Newsletter 2024

Summer 2024

A MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR

Melina Healey, Director of Clinical Programs

As we conclude another semester and spring daffodils give way to sunshine and summer greenery across Long Island, I am delighted to share the latest updates from our Clinical Program. Our students, faculty, and staff have worked tirelessly, representing clients with passion and professionalism, and achieving remarkable results. This newsletter highlights their achievements and ways you can stay involved. Thank you for your continued support.

CLINIC GRADUATES EARN AWARDS FOR SERVICE

Touro celebrates the incredible social justice achievements of the Class of 2024, and gives special recognition to the Immigrant Rights Advocacy Clinic student team Allison Baal (recently named a 2024 Immigrant Justice Corps Fellow) and Jessica Khargi, who have been awarded the class of 2024’s Clinical Legal Education Association (CLEA) Award for their excellence in representation. Allison and Jessica successfully secured lawful status for Rosa Jimenez, a Mexican woman whose wrongful conviction, imprisonment for close to two decades, and subsequent exoneration garnered national headlines. They eliminated the imminent threat of deportation for their client, and, just as crucially, made her eligible to move forward on the path to obtaining a life-saving kidney transplant. The Touro Immigrant Rights Advocacy Clinic continues to work with Ms. Jimenez and other advocacy partners to ensure Ms. Jimenez receives this life-saving surgery. A website has been set up for those who would like to consider a kidney donation. 

Additionally, a group of three students who participated in Advanced Clinic were awarded the Shirley & Murray Rubinstein Graduation Award for excellence in clinical practice: Devin Trapp (Education Justice), Alexander Cerza (Senior Citizens), and Joshua Vaiman (Veterans and Servicemembers Rights). These exceptional students were instrumental in representing vulnerable clients, providing inter-practice support to each other through their participation in Advanced Clinic seminar, and contributing to strategic planning to make our clinical program more responsive to the social justice needs of our local community.

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE CLASS OF 2024!

This year 118 Touro Law students participated in 12 different clinics, providing over 17,500 hours of pro bono services and protecting and securing the housing, benefits, healthcare, financial stability, and the education of hundreds of Long Islanders, assisting non-profits in their efforts to serve the community, and providing vital mediation services to an overburdened court system.

CLINICAL PROGRAM NEWS

Senior Citizens Law Program:
Empowering Elderly Clients Through Legal Advocacy

This spring, the Senior Citizens Law Program was busy protecting the healthcare, financial, and housing rights of Suffolk County’s elderly population.

Clinic students handled over 60 cases, including preparing wills, durable powers of attorney, and health care proxies, as well as protecting access to housing through representation in landlord-tenant cases. Notably, three students also dedicated extensive time to helping an 81-year-old woman retrieve her car, which had been held by an autobody shop for the past three years.

In another touching case, Project Fellow Attorney Paul Senzer represented an 88-year-old widow facing eviction after her home was foreclosed. In response to Mr. Senzer’s advocacy, the bank attorneys agreed to forego arrears, money judgment, costs, and legal fees, allowing her to stay rent-free for four months while she arranges for alternative housing.

Staff Attorney and Adjunct Professor AveMaria Thompson also secured significant achievements protecting the safe housing of clients. She worked with an elderly client to obtain a Warrant of Eviction against her abusive son, ensuring the client’s personal safety and peace of mind.

Thompson also had the opportunity to assist a senior citizen who had suffered a devastating stroke and homelessness. While recovering in a rehabilitation facility, the client’s home of 40 years was foreclosed and sold at auction. The new property owner wanted the client out and had initiated eviction proceedings, offering no money or help. While communicating with the senior citizen proved challenging due to the effects of his recent stroke, Thompson did not give up and patiently collected all of the necessary information to represent him. Through her diligent negotiation, Thompson secured a three-month extension for the client to vacate his home and five thousand dollars in relocation assistance from the new property owner.

Bankruptcy & Mortgage Foreclosure Clinic:
Providing Fresh Starts and Financial Stability

This semester, the Bankruptcy and Mortgage Foreclosure Clinic was instrumental in preserving housing and obtaining financial stability for clients. The clinic prepared ten bankruptcy petitions, giving each family the opportunity for a fresh start. Students attended virtual court hearings and prepared clients for these sessions, and were able to experience many heartfelt moments of gratitude. The clinic also negotiated several mortgage modifications, preventing foreclosures and enabling clients to remain in their homes.

Immigrant Rights Advocacy Clinic:
Championing Immigrant Rights and Legal Protections

The Immigrant Rights Advocacy Clinic enjoyed a productive semester with significant victories. The four student teams at the Immigrant Rights Advocacy Clinic:

• Negotiated a settlement in a United States District Court case, with the Assistant U.S. Attorney agreeing to redress the government’s years-long delay in scheduling a client’s green card interview.
• Appeared in San Francisco immigration court, earning protection from removal for a Guatemalan woman thanks to the strength of the clinic's submission.
• Handled pleadings in immigration court in Manhattan for a removal case set for trial this November.
• Researched and drafted a motion to reopen and terminate the removal proceedings of a Long Island man based on a recent change in circuit law.

