clinic is made possible
Rutgers Law School
123 Washington Street
Newark, New Jersey 07102
Professor Marcy L. Karin
by a $6.5 million gift from the Stephanie and Harold Krieger Charitable Trust, one of the largest gifts in the law school’s history.
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released, and assisting organizations receiving their nonprofit status and entrepreneurs from realizing their dreams, among many other activities.
In 2028, the clinical program in Newark will be 60 years old. Stay tuned for details about a huge anniversary celebration.
We wish everyone a wonderful year. Please try to keep your spirits high and find joy in the small moments, even in these difficult times. And if you are in Camden or Newark, please stop by the clinic suite and say hello. We would love to see you. —Randi and Sandra
New: Criminal Defense & Advocacy Clinic
Launched in fall 2025, the Rutgers Criminal Defense & Advocacy Clinic (CDAC) provides free, high-quality, zealous advocacy to clients ensnared in the criminal legal system. The primary focus of CDAC’s work is defending clients charged with crimes in Camden County municipal courts.
Working in teams of two, CDAC’s student attorneys are responsible for every stage of litigation in their cases. The students’ case work is complemented by a bi-weekly seminar in which the students learn lawyering, trial advocacy, professional responsibility, and professionalism skills through traditional seminar discussions, role playing, and simulation exercises. The seminar critically examines the history of the criminal legal
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Newark Clinical Program Dean Randi Mandelbaum
Camden Clinical Program Dean Sandra Simkins
Clinic Professor Honored with Rutgers Presidential Fellowship for Teaching Excellence
Professor Jennifer Valverde, Rutgers Education and Health Law Clinic (EHLC) Professor, received a Rutgers Presidential Fellowship for Teaching Excellence at the Faculty Year-End Excellence Awards in May 2025. The awards honor outstanding members of the Rutgers community selected by their colleagues for exceptional contributions to teaching, research, or public service. Awardees receive a commemorative certificate and an honorarium.
Professor Valverde’s award was bestowed by then-Rutgers President Jonathan Holloway for her “student centered teaching that uniformly demonstrates a deep commitment to student success in achieving excellence; her dedication to supervising teams of students from various disciplines through the Health, Education, Advocacy and Law Collaborative, providing the unique opportunity for medical, social work, public health, and law students to work together to address the social determinants of health; and her deep passion for mentoring and advising students.”
EHLC provides free legal representation to low-income parents of children with disabilities in special education, early intervention, and school discipline matters, as well as some related matters affecting children’s overall health and well-being. EHLC law students are exposed to special education and other areas of substantive law, learning a wide range of lawyering skills via hands-on training.
Presidential Fellowship for Teaching Excellence 2025 recipients (left to right) Jerry W. Kim, Management and Global Business, Rutgers Business School–Newark and New Brunswick; Jennifer Rosen Valverde, Rutgers Law School (Newark); Didier William, Art and Design, Mason Gross School of the Arts; and Stephanie Shiau, Biostatistics and Epidemiology, School of Public Health.
In addition, students have the opportunity to partner with graduate students and professionals in social work, public health, and medicine, as well as with the community on clinic cases and projects. In so doing, they learn interdisciplinary collaboration skills and experience first-hand the benefits and challenges of cross-disciplinary collaboration. EHLC also provides opportunities for students to participate in community and statewide education and training initiatives and policy projects.
Immigrant Rights Clinic Director Honored with Legacy Award
Professor Anjum Gupta received the 2025 Legacy Award from the Asian Pacific American Lawyers Association of New Jersey (APALANJ). This prestigious award recognizes her visionary leadership, fierce advocacy, and lifelong dedication to justice, equity, and the empowerment of immigrant and AAPI communities. The Judge Chester J. Straub Scholar, Director of the Immigrant Rights Clinic, former Vice Dean, and former Associate Dean of the Clinical Program in Newark accepted the award at the 26th annual APALANJ Gala in September 2025.
Under Professor Gupta’s leadership, the Immigrant Rights Clinic (IRC) provides vital legal services to immigrants, including representation in removal proceedings with respect to their applications for asylum, withholding of removal, relief under the Convention against torture, protection for survivors of human trafficking, protection for survivors of domestic violence, and voluntary departure, among others. The clinic also assists detained clients with habeas petitions and applications for release on bond.
The Clinic is part of the statewide Detention and Deportation Defense Initiative (DDDI). Through this work, the IRC represents hundreds of New Jersey residents who are detained or threatened with detention by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Finally, the IRC engages in broader advocacy efforts to advance immigrant rights in New Jersey and throughout the country. Professor Gupta (with Professors
Joanne Gottesman and Randi Mandelbaum) also launched and helps supervise the Rutgers Immigrant Community Assistance Project (RICAP). RICAP assists Rutgers immigrant and international students in their immigration cases as well as educates the entire Rutgers community about their rights. This year, RICAP was expanded to include a rapid response project aimed at assisting immigrant students targeted by the current administration for their protected speech or other reasons.
In addition to directing the Clinic, Professor Gupta teaches non-clinical courses in refugee law, immigration law, and professional responsibility. She also is a prolific scholar, writing in the areas of refugee law and immigrant rights. Her work has been published in the Indiana Law Journal, Colorado Law Review, Georgetown Immigration Law Journal, Michigan Law Review Online, and Columbia Human Rights Law Review
Professor Anjum Gupta accepting the APALA-NJ Legacy Award
Two Clinic Attorneys Awarded Equal Justice Medals
Two attorneys from Rutgers Law School’s Housing Justice and Tenant Solidarity Clinic were awarded prestigious 2025 Equal Justice Medals from Legal Services of New Jersey.
Victor Monterrosa ’14, the clinic’s managing director, and Alaina Thomas ’17, a staff attorney, were recognized for their impactful handling of cases referred by Legal Services of New Jersey, as well as for their dedicated mentorship of law students within the Clinic. Under their guidance, Clinic students have achieved significant and positive outcomes for their clients, embodying Rutgers Law School’s commitment to public service and social justice.
“Both Alaina and Victor are local to the Newark area; this is their community,” says Greg Baltz, assistant professor of law and co-director of the Housing Justice and Tenant Solidarity Clinic.
“They are often the first people who tenants and organizers call when someone comes forward with a problem. They went to school here, they grew up here, they practice here, and they really want to make sure the community has access to this institution and the services we provide. In turn, they provide mentorship as well as a bridge to the community for our clinic students.”
Alaina Thomas
Thomas, a dedicated housing attorney serving residents in the greater Newark area, emphasizes community lawyering techniques to empower tenants and strengthen local efforts against displacement and gentrification. Before joining Rutgers Law School, Thomas advocated for tenants facing eviction as a staff attorney at Essex-Newark Legal Services. Additionally, she provided vital legal assistance to elder abuse survivors as an Equal Justice Works Elder Justice AmeriCorps Fellow in Hudson, Passaic, and Bergen counties.
