A Little Revolutionary
Nina DePalma ’17
High poverty and an affordable-housing crisis plague Newark, New Jersey, where Nina DePalma ’17 is a third-year law student at Rutgers University. Impassioned over this crisis in her community, DePalma leads a charge for change as founder of the Newark Housing Rights Coalition.
How did the coalition come about?
During the summer after my first year in law school, I went to work for Legal Services of New Jersey and was placed in the housing department. I had no experience in housing law. I shadowed attorneys and went to landlord-tenant court all the time. It’s fast-paced; I witnessed so many cases.
Essex County, where Newark is located, reports roughly 40,000 evictions a year, half of them in Newark. The state has passed strict rules around evictions, but many landlords ignore them because their tenants likely don’t know the law, don’t have a lawyer, and won’t show up to court. After that summer, I was fired up. I wanted to do more and do it in Newark.
I read that the firm McCarter & English had hired a fellow to work pro bono with tenants in Newark. I reached out to see if they would work with law students. They agreed, and the idea grew into a full-blown community initiative that involves not only Rutgers law students and faculty but Seton hall as well as a few community organizations.
What success have you seen?
The program officially launched in the fall
of 2019, and we accepted nine law students into the program. The coalition provides legal representation and advice to Newark tenants and develops community legal educational workshops open to the public. In civil cases, you don’t have the same right to an attorney as in criminal cases, so we are also working on creating a rights council. Being evicted from your housing affects everything in your life—your health, your family’s health, your ability
to keep a job, your children’s schooling …
The coalition has created awareness, brought more individuals to tackle housing issues and support tenants, and reminded me and my fellow students why we want to practice law.
What’s next for you?
I graduate in May, and I’ve applied to Equal Justice Works for a two-year fellowship in which you self-design a job and receive sponsorship. I plan to continue my work with the coalition. Newark is my community now. I benefit from this city, and I want to give back.