Newark Tenants Facing Eviction Will Get Free Legal Aid In Fall

NEWARK, NJ — Newark’s free legal team for local tenants facing eviction is coming together. Now all it needs is a lawyer who is passionate about serving the city’s low-income residents.

On Tuesday, municipal officials announced that the city has chosen a law firm to help it launch a program that will bring “pro bono legal representation” to local tenants facing eviction proceedings by their landlords: Newark-based McCarter & English.

According to city officials, the law firm is now looking to hire an attorney who will help it launch the free program in early autumn. The chosen lawyer will earn a starting salary “competitive for public interest lawyers” plus benefits, but more importantly, will be at the forefront of a new movement towards more just tenant-landlord relations in the Brick City.

The stakes are steep, city officials have previously said.

When Mayor Ras Baraka announced plans to provide a free legal service for tenants facing eviction in May, officials shared some eye-opening statistics to explain the urgency of the situation.

According to Newark officials, more than 78 percent of the city’s residents are renters. And when there are 40,000 eviction cases filed in Essex County Landlord-Tenant court every year, half of which involve low-and moderate-income Newarkers, it adds up to an unfair power balance.

• See related article: Newark Mayor Wants Free Legal Aid For Tenants Facing Eviction

The massive number of such cases in Newark is one of the reasons why the city urgently needs free lawyers for people facing evictions, proponents of the program say.

Initially, the chosen “fellow” will focus on representing tenants facing eviction. The fellow will expand McCarter’s pro bono services to low-income tenants and collaborate with community service organizations, the mayor’s office and universities – among others – to educate tenants about their rights and influence public opinion by speaking and writing on the societal and legal aspects of eviction. The fellow may also engage in other forms of policy advocacy, city officials said.

“We will start out concentrating on the unmet legal needs of tenants, but we’re going to be flexible,” said Michelle Movahed, the firm’s pro bono director. “If it becomes clear in the future that the city’s residents need our support in another area, the fellowship program will adapt accordingly.”

“Landlords file tens of thousands of eviction proceedings against tenants in Newark and surrounding communities every year,” Movahed added. “Only a tiny fraction of those tenants have legal representation, and we intend to change that.”

Ideally, the chosen fellow will have four years’ experience, including two litigating in Housing Court, and will be fluent in Spanish and/or other languages commonly spoken in Newark, Movahed said.

Robert Mintz, managing partner of the firm’s Newark office, said the new program is one of the only pro bono positions in the country that has a “geographical” focus.

“Rather than limiting ourselves to a particular area of law, we wanted to more broadly serve the legal needs of the residents of Newark,” Mintz said.

Mintz pointed out that the firm’s new role doesn’t mean that it is “anti-landlord”… it also represents several commercial landlords.

“McCarter & English has been an important partner in our work to build a stronger, more equitable city,” Baraka said Tuesday at a press conference at the firm’s 15th floor offices at 100 Mulberry Street.

“We are very grateful that the firm is teaming with us to protect the rights of some of Newark’s most at-risk residents, tenants waging unequal battles against landlords unjustly seeking evictions,” Baraka said. “I thank McCarter & English for creating this fellowship involving significant social justice issues affecting Newark and thank them for supporting our city and its residents in so many ways over the years.”

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Photo: City of Newark Press Office, Flickr