“Alaina models what it truly means to be a public interest lawyer and, as I begin my own public interest career, I could not have asked for a better mentor,” says Anusha Das ’25, a former Clinic student. “When I think of Alaina as a lawyer, the first word that comes to mind is ‘community.’ Alaina’s advocacy is deeply entrenched in the belief that the true capability for change comes from developing stronger communities.” Indeed, Das highlighted Thomas’ innovative and clientcentered advocacy, emphasizing her willingness to explore alternatives beyond litigation, such as tenant organizing and community mobilization.
“I feel extremely privileged to do the work we do in this clinic,” says Thomas. “In addition to advancing housing justice in my hometown and working directly with my community, it is an honor to work alongside our incredible student attorneys and watch their capacity and confidence grow throughout each semester. I see this award as a testament to the dedication of our entire team.”
Victor Monterrosa Jr.
Monterrosa brings extensive community organizing experience to Rutgers Law School. Prior to joining Rutgers, Monterrosa managed an emergency homeless shelter for the Elizabeth Coalition to House the Homeless, worked as a tenant organizer with the Greater Newark HUD Tenants Coalition (HTC), and served as community partnerships and outreach coordinator at Ironbound Community Corporation’s Family Success Center West. His active engagement with advocacy groups and legal service organizations made him a familiar presence at city council meetings and Newark Housing Authority negotiations. He often served as a local liaison to federal and state representatives. Upon becoming an attorney, Monterrosa established Monterrosa Law LLC, a boutique firm dedicated to tenant advocacy, and co-founded Homes for All Newark, a coalition empowering Newark residents to advocate for local change.
As a supervisor in the Housing Justice and Tenant Solidarity Clinic, Monterrosa is known for his collaborative, informative, and approachable teaching style, as well as his strategic approach to handling complicated cases. “While working together, Victor and I had the opportunity to closely assist several tenants in protecting them from wrongful eviction,” says Daniel Tokarz ’24. “These moments highlighted Victor’s passion and his skill in advocating for those in need. Even during their most challenging times, Victor knew how to navigate difficulties and provide tenants with the reassurance that their rights would be protected.”
For Monterrosa, this award is the culmination of a lifetime of work. “As a lifelong Newarker, my dream came true when I co-founded this clinic,” he says. “It is a pleasure to teach law students the ins and outs of being a people’s lawyer and tenant organizer. Programs and opportunities like this are necessary but rare, and impossible to execute without state funding. It is continuously rewarding to see the return on that investment as law students learn about and engage in housing justice struggles, educate tenants and landlords, prevent evictions, and graduate with a useful litigation experience.”
EXPUNGEMENT LAW PROJECT DIRECTOR AWARDED EQUAL JUSTICE MEDAL
Congratulations to Associate Professor Meredith Schalick, who was awarded a 2025 Equal Justice Medal from Legal Services of New Jersey for her efforts to improve the expungement process in New Jersey and teach law students in the Expungement Law Project (ELP) at Rutgers Law.
ELP students in the spring semester alone have helped nearly 200 people seeking an expungement of their criminal record.
Since starting ELP in 2018, Professor Schalick has been a leading voice in expungement reform. She works closely with stakeholders on impact litigation, legislative proposals, and resource development to help as many people as possible get a second chance. In her efforts, she has collaborated with multiple Legal Services offices and staff, including Michelle Nuciglio ’02 from South Jersey Legal Services, and Akil Roper, Senior Vice President of Legal Services of New Jersey in Edison.
Associate Professor Meredith Schalick accepting the 2025 Equal Justice Medal on April 29, 2025
Housing Justice and Tenant Solidarity Clinic attorneys Victor Monterrosa Jr, ’14 (left) and Alaina Thomas ’17 (right)
Essex County Chief Executive Honors Professor Charles Auffant
Professor Charles Auffant, Co-Director of the Community and Transactional Lawyering Clinic, was honored as an Estrella del Condado de Essex (Star of Essex County) at the Essex County Latino Heritage Month Celebration in October 2025. This award was presented to Professor Auffant in recognition of his outstanding leadership and the positive impact he has had, and continues to have, in Essex County, New Jersey. The award was conferred at a special event highlighting the culture and traditions of residents who trace their roots to the Spanish-speaking nations of Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. Several of Professor Auffant’s family and clinical colleagues were on hand to celebrate this honor with him.
CRIMINAL DEFENSE & ADVOCACY CLINIC
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system, helps students situate their case work within that history, and invites students to think creatively about opportunities for reform. A key feature of the seminar is the regular use of “case rounds,” a pedagogical tool designed to teach students how to identify problems they are experiencing in their cases, engage in group problem solving, and find common threads within their work.
As an in-house legal clinic, CDAC’s cases are handled by third-year law students who practice under the careful supervision of CDAC’s director and longtime defense attorney, Assistant Professor Jessica Frisina. Professor Frisina brings a decade of experience in criminal defense to her role as the Clinic’s director. Prior to joining the Rutgers faculty, Professor Frisina served as an Assistant Deputy Public Defender at the New Jersey Office of the Public Defender (NJOPD) for eight years. At NJOPD, she handled a full felony case load, gaining expertise in pretrial litigation and trial practice. Before joining NJOPD, Professor Frisina completed a two-year Equal Justice Works fellowship at the Michigan Children’s Law Center (MCLC) in Detroit. There, she served as a youth defender and launched an Education Advocacy Unit to disrupt the school-prison nexus ensnaring MCLC’s clients.
Professor Frisina is a graduate of Harvard Law School and Harvard College, where she studied civil rights and American social movements. Drawing on her years of experience in indigent defense, her research and writing center on police-citizen encounters, theories of punishment, and the ethics of criminal practice.
RBG WOMEN’S RIGHTS & GENDER JUSTICE CLINIC
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Clinic students will gain practical experience working directly with individual and group clients, developing legal and policy strategies, and partnering with communities and coalitions to drive systemic reform. The Clinic’s pedagogical design incorporates a broad range of advocacy methods while emphasizing ethical and social dimensions of advocacy, including intersectional analysis, self-care, and traumainformed lawyering practices.
Professor Marcy L. Karin, the Clinic’s founding director, brings a justice-driven, collaborative and interdisciplinary approach to legal education. She is deeply committed to training future gender justice advocates to lead with empathy, strategic insight, and a commitment
to empowering clients, communities, and each other. Her work aims to use law to destigmatize “private” topics, combat structural harms, and advance needed changes for women, LGBTQ+ individuals, and families impacted by sexism, ableism, racism, poverty, gender-based violence, and inequitable access to economic security, education, healthcare, and other civil rights. She joined Rutgers Law in the fall of 2025. Professor Karin was the 2023 FulbrightScotland Distinguished Scholar and previously taught at the University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law, the Arizona State University Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, and Georgetown University Law Center.
