NNJLS and its Pro Bono Partnerships Project receives national grant

Northeast New Jersey Legal Services (NNJLS) and its Pro Bono Partnerships Project (PBPP) are pleased to announce that we are recipients of a Legal Services Corporation (LSC) Pro Bono Innovation Fund (PBIF) grant. As one of only 21 programs nationally receiving a PBIF grant, NNJLS is proud to be among an impressive list of Legal Services programs from across the country receiving funding to support essential legal services aimed at closing the justice gap and increasing access to essential civil legal services.

NNJLS’s two-year grant will fund the Clean Record Initiative project, operated by PBPP and which aims to increase awareness and access to expungement services in Bergen, Hudson and Passaic Counties. The Clean Record Initiative will involve community outreach, education and access to full legal representation from a host of legal volunteers throughout New Jersey. The goal of the Clean Record Initiative is to boost the number of successful expungement petitions filed and reduce barriers to expungements, such as access to fingerprinting, and background checks, all while decreasing client wait times.
NNJLS and PBPP cannot do this work alone. With assistance through our legal partnerships, volunteer attorneys from a number of law firms and in-house counsel teams throughout New Jersey have pledged their support to assist clients with expungements by providing full representation services. Thank you to Archer & Greiner, P.C., JP Morgan Chase, Greenberg Traurig, LLP, McCalla Raymer Liebert Pierce, LLC, and Parker Ibrahim & Berg for their support in the application stage of the grant process and, most importantly, for their commitment to representing clients in the expungement process. Thank you also to Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office, the Recovery Court Unit of the Office of the Public Defender, and to Tamra Katcher, Esq., of Faugno Weis Katcher Duarte and the Co-Chair of the Bergen County Bar Association Criminal Practice Group, in their commitment to providing training, guidance and resources to both NNJLS/PBPP staff and volunteers as they work to assist clients with expungements.
NNJLS and PBPP are honored to be recognized by LSC and thank them for their continued support.
About Northeast New Jersey Legal Services (NNJLS):
Northeast New Jersey Legal Services (NNJLS) has provided comprehensive legal representation and other legal services to lower-income individuals and families throughout Bergen, Hudson, and Passaic Counties for more than 55 years. NNJLS’s mission is to ensure that everyone has equal access to the justice system, regardless of their ability to afford a private attorney. Our experience in serving residents of one of the nation’s most ethnically and socioeconomically diverse regions enables us to meet the pressing legal needs of lower-income and underserved individuals—and address the barriers that often prevent individuals and families from accessing the civil justice system such as poverty, limited English proficiency, and a lack of familiarity with a judicial process.