When 2020 began, the halls of the New Jersey Law Center were echoing with the sound of laughter, applause and the joyful voices of the Newark Boys Chorus at the New Jersey State Bar Association (NJSBA) Diversity Committee’s New Year’s reception. A few weeks later, nearly 600 legal professionals packed the Hyatt Regency in New Brunswick for the NJSBA Family Law Symposium.
Then, less than three months into 2020, the world changed.
COVID-19 struck, creating a global pandemic and altering daily life and the practice of law. In mid-March, Governor Phil Murphy ordered the state on lockdown. Large groups standing shoulder-to-shoulder, let alone an attorney meeting face-to-face with a client or a judge presiding over a case in a packed courtroom, would have to be suspended.
The NJSBA, which had been monitoring the pandemic from the start, launched an action plan and immediately reached out to the Judiciary, federal courts and the executive branch on a number of concerns that were critical to serving the public during the public health crisis. At a time of great uncertainty and fear, Evelyn Padin, then president of the NJSBA, addressed the legal community in a video, acknowledging its pain and assuring the community the NJSBA was actively working to serve and protect New Jersey’s legal profession.
“We are in the middle of a severe health and economic crisis, the likes of which many of us have never faced,” she said. “I want you to know that the state bar association family is here for you,” said Padin, who directed viewers to the New Jersey Lawyers Assistance Program, free webinars and other resources available on the NJSBA website, including materials on how to conduct a remote deposition and navigate a virtual courtroom.
The NJSBA quickly pivoted all of its New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education (NJICLE) in-person programs to live webcasts. Over the next several weeks, as it became increasingly clear the NJSBA Annual Meeting and Convention—the most anticipated event on the legal education and social calendar—could not be held at the Borgata Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, the NJSBA transformed the convention into a three-day online event for the first time in its history. Nearly 2,500 attendees registered, making it one of the most successful annual meetings. During the meeting, Kimberly A. Yonta was sworn in as president of the NJSBA for the 2020–2021 term from her home, during a ceremony that could be viewed live online.
Almost immediately, Yonta created the Pandemic Task Force to examine and address issues that affect the legal profession, such as how to safely re-open law firms, how to adjust courthouse operations and resume jury trials, how the pandemic might impact substantive areas of law, and how access to justice has been affected.
“The task force continues to provide practical guidance to make sure that the constitutional rights of the accused and the citizen’s right to have a case heard in court are never forsaken for efficiency in the name of justice,” Yonta said. “This is exactly the kind of practical help that demonstrates the NJSBA is a lawyer’s best partner during these uncertain times.”
The NJSBA also launched NJ Free Legal Answers, an online version of the traditional walk-in clinic where members of the public can pose questions about civil legal challenges they are facing as a result of the pandemic and receive help from a volunteer attorney. Dozens of volunteer attorneys have answered questions from members of the public in recent months.
Beyond the pandemic
While the pandemic continued to upend life over the long, hot summer, protests erupted in many parts of the country over the murder of George Floyd and other unarmed Black individuals at the hands of police.
Yonta spoke out, calling for a swift, fair and independent investigation into Floyd’s death and establishing the Commission on Racial Equity in the Law to identify ways to address root causes of inequities in the legal profession and the law. The NJSBA requested the New Jersey Supreme Court require lawyers fulfill a continuing legal education (CLE) requirement on diversity, inclusion and elimination of bias, which was later granted. Later in the summer, the NJSBA presented the Symposium on Race and Law, which featured nearly 40 speakers and more than 300 attendees.
Meanwhile, the NJSBA continued its advocacy in other matters, participating in nearly a dozen cases as amicus, including the State of New Jersey v. Robert Andrews, which focused on the question of whether defendants can be compelled to disclose the passcode to their cell phones; the State v. Michael Olenowski, which focused on the reliability and admissibility of evidence elicited by a drug recognition evaluator to assist in the prosecution of cases involving charges of driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol; and Meisels v. Fox Rothschild, where the NJSBA urged the state Supreme Court to overturn an Appellate Division decision that allowed an attorney to be potentially liable for a non-client third-party claim to funds the attorney had released according to a client’s instructions.
Additionally, the NJSBA helped to draft, supported or was instrumental in helping to pass more than a dozen pieces of legislation over the year, including:
- Daniel’s Law, which makes it a crime to publish personal addresses and other identifying information about state judges or their families (The law is named after U.S. District Judge Esther Salas’ son, who was shot and killed by a disgruntled attorney.)
- The remote notary law, which expands the ability to remotely notarize documents using communication technology
- A bill to eliminate certain mandatory minimum terms of imprisonment
- A bill to cancel proposed rule amendments to the New Jersey Rules of Evidence 608, which would expand the scope of permissible cross-examination in criminal cases
Despite dramatic societal changes that impacted the profession this year, the NJSBA had uplifting achievements to celebrate. The New Jersey State Bar Foundation launched a new series of workshops, “Breaking Bias: Lessons from the Amistad” and it transformed its ninth annual juried art show into a spectacular interactive virtual gallery. The NJICLE was again honored as the state’s top provider of continuing legal education in the New Jersey Law Journal’s annual Best of New Jersey contest.
The NJSBA celebrated the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment with several programs, including one on the integral role played by New Jersey suffragist Alice Paul and the role lawyers play in elections. The New Jersey Commission on Professionalism in the Law celebrated its 25th anniversary throughout November, culminating with a virtual program and video.
And the NJSBA continued to honor its members in virtual awards programs, such as the NJSBA Pro Bono Awards, which recognizes attorneys who work to improve access to justice for the underserved in New Jersey. Among the recipients was Lora Fong, an assistant New Jersey attorney general who serves as the first chief diversity officer for the Department of Law and Public Safety, who received the NJSBA Diversity Committee’s 2020 Mel Narol Award for her work advancing diversity and inclusion.
As a memorable year draws to a close, the NJSBA looks forward with renewed hope to 2021.