IP Clinic Awards Celebrate Top Students in Patent and Trademark Law
The Intellectual Property (IP) Law Clinic held its annual award ceremony in August 2025, recognizing two graduating students for their outstanding work in IP law: Caroline Kim ’25 and Jing Kong ’25. Francis G. Tiongson ’24, a recipient of the 2024 award, presented the honors to Kim and Kong.
The ceremony and luncheon celebrated Kim and Kong’s contributions to the clinic and their academic achievements in the field of intellectual property law.
In addition to their clinic work, they both immersed themselves in the law school experience and were heavily involved in extracurricular activities. Kim and Kong shined at the 2025 Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO) first-ever Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) Moot Court Competition. They earned the Best Oral Argument (Patent Owner) Award and finished second overall.
During the luncheon, Kim and Kong, who had just completed their bar exams the day before, shared their experiences and discussed how they envisioned spending their summer before starting as full-time attorneys. After the luncheon, Kim left for Japan and went to South Korea for relaxation before she began her work at Perkins Coie LLP on the patent litigation team. Kong continued her job as a patent agent at Hoxie & Associates LLC after a cruise trip up north to Saint John with her family. She is joining the Life Sciences Patent Litigation team at O’Melveny & Myers LLP as an Associate. Both Kim and Kong expressed their gratitude for the Clinic citing that receiving “practical hands-on experience” and “real-world lawyering” is what made their time at Rutgers Law rewarding.
Kim stated, “The Clinic really shaped me into who I am today. I am especially grateful to Professor Kettle for his patience as I learned both the subject matter and client skills, while developing greater attention to detail. It was amazing seeing my name in the trademark applications.”
Kong stated that “while most law school courses focus on teaching legal theory, they often fall short in preparing students for the realities of legal practice. Participating in the Clinic bridged that gap for me. This experience closely mirrored working in a law firm, giving me a strong foundation for a smoother transition into practice after graduation.
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Assistant Professor Jessica Frisina
Professor Charles Auffant
Francis Tiongson (left) presented this year’s Intellectual Property Law Clinic Awards to Jing Kong ’25 (center) and Caroline Kim ’25 (right)
The Child Advocacy Clinic Engages in Comprehensive Family Preparedness Efforts
Repeatedly, the Child Advocacy Clinic (CAC) kept hearing the fear and the question after Election Day 2024: What will happen to my children if I get detained or deported? While there is no way to alleviate the anxiety and sense of panic that most noncitizens are living with these days, Professor Randi Mandelbaum and her CAC students knew that there was concrete action that parents and other caregivers could take to make a plan for their children should their worst fears be realized.
During the first Trump administration, the Child Advocacy Clinic, with Lowenstein Sandler, created a template form and a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) memo so that parents could delegate an alternate caregiver for their child or children should they no longer be able to care for them, due to ICE enforcement. This document is colloquially called a “Power of Attorney” or “POA.” Then, in 2020-2021, Professor Mandelbaum and Catherine Weiss of Lowenstein went further and successfully advocated for revisions to state law so that the document could be good for one year (as opposed to six months). The revisions also expanded the activating efforts, so they went beyond illness and ICE enforcement. In addition, legal custodians and guardians, along with parents, could now create a Power of Attorney.
The CAC never envisioned how important these revisions and the POA document in general would be, but in late Fall 2024 and throughout the Spring 2025 semester, the Child Advocacy Clinic began several efforts to help as many families as possible. Every Tuesday evening from mid-January 2025 through April 2025, CAC held a drop-in clinic at the Law School in Newark, where students assisted parents and other caregivers in completing the POA document. CAC also took its efforts on the road and held numerous pop-up clinics around the state, at churches, schools, and even the
March 2025
Mexican Consulate in New Brunswick. At these pop-up clinics, one or more students would do a 30-minute presentation on what it means to enter into a POA. Following the workshop, 4-5 students would then fan out into private rooms and meet with as many people as needed. Typically, at each event, 20-30 POAs would be created. Parents and caregivers would leave with a completed and notarized document, along with the copies they needed and an Emergency Checklist, so that if the POA was activated and an alternate caregiver took over, this person would have all of the necessary information about the child to be able to appropriately care for the child (prescription medications, allergies, the contact info for the child’s pediatrician, etc.). Professor Mandelbaum and Attorney Fellow, Jared Flanery, also conducted additional workshops in the community where we trained attorneys and lay advocates about the POA.
For the 2025–2026 academic year, CAC plans to continue to engage in pop-up clinics throughout New Jersey and meet with community members by appointment who call the clinic seeking help in creating a POA.
Entrepreneurship Clinic Provides Legal Aid to Underserved Communities
An aquaculture operation that will generate food for donation to the local community. Broader access to medical testing for local underserved populations. Education services to support lower income school districts. These are just some businesses and nonprofits represented by the Rutgers Law Entrepreneurship Clinic in Spring 2025. Sixteen of the 21 clients were minority and/or womenowned entities who received direct client representation and legal document preparation assistance. The Clinic also extended informal support to 23 additional applicants.
Clinic students prepared entity formation documents, drafted intellectual property assignment agreements, and reviewed client engagement letters. Students also prepared critical legal instruments such as Terms of Service (TOS), End User License Agreements (EULA), and privacy policies for U.S. and international users.
Working in teams of two, students were assigned applications from prospective clients.
Every assignment resulted in substantive skills and writing work for the students. They also attended a two-hour lecture each week to supplement their work representing clients. The lectures provided an overview of the critical concepts, perspectives, and skills necessary for the successful practice of transactional law. One client, who declined to be named, praised the work of the Clinic students who represented them. “[Their] energy, passion, motivation, and dedication made a meaningful impact on my business. [They] helped clarify several critical issues before our official launch, and we intend to follow [their] recommendations closely moving forward.”
By combining rigorous academic instruction with impactful community service, the Rutgers Entrepreneurship Clinic prepares future attorneys for successful careers in transactional law—while advancing equity and opportunity for underserved entrepreneurs.
HANDS-ON
EXPERIENCE IN SUPERIOR COURTS
Led by Director Felicia Farber, Mediation Clinic students have been getting amazing handson experience mediating small claims and special civil cases for Hudson County and Union County Superior Courts. Soon, they will begin serving as mediators in the Family Part of Essex County and will handle a variety of civil matters in Passaic County.
JESSICA ROFÉ HELPS OBTAIN PRESIDENTIAL PARDON FOR IMMIGRANT RIGHTS LEADER
Jessica Rofé, director of the Constitutional Rights Clinic, helped to successfully obtain a presidential pardon from then-President Joe Biden in January 2025 for her long-time client Ravi Ragbir. He is a nationally recognized leader in the immigrant rights movement and husband to Rutgers Law alumna and immigrant rights activist, Amy Gottlieb ’96. Mr. Ragbir had been fighting his deportation since 2006.
