NJSBA will hold similar events in other cities in the year ahead

A woman who didn't trust her landlord wanted to know how she could prevent him from keeping her security deposit.

A Colombian man who recently married an American wanted to know what the process was to obtain a green card.

Another man wanted to know how to form a union at the factory where he works because he said management was engaged in unfair labor practices.

These were just a few of the questions posed by hundreds of men and women who waited in line, sometimes 20 deep, or sat in the bleachers inside the Union City High School gymnasium on a weeknight earlier this month for Law Day.

The event, a partnership between the New Jersey State Bar Association, Hudson County Prosecutor's Office, Union City Board of Education, Hispanic Bar Association of New Jersey and Mayor and State Senator Brian, provided residents with an opportunity to get free guidance from volunteer attorneys in a number of practice areas, including family, criminal and immigration law.

This was Union City's fourth Law Day. Expect more to be held in Elizabeth, Camden and other cities throughout the state this year when the association partners with local government and bar associations. The program is a priority for Evelyn Padin, the NJSBA's first Latina president who was recently sworn in, and who has made access to the legal system for the disadvantaged a priority during her term.

About 20 percent of Union City's population lives below the poverty line, according to the 2010 U.S. Census. And nearly 85 percent of the city's population is Hispanic or Latino, the highest in New Jersey.

Law Day “is something the county needs,” Stack told about two dozen attorneys who gathered that evening in the school library before the start of the program.

Padin cautioned that some people in the community are “afraid of lawyers.”

Some have been going to notaries, who are commonly referred to in the community by the Spanish word “notarios,” a legal position in some Latin American countries. But they are not qualified to give legal advice in the United States, said Ralph Lamparello, a past president of the NJSBA who helped organize the event.

After a brief presentation given largely in Spanish to the community in the auditorium, everyone made their way to the gym, where under the image of the school's mascot, the Soaring Eagle, it became a beehive of activity.

As children played tag and scampered past parents and officials, the attorneys, many of whom also spoke Spanish, took their seats at more than a dozen tables, each marked by tabletop placards indicating practice areas: immigration, criminal (defense/expungement and victim's rights), guardianship of children, divorce, employment issues, landlord-tenant/housing, and domestic violence.

Lines built rapidly as residents filed in, many coming straight from their jobs and still in their work boots and factory gear, and carrying children or pushing strollers.

The three immigration tables had the longest lines. Jose, who emigrated from El Salvador 30 years ago, waited in one of the lines to ask a lawyer about what the next steps would be now that he's sponsored his two sons to immigrate to the United States.

Norberto Garcia, the incoming president of the New Jersey State Bar Foundation, provided guidance on employment and labor issues when he could, and when he couldn't he offered to help connect others to the right person.

“I was able to put them at ease,” he said.

Garcia said there are a lot of outfits providing specious legal advice in the community and pushing products or services on people that they don't need.

“We have the best interests of the community in mind. We are telling from our heart of hearts the best path to take,” he said.

Maritza Rodriguez, an attorney with offices in Newark, New Brunswick and Lyndhurst, fielded questions about domestic violence.

“I gave as many resources as I could and directions for how to find pro bono help if that's what they were looking for. They just needed some guidance. Some may not even need an attorney,” Rodriguez said.

Assemblywoman Annette Quijano, who attended the event, said Law Day is important because it fills a critical need for many.

“When the NJSBA takes the lead, more attorneys get involved,” Quijano said.