View the istandwithravi.org website >>>
Director Felicia Farber (second from right) with Mediation Clinic students
Nadine Ghebreal
Assistant Professor Jessica Rofé (left) and Ravi Ragbir (right)
Newark Clinical Program Dean Randi Mandelbaum (right) with students at Know Your Rights events in Hightstown, New Jersey, in
Rutgers Law Students Launch Online Name Change Resource
The Rutgers University Name Change Pro Bono Project launched in 2022 to support individuals navigating the often-complex legal process of changing their name in New Jersey. The law students who run the project work with people whose gender identity differs from the one they were assigned at birth, providing legal support tailored to their unique needs. What began as an initiative by one Rutgers Law student a few years ago made significant progress recently.
During the spring 2025 semester, three students from the Legislative and Policy Advocacy Clinic in Camden created a step-by-step guide to break down the 10-step name change process. Taking it a step further, the students also developed a user-friendly website to make this valuable resource easily accessible to the public. The website officially launched just a few weeks ago.
As a first-year law student, the Name Change Project instruction guide was handed to Kayalyn Kibbe ’25 (pronouns: they/them) in what they describe as “an unwieldly binder.” They knew there had to be a better way to handle the project. Kibbe decided lugging around a giant binder wasn’t efficient or accessible. They were determined to disseminate the information to the people who need it the most instead of it being held hostage in just a few hands.
In February of their first year, Kibbe attended their first Name Change Assistance event, where Rutgers Law students help individuals navigate the overwhelming name change process. Only four people attended. Rather than feeling discouraged, Kibbe saw the small turnout as a starting point for growth.
“I think a lot of people would have been discouraged because we did a lot of advertising, worked hard to get the word out,” Kibbe said. “I was thrilled that four people showed up because that’s four people who can go back and tell their friends, that’s four people who can vouch for us, that’s four people who gave us feedback on how we were doing.”
Kibbe focused on outreach in the months that followed. They worked closely with OUTlaws, Rutgers Law’s LGBTQ+ student group, connected with professors involved in LGBTQ+
legal advocacy, and collaborated with alumni Leigh Henjes ’20 and Emma Martin ’23 to identify ways to make the name change forms more accessible. Kibbe, Henjes, and Martin realized that it wasn’t sustainable for the three of them to be the only pro bono name change group in the state of New Jersey. They partnered with nonprofit organizations and large law firms to expand their impact, including Volunteer Lawyers for Justice, McCarter & English LLP, Lowenstein Sandler LLP, and Garden State Equality. They shared resources, hosted trainings, and organized collaborative events. Kibbe said, “We want other people doing this work, too. We don’t want there to be a sense of entitlement or ego about who does this work.”
In the fall 2024 semester, Professor Ruth Anne Robbins, the Director of Legislative and Policy Advocacy Clinic in Camden, approached Kibbe and Henjes about the potential for the Project to be a client during the Clinic’s first official semester. Work started in the spring 2025 semester when Kibbe tasked three students from the Clinic with improving how the project communicated in writing with the people it serves. Together, they set out to simplify the documents explaining the name change process and developed an easy-to-follow visual guide over the course of the semester. What began as a dense set of documents and a lengthy manual was transformed into a clear, accessible, and easily printable infographic. The document also includes QR codes that take the viewer to short online screencast tutorials offering more helpful guidance about certain steps in the courts’ process.
However, the clinic students saw the potential for broader impact. They took their project and found it a home on the Internet. According to Professor Robbins, “The students realized that as part of the infographic’s architecture, the clients [Kibbe and Henjes] would need to create some short screencast tutorials and that we needed a place to house those videos. That’s when they decided to build a webpage and to include links to other documents that name-
change-seekers would encounter. The webpage wasn’t part of the initial ask, but the natural outgrowth.”
The result is a comprehensive digital resource. >>>
Kibbe hopes that refining and simplifying the name change process will empower not only attorneys, but also other professionals—like social workers, nurses, and trusted community advocates—to help people navigate the process. They envision a future where individuals already embedded in LGBTQ+ communities can step in with knowledge and support.
“I think if our legacy could be a single word, it would be community,” Kibbe said.
Today, the Name Change Assistance events regularly draw more than 20 law student participants. Kibbe and their collaborators are committed to ensuring these events remain welcoming and joyful, complete with snacks, music, and a sense of celebration.
Economic Justice & Public Benefits Clinic Director Identifies Racial Injustice In The Social Security System
For several decades, the Rutgers Economic Justice & Public Benefits Clinic (and in previous incarnations as a section of the Civil Justice and Urban Legal Clinics), has represented clients in poverty seeking access to life sustaining public benefits as part of the American social welfare safety net. Most often this work involves navigating the complex, multilayered social security administration evidentiary hearing level bureaucracy and the federal court appellate system in pursuit of SSA benefits for low-income persons with disabilities. The overwhelming majority of the Clinic’s clients have been Black or Latino/a, confronting additional layers of racialized obstacles in the process including accessing needed health care and health care documentation, overcoming assumptions about worthiness and various statutory eligibility exclusions for those having criminal justice system involvement of various forms after mass incarceration and racialized policing trends, and surmounting documented racial biases of adjudicators in assessing claimant symptomology including pain and other factors bearing on disparate decisional outcomes, among various other inequities. Inspired by decades of the Clinic’s social
security program work, its Director, Professor Jon Dubin, has launched multiple research projects examining racial inequity in the Social Security’s Act’s history and origins commencing 90 years ago and, in the Act’s myriad present day racially disparate applications. These projects have culminated in the historically focused article, The Color of Social Security: Race and Unequal Protection in the Crown Jewel of the American Welfare State (Stanford Law & Policy Review 2024) and the more comprehensive forthcoming book, of a similar title: The Color of Social Security: Race, Retirement, Disability and Disparity in the Crown Jewel of the Welfare State (Cambridge Univ. Press, forthcoming 2026).
In 2025, Professor Dubin gave presentations on social security equity at multiple national conferences. He presented “Do Disabled Black Lives Matter in the Social Security Disability System?” at the Annual National Conference of the National Organization of Social Security Claimant Representatives, in Washington D.C. in April 2025. He also presented to the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute in New York City in September 2025, at the conference and panel discussions on “Social Security at 90: How Was Social Security Born?”
Leigh Henjes ’20 and Kayalyn Kibbe ’25 at an early name change event at the law school in Camden
Professor Dubin discussed the original 1935 Act’s exclusion of 65% of the nation’s Black population by removing social security coverage for agricultural and domestic workers.
Professor Jon Dubin
Rutgers Law Housing Advocates Tackle Rent Affordability Before NJ Legislature
The New Jersey rental market isn’t what it used to be. Housing prices have surged across the state in recent years, straining tenants’ budgets and limiting their options. Existing rental units are deteriorating in quality, forcing residents to live in poor conditions or spend their own money on repairs. Adding to this issue is the fact that most tenants face significant barriers to obtaining the legal representation they need to defend their rights or remain in their homes. Earlier last year, members of the New Jersey Housing Justice Project traveled to Trenton to testify before the New Jersey Assembly Housing Committee.
“In addition to legal input and analysis, the testimony of the project partners gave a human face to the affordable housing crisis by focusing on the experiences of tenants and the systemic problems that cause eviction and displacement, often drowned out by technical conversations about costs and development,” says Victor Monterrosa, Jr., managing director of the Housing Justice and Tenant Solidarity Clinic at Rutgers Law School in Newark. “The presence of student attorneys, recent graduates, and directors showcased the fruits of our labor: the next generation of housing justice lawyers.”
The New Jersey Housing Justice Project, launched in 2021, is a collaboration between Seton Hall and Rutgers Law schools designed to expand housing advocacy for low- and moderate-income tenants in the state, while providing experiential learning opportunities to law students and new lawyers. Through this project, about 20 faculty and staff attorneys teach clinics, lead pro bono projects, coordinate housing justice programs, and supervise more than 100 law students working on a variety of housing-related legal issues.
Throughout their testimony, representatives from the New Jersey Housing Justice Project outlined three key focus areas for the Legislature: increasing rents, deteriorating rental units, and tenant access to attorneys.
Through her work with the Housing Advocacy Clinic in Camden, Jenna Centofanti ’25 has seen landlords raise rents by as much as 25, 50, and even over 100 percent in a single year in New Jersey, where roughly 80 percent of municipalities offer no form of rent control. “A family shouldn’t be blindsided at the end of their lease with a rent increase so high they can’t afford to renew,” she said in her testimony.
“Likewise, a student renting month-tomonth while supporting themselves through school shouldn’t be shocked by a sudden rent hike. No one renting in New Jersey should experience a rent increase that leaves them scrambling for a new home.”
As rent prices rise, housing quality is plummeting, testified Elias Bull ’24, a former student of the Housing Justice and Tenant Solidarity Clinic.
Bull’s testimony was highlighted by a specific case in East Orange, where the landlord had been cited with hundreds of housing code violations.
“The tenants were on the verge of being pushed out by the horrible conditions or facing eviction if they withheld their rent to demand repairs,” he explained in his testimony. Instead, the tenants and their clinic attorneys succeeded in
getting a court-appointed receiver—a person assigned to manage the building, collect rent, and use those payments to fund repairs.
“The fight is not over, but those tenants are still housed today,” Bull explained, emphasizing the importance of legal representation, legislative action, and proper oversight in ensuring fair housing.
In addition to amplifying the perspectives and experiences of their clients, Housing Justice Project participants who testified that day had a unique opportunity to collaborate closely with fellow law students, practitioners, and faculty and staff from other law school campuses and community-based organizations.
“It felt like the energy in the room changed the moment the Housing Justice Project came to the witness table,” says Ashley Maddison ’19, managing attorney of the Housing Justice Program at Rutgers Law School in Camden.
“We shared real life examples of what the housing crisis looks like on the ground for New Jersey residents. We also showed our legislators what it looks like to become part of the solution: providing legal representation and advocacy, bringing together different organizations in support of a shared mission, and equipping future lawyers, community leaders, and tenants themselves with the tools to make the dream of safe, stable, affordable housing a reality for all New Jerseyans.”
Both the Rutgers-Newark Housing Justice and Tenant Solidarity Clinic and the RutgersCamden Housing Advocacy Clinic continue to tackle issues of affordability in their fall 2025 dockets. Greg Baltz, assistant professor of law and co-director of the Housing Justice and Tenant Solidarity Clinic says, “There’s a dual crisis: one of affordability and one of rent control enforcement. In municipalities where tenant associations won some of the nation’s strongest rent controls decades ago, we see new investors openly increasing the rents well beyond what the law permits. The solution to this crisis may find its way to the legislature, but starts with organized tenants asserting the rights previous generations won at a local level.”
L to r: Victor Monterrosa, Jr. ’19, Housing Justice and Tenant Solidarity Clinic managing director; Ashley Maddison ’19, Housing Justice Program managing attorney; Daniel Wiley, Community Engagement Consultant at the NJ Legal Design Lab; Elias Bull, Make the Road NJ legal fellow and former clinical student ’24; Jenna Centofanti ’25, former Housing Advocacy Clinic student; James Park ’25, former Housing Advocacy Clinic student; Lori Borgen, Seton Hall Law Center for Social Justice director; Lisa Roe, Seton Hall Law Health Justice Clinic student
Coalition Releases Report on Unjustified Evictions in New Jersey
A coalition of tenant advocates released a report urging the New Jersey courts to improve their process for reviewing residential eviction complaints. According to data collected and analyzed by the coalition, the “Unjustified Residential Evictions in New Jersey” report suggests that eviction judgments or defaults are entered against as many as 29,000 tenant families each year in cases where the court lacks jurisdiction.
The coalition includes the Housing Justice Project of the Center for Social Justice at Seton Hall Law School, the Lowenstein Center for the Public Interest at Lowenstein Sandler, Volunteer Lawyers for Justice, and the Housing Justice Program at Rutgers Law School.
Ashley Maddison ‘19, Managing Attorney of the Housing Justice Program at Rutgers Law in Camden, contributed as co-author of the report. Volunteer students and attorneys from eight organizations assisted with data collection efforts.
After reviewing 1,378 complaints, including a sample from each county in New Jersey, the coalition found:
• 69 percent of eviction complaints filed by landlords contained at least one legal deficiency, such as landlords failing to attach mandatory eviction notices when the landlord acknowledged the tenancy was subsidized; landlords seeking late fees, attorney fees, or other fees not permitted under the law; and landlords failing to attach required notices when they sought eviction for reasons other than nonpayment of rent;
• 15 percent of complaints filed had three or more legal deficiencies; and
• the courts issued deficiency notices in only 11 percent of the cases in which landlords had filed deficient complaints.
Notably, in landlord-tenant courts across New Jersey, 97 percent of residential tenants do not have a lawyer to defend them from eviction. Without legal representation, self-represented tenants have little-to-no capacity to identify the legal deficiencies that regularly lead to dismissals in the few cases in which tenants have lawyers.
The October 2024 report’s findings highlight the pressing need for continued reform and oversight to ensure that eviction judgments are entered in New Jersey’s landlord-tenant courts only when there is a legal basis to do so. According to the coalition of tenant advocates, until changes are made, the landlordtenant courts will continue to enter eviction judgments where they lack jurisdiction, causing numerous tenants to lose their homes when they should not.
Free Expungement Clinics for Low-Income
New Jersey Residents
Rutgers Law School’s Expungement Law Project (ELP) hosted two free events in spring 2025 for low-income individuals seeking expungement of their New Jersey criminal history. Offered in partnership with South Jersey Legal Services (SJLS), the New Jersey Office of the Public Defender, and local county prosecutor offices, these events provided an opportunity for community members to meet with law clinic students and practicing attorneys to discuss expungement eligibility.
Fifty-five expungement consultations were conducted at the first event on March 13 at the Salvation Army Kroc Center in Camden. The second event took place on April 17 at the Paulsboro Firehouse.
The events were staffed by Professors Meredith Schalick, Sandra Simkins, Jessica Frisina, and Viktoria Zerda, as well as the 18 Rutgers Law students enrolled in the Expungement Law Project and volunteer attorneys.
“The clients we help through this project are the most motivated clients I have ever worked with,” says Meredith Schalick, clinical professor of law and ELP co-director. “These are people who are incredibly committed to turning their life around, but who are running up against obstacles where criminal histories—sometimes from 20, 30, 40 years ago—prevent them from accessing loans, jobs, insurance, housing, and more.”
Indeed, these events are a great opportunity for lawyers and law students to give back to the community and make a tangible difference in residents’ lives. “I didn’t know if I could get a second chance, and the students explained that I could apply [for expungement] and what the process is,” says “Tina,” a former client from Camden County. “It’s letting me change
my whole life for my kids. I’ve got a job with benefits, and I’m trying to save for a car.”
In addition to providing direct legal aid, ELP offers information sessions and training on the expungement process and advocates for reforms and policy changes to enhance access and efficiency in New Jersey’s expungement system.
ELP is supported by funding from the New Jersey State Bar Foundation (NJSBF). In 2024, the foundation awarded more than $4 million in multi-year grants to support Rutgers Law School clinics in both Camden and Newark. Made possible by funding from the Interest on Lawyers Trust Accounts (IOLTA) Fund of the Bar of New Jersey, these grants enable over 250 law students to provide pro bono legal services to more than 500 clients annually via Rutgers Law clinics, and plans are in place to expand participation by an additional 50 to 60 clinical law students going forward.
“The NJSBF has generously supported Rutgers’ clinical programs for decades,” says Camden Clinical Program Dean Sandra Simkins.
“With this new funding, we expanded the Expungement Law Project and welcomed Viktoria Zerda as a new teaching fellow who joins myself and Professor Meredith Schalick.”
For the students who participate, working in this and other clinics is both educationally enriching and personally fulfilling. “Being part of the Expungement Law Project at Rutgers is an incredibly rewarding experience—one that goes beyond words,” says Kayla Handt, who was a 3L Rutgers Law student and certified legal intern with the project this past spring.
“Helping a client who has rarely had anyone in their corner is profoundly meaningful. The project’s mission is to assist clients in receiving a fresh start because we believe that a few past mistakes should not define a person’s future.”
Criminal & Youth Justice Clinic Marks
Wrongful Conviction Day
October 2 is Wrongful Conviction Day, an annual event spearheaded by the National Innocence Network to increase understanding of the causes of, and harms associated with, wrongful convictions. It’s also a call to mobilize efforts to undo and prevent those harms and hold government accountable. To mark the day, the Center on Criminal Justice, Youth Rights, and Race and the New Jersey Innocence Project, together with the Criminal & Youth Justice Clinic, the Criminal Law Society, and the American Constitution Society, hosted a program in 2024 featuring exonerees Rodney Roberts and Armond McCloud and civil rights attorneys Gabriel Harvis and Baree Fett.
Immigrant Justice Clinic Prevails in Difficult U Visa Case
This past year, the Immigrant Justice Clinic (IJC) saw one of its longtime clients become a U.S. lawful permanent resident (“LPR”) after many years of advocacy. Stephen* was 17 years old and in foster care when he first came to the IJC more than a decade ago. Born in West Africa, Stephen had been brought to the United States as a child by his father. When their visas expired, Stephen’s father left the country and sent Stephen to stay with an uncle in Camden. Over the next four years, Stephen’s uncle subjected him to horrific abuse. Stephen recalls being treated as a “slave child” who was made to sit on the floor naked and was beaten every day. Stephen escaped when police came to the home, discovered the abuse, arrested his uncle, and took Stephen into foster care.
Based on Stephen’s reported abuse and assistance to prosecutors in bringing charges against his abuser, the IJC was able to secure him a U visa—a temporary immigration status available to certain crime victims—in 2020. Then, after three years with his U visa, Stephen became eligible to apply for LPR status, also known as a “green card.” The IJC prepared and filed Stephen’s green card application during the Fall 2023 semester.
To show that he was eligible for a green card, Stephen would have to prove, among other things, that he had remained physically present in the United States since the date his U visa was granted. Typically, a person does this by providing copies of pay stubs, medical records, rental agreements, bills—all things that make up the “paper trail” of one’s life. But this proved to be a major challenge for Stephen, who had struggled in recent years to maintain steady employment and stable housing. When USCIS sent a letter last November seeking more evidence of Stephen’s continuous presence and good character, IJC senior staff attorney Elizabeth Yaeger and work study student Yomaira TarulaAranda worked closely with Stephen to meet this burden. Together, they tracked down employment records from several states where the client had lived, affidavits from community members, a single hospital record, and other documents to prove that Stephen met the requirements for lawful permanent residence. Finally, at the end of March 2025, Stephen received the news that his long journey to permanent legal status was complete. With his green card in hand, he is now able to live securely in the country that he has long called home. Stephen hopes to one day start a family and give back to his community while continuing to heal from his trauma. He is extremely grateful to the many Rutgers students, faculty, and staff who have helped make these dreams possible.
*Not real name
IJC Senior Staff Attorney Elizabeth Yaeger
Yomaira Tarula-Aranda ’27
Expungement Law Clinic students, professors, and volunteers at spring events in south Jersey
Armond McCloud (center) speaking at Wrongful Conviction Day event on October 2, 2024
Witnessing Resilience at the US-Mexico Border
By Gabriela Abreu ’26
Since resuming office in 2025, the Trump administration has continued to blatantly violate, restrict, and threaten the rights of migrants. Notably, the current presidential administration has closed and halted asylum applications. While the administration’s actions seek to increase barriers for migrants at the border, local non-profit organizations reshape binational efforts to aid migrants in facing them. This past May, I was fortunate to be selected for the U.S.-Mexico Border Trip facilitated and funded by the Immigrant Rights Clinic each year. The trip provides law students with the unique opportunity to directly aid in addressing the legal barriers faced by migrants at the border through collaboration with a local non-profit organization and under the direct supervision of experienced Clinic staff. This year, the Immigrant Rights Clinic partnered with Al Atro Lado, a non-profit that provides legal and humanitarian aid to migrants in the Tijuana area. As a result of this opportunity, I stood on the coast of Tijuana, Mexico, after walking through the San Diego port of entry alongside four Rutgers Law students and Clinic staff. Shortly after crossing the border, we walked along the 30-foot-tall steel wall constructed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection at the location designated as Friendship Park. Immediately past the steel wall was an additional chain link fence. As I peered past each barrier, I was confronted with an open and empty landscape, with the exception of a construction site and scattered bushes. From this perspective, I struggled to picture the joint community space that had existed there for decades.
In 1971, Friendship Park was established as a binational park located on the borderline between Mexico and the United States. Rather unsurprisingly, the park’s name is largely misleading, evidenced by the barbed wire fence that originally stood to separate the U.S. side of the park from the Mexico side of the park. Despite the looming presence of the fence, which only grew taller, longer, and more fortified as the years went by, families gathered to hold hands and speak through the fence, local organizations hosted various
events, and community gardens were started and maintained on both sides of the park. The Department of Homeland Security closed the U.S. side of Friendship Park in 2020, and it has remained closed since. The Mexico side of Friendship Park, in stark contrast, is populated with families and tourists eating, taking pictures, and learning about the history of the park. The view of the steel wall from Tijuana features murals, quotes, and political memes painted from top to bottom.
As part of our work with Al Atro Lado, we attended shelters each day to give Know Your Rights presentations, answer questions, and provide information to the community. These experiences varied as the populations
Rutgers Law Receives Critical Restoration of State Funding to Support Legal Clinics
Rutgers Law School received the disappointing news in March 2025 that the Governor’s budget for Fiscal Year 2026 sought to cut state funding to the Law School’s clinical program in half. For years, the clinical program received $400,000 annually as a state appropriation, split equally between the Newark and Camden locations. However, despair turned into hope on June 30, 2025, when the Law School learned that funding had been fully restored.
This was due to zealous advocacy by state legislators in both Camden and Essex counties. In Camden, this effort was spearheaded by Assembly Majority Leader Louis D. Greenwald and Assemblyman William Spearman. Thanks are due to Senate Majority Leader Teresa Ruiz and Assemblywoman Eliana Pintor Marin in Newark.
The Rutgers community was elated by the strong showing of support. With gratitude,
Rutgers Law School Dean Johanna Bond noted, “This is not only an investment in our students’ legal education—it’s an investment in justice. Our clinics are where theory meets practice and where future lawyers learn that the law is a tool for equity. The funding will greatly assist Rutgers Law School in its mission to ‘expand access to legal education, foster academic excellence, and empower students to practice with integrity, lead with purpose, and champion justice.’”
Rutgers University-Camden Chancellor Antonio Tillis further noted that, “This essential funding will allow Rutgers Law to continue to provide critically needed legal assistance to individuals and families across our region who would not otherwise have access to those important services.”
differed in size and demographics, so each shelter provided a new learning opportunity. Despite the heaviness of the conversations, I appreciated the opportunity to interact with people individually and learn more about their stories. Many of the individuals we spoke to have experienced traumatic events such as sexual violence, extortion, and kidnapping. Despite the gravity of their situations, many of the people we met at the shelters shared positive stories and laughed with us and each other as we discussed the various topics. The energy and resilience of the people we spoke to reminded me of the art that covered the steel wall at Friendship Park, serving as resistance in the face of imposed barriers.
IP CLINIC AWARDS
Continued from page 4
The event was attended by Director of the IP Law Clinic Professor John Kettle, Associate Dean for Clinical Education (Newark) and Director of the Child Advocacy Clinic Professor Randi Mandelbaum, and Adjunct Professor Stan Tso ’06.
Professor Kettle recognized their exceptional dedication to IP law, stating: “Their passion for intellectual property was evident in every aspect of their clinical work. They consistently demonstrated a strong commitment to the client matters assigned to them, approaching each assignment with both intellectual curiosity and a deep sense of professionalism. It is indeed an honor to recognize Caroline and Jing with the IP Law Clinic Award.”
Although Dean Johanna Bond was unable to be present for the ceremony, she sent a note of congratulations: “Your recognition by the IP Clinic is a testament to the dedication, skill, and professionalism you brought to your work. It’s a well-earned honor, and a reflection of the impact you’ve made through your advocacy.”
Photo credit: Gabriela Abreu
Gabriela Abreu ’26 (left) with her fellow Rutgers Law Immigrant Rights Clinic students at the US-Mexico border
Clinic Students Champion Exoneration, Youth Advocacy, and Systemic Reform
The Rutgers Criminal & Youth Justice Clinic (CYJC) worked to free numerous clients over the last year through exoneration, executive clemency, re-sentencing, and parole advocacy. Many had been unjustly incarcerated for decades. Several of these clients are now home with their families as a result of the Clinic’s representation. This work is often interdisciplinary, allowing students to partner with mitigation specialists, psychologists, and forensic scientists among others.
Clinic students also represented young people incarcerated in New Jersey’s youth prison system, challenging harmful conditions of confinement and seeking early release from
custody. Led by CYJC Director Laura Cohen, the Clinic had a significant victory in 20242025 when a judge agreed to reduce the sentence of an adolescent client by more than half, preventing his transfer to an adult prison and ensuring his successful return to the community.
In addition, students, Clinic faculty, and staff attorneys contributed significantly to Kids You Throw Away: New Jersey’s Indiscriminate Prosecution of Children as Adults, a 2025 report by Human Rights Watch. They also helped draft legislation to cure some of the injustices mentioned in the report and participated in the formation of a statewide youth justice reform coalition.
How Rutgers Tax Clinic is Reshaping Taxpayer Advocacy
This has been a challenging year for the low-income taxpayer community, but the Rutgers Federal Tax Clinic has been up to the task, resolving novel and intricate claims on behalf of its clients. The low-income taxpayer community is one that has been traditionally overlooked. Almost 70 percent of cases that end up in the U.S. Tax Court are pro se, leaving a large amount of the low-income taxpayers to fend for themselves in a complicated process. Fortunately, clinics like this are apt to step in and fill that void.
Making things more challenging to clientele has been wholescale changes to tax policy that has left these vulnerable taxpayers with less options to resolve their cases. As the courts grapple with the sudden shift in immigration enforcement and tax administration, some clients are left wondering what to do. Thankfully, the Clinic has had wonderful students who have prepared materials to guide the Clinic on immigrationrelated tax administration and assist clients on a fast-changing landscape. The Federal Tax Clinic is partnering with other stakeholders to expand its educational outreach related to immigration enforcement and tax administration including other low-income taxpayer clinics and return preparers.
The Clinic has also seen an increased focus on litigating tax disputes and have taken on several novel and sensitive matters in the United States Tax Court in which student attorneys draft and respond to dispositive motions and prepare cases for trial. The Clinic recently scored a victory against summary judgment in a case involving equitable tolling of a jurisdictional deadline, based on a recently decided Supreme Court case, in one of the first cases in which the Tax Court has addressed the issue.
The client, a retired teacher, petitioned the Tax Court to prevent the IRS from seizing her assets.
Due to circumstances beyond her control, including significant personal tragedy, she was unable to meet the statutorily prescribed deadline to request the Tax Court’s relief. Based on the Supreme Court’s decision in Boechler P.C. v. Commissioner, 596 U.S. 199 (2022), the Clinic argued on her behalf that her facts and circumstances met the requirements for equitable tolling of the deadline. This is a significant victory for the taxpayer on a matter that the Tax Court has not yet ruled upon, and it will permit her to actually plead her case before the Tax Court at trial.
The Clinic has also sought to protect the tax interests of those subject to domestic violence and kidnapping through efforts to relieve those victims of the horrible conduct of their spouses. The Clinic petitioned the Tax Court on behalf of an abused spouse whose husband kidnapped and kept her and her children hostage in Iran. After escaping Iran and returning to the United States, the client discovered that her husband had sold significant real estate holdings that generated a significant tax bill for the client as a result of him forging her signature.
Many cases at the Clinic involve taxpayers who are denied vital public assistance through refundable tax credits even though they are entitled. The Clinic has either successfully resolved those matters administratively in its clients’ favor or challenged the IRS to litigate the merits of the matter in the United States Tax Court.
Finally, the Clinic continues outreach with partners in both the private and public sector.
In collaboration with the IRS Office of Chief Counsel, the tax clinic arranged and participated in a settlement week in which the Clinic either assisted or represented low-income taxpayers trying to resolve their cases without the need for trial. The Clinic has also expanded its partnership with United Way, a low-income taxpayer return-preparation site in Trenton, New Jersey. This partnership provides return preparation and representation at no cost to a community that desperately needs it. While the unprecedented and uncertain nature of the tax controversy field in the last six months has made things more difficult for clients and taxpayers alike, the Rutgers Federal Tax Clinic continues to provide a valuable resource to an underserved community.
Professor Laura Cohen
GREG BALTZ
n Tenant Union Law, 43 Yale L. & Pol’Y Rev. 1 (2024); reprinted in 34 J. Affordable Housing & Comm. Dev. L. 249 (2025).
2025–2026
n Lives Housed Otherwise: Transgressing Liberal Property Logics, in Insurgent Ground: Land, Housing, Property 55 (Ananya Roy ed., 2025) (with Lindsay Massara).
n Organizing in the Shadow of the Law, Law & Political Economy Blog (Jan. 15, 2025).
n All Power to the Tenants, Law & Political Economy Blog (Oct. 8, 2024).
JON DUBIN
n The Color of Social Security: Race, Retirement, Disability and Disparity in The Crown Jewel of The Welfare State (Cambridge University Press, under contract and forthcoming 2026)
n Diversity in Global Justice Education: Legal Systems and Procedures (with Xavier Autrey and Alan Uzelac), in The Global Clinical Movement: Educating Lawyers for Social Justice (2nd Edition, Frank S. Block and Ulrich Stege, Eds., forthcoming 2026)
n Social Security Disability Law and Procedure in Federal Court (2025 Edition; co-authored with Carolyn A. Kubitschek, Thomson Reuters Publishing Co.,2025)
n 2025 Supplement/Update for Social Security Law, Policy & Practice: Cases and Materials (co-authored with Frank S. Bloch, American Casebook Series, West Academic Pub. Co., 2025)
JESSICA FRISINA
n Leaving Room for Rehabilitation in the Theory and Practice of Criminal Restitution, 85 Md. L. Rev. (forthcoming 2026); Rutgers Law School Research Paper No. Forthcoming
JOANNE GOTTESMAN
n Immigration Federalism and the Promise of State Constitutions, forthcoming in Lewis & Clark Law Review, Volume 30, Issue 1 (2026)
JOANNE GOTTESMAN & RANDI MANDELBAUM
n Permanency Means
Immigration Permanency: Why Child Welfare Agencies Must Provide Immigration Attorneys to Noncitizen Foster Children, forthcoming in UC Davis Law Review, Volume 59, Issue 1 (Nov. 2025)
MARCY L. KARIN & DEBORAH A. WIDISS
n Menstruation, Menopause, and the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, 48 Harv. J. L. & Gen. 103 (2025)
BETTINA BILDHAUER & MARCY L. KARIN
n Menstruation and Menopause as Reproductive Justice Issues: Feminist Reflections on Activism, Research, and Policy from the Global Movement’s Scottish Hub, 27 J. Int’l Women’s Studs., Art. 14, 1 (2025)
KEVIN LIEBKEMANN
n Job Incidence Numbers in Social Security Disability Claims: A Case Study and Analysis, 44 J. Nat’l Ass’n Admin. L. Judiciary 15 (2024)
JESSICA ROFÉ
n “The EDC Class Action and the Fight to End For-Profit Detention in New Jersey,” Elizabeth Detention Center: A Social History of Confinement in New Jersey and the United States (Ulla D. Berg and Carolina Sánchez Boe, Eds., forthcoming 2026)
TOMICA BURKE SAUL
n Reparative Entrepreneurship, 2024 Columbia Business Law Review 557 (2025)
Community and Transactional Law Clinic Students
Help Businesses Take Off
Rutgers Community and Transactional Law Clinic (CTLC), in collaboration with the Rutgers Advanced Institute for the Study of Entrepreneurship and Development (RAISED) at Rutgers Business School, announced its third Limited Liability Company (LLC) Formation Workshop. This innovative clinic is designed to empower New Jersey’s small business owners by helping them establish LLCs—an essential step in protecting personal assets and unlocking key legal and financial benefits.
The workshop is a limited engagement clinic that offers free legal counseling provided by the CTLC’s clinical students, who have designed and now run the program entirely. RAISED complements this effort by funding the licensing fees required to officially form the LLCs, removing a critical barrier for many aspiring entrepreneurs.
Since its inception, the clinic has successfully assisted nearly 10 local entrepreneurs in forming LLCs, demonstrating the tangible impact of student-led legal and business collaboration. Participants receive hands-on guidance through the legal formation process, ensuring their businesses are structured for long-term success and liability protection.
RAISED, a research institute housed within Rutgers Business School, brings together research, teaching, and community engagement to support entrepreneurship across New Jersey. Its partnership with Rutgers Law exemplifies the university’s commitment to interdisciplinary collaboration and community service.
This workshop not only provides vital support to local business owners but also offers Rutgers students a unique opportunity to apply their legal and business education in a real-world setting. As the Clinic enters its third iteration, it continues to serve as a model for how academic institutions can foster economic development and entrepreneurial growth in their communities.
Rutgers Law School Clinic Faculty and Staff
Professor Tomica Burke Saul
CLINICnews
S.I. Newhouse Center for Law and Justice 123 Washington Street, 4th Floor, Newark, NJ 07102 | (973) 353-3000