All clinic students also participated in the first pro se guardianship clinic on Long Island, interviewing immigrant families and drafting applications seeking family court protection and a path to lawful status for vulnerable immigrant minors.

Breaking Barriers:
Supporting Rehabilitation and Legal Relief

Breaking Barriers was busy this semester delivering second chances at success and employment to clients with criminal records. The project secured a number of certificates of rehabilitation to help clients in job hunts. The project also overcame opposition from the District Attorney’s office to conditionally seal a client’s criminal case and conducted outreach to spread awareness of the state’s upcoming Clean Slate legislation and opportunities to have conviction records automatically sealed 3 years from sentencing for misdemeanors and 8 years from sentencing for felonies.

Veterans' & Servicemembers' Rights Clinic:
Advocating for Those who Served and Honoring Them Through Special Performances

The Veterans' and Servicemembers' Rights Clinic provided comprehensive legal assistance to several veterans, helping with VA disability applications, appeals, dependent applications, and discharge upgrades. These efforts ensure that our veterans receive the benefits and recognition they deserve. The Clinic has also been active in public outreach, organizing events, and publishing works to benefit the veterans community.

The Clinic organized and participated in multiple events, including outreach tables at the Northport VA Medical Center and the West Islip Public Library. The Clinic also hosted a Stand-Up Comedy event at the Law Center, where a group of veterans performed stand-up routines for an audience of students and faculty in a night filled with humor and laughter.

Veterans' and Servicemembers' Rights Clinic students Victoria O’Connell and William Harris published an article in “The Suffolk Lawyer” about discharge upgrades and VA benefits. The article explains how an upgrade impacts a veteran’s life as well as their family members and provides insights into the struggles and uphill battles that veterans face when they receive a less-than-honorable discharge status.

The director of the Veterans' and Servicemembers' Rights Clinic, Patrick Donohue, was featured on the cover of the 2024 Winter Edition of “The Legal Brief,” a magazine of the Suffolk County Bar Association. He was recognized for his dedication and commitment to helping veterans through his legal work at the Clinic and his various projects focused on assisting veterans through the arts. The rest of the article can be found in the 2024 Winter Edition of “The Legal Brief” magazine.

Education Justice Clinic:
Ensuring Fairness and Support for Children with Disabilities

In the Spring semester, the Education Justice Clinic achieved a significant victory by winning a state complaint against a school district for discrimination and inadequate special education services. Our students also represented several clients at IEP meetings and in litigation, securing tens of thousands of dollars in evaluations and special education services.

Clinic students took their work beyond this direct representation, and provided a training on rights and advocacy strategies for students involved in school discipline to over 40 care managers at our partner organization, the Long Island Association for Mental Health and Wellness.

The clinic was also involved in several interprofessional education opportunities by collaborating with several other graduate schools at Touro University. Education Justice Clinic students continued the work of the clinic’s pioneering autism medical-legal partnership with Touro’s Graduate School of Health Sciences, in which health science students and faculty serve as expert witness consultants on clinic cases. They also participated in an IPE case study with the Graduate Schools of Social Work and Education.

New Small Business Clinic:
Touro Inaugurates Small Business Legal Assistance Clinic to Serve Local Women and Minority-Owned Businesses

Starting this Fall 2024 semester, students at Touro will have an opportunity to gain transactional legal skills and provide legal support to small women and minority-owned businesses. Denise Doty, Senior Staff Attorney and Director of the Senior Citizens Law Program, has been hired as an Assistant Clinical Professor and will direct the new clinic.

Kings County Prosecution Clinic:
Turning Touro Law Students Into Progressive Prosecutors

This semester, Prosecution Clinic students pursued justice and promoted public safety at the District Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn.

Students were assigned their own caseload, and their work ranged from interviewing police and civilian witnesses to preparing discovery to negotiating dispositions with the defense bar. They participated in the inner workings of a progressive office by evaluating cases for diversion and alternatives to incarceration.

Students also reviewed evidence and helped prepare witnesses in high-profile trials of matters ranging from firearms possession to a burglary of a well-known business and even attempted murders and shooting cases.

Suffolk County Pro Bono Project Recognizes Clinic Faculty and Staff as Pro Bono Champions

Congratulations to the following clinic faculty and staff who were honored as “Pro Bono Champions” by the Suffolk County Bar Association during a May 13 celebration:

• Denise Doty, Director of the Senior Citizens Law Project, Senior Staff Attorney, and Adjunct Professor of Law
• Elizabeth Justesen, Director of the Criminal Defense Clinic and Adjunct Professor of Law
• Mauricio Noroña, Director of the Immigration Rights Advocacy Clinic and Assistant Clinical Professor of Law
• AveMaria Thompson, Director of the Landlord-Tenant Mediation Clinic, Adjunct Professor of Law, and Staff Attorney for the Senior Citizen Law Project

Clinic Manager Juan Colberg-Garcia is Welcome Addition to Clinic Staff

Juan Colberg-Garcia joined our clinic last summer and has since made a significant impact on clients and students. Prior to joining the clinics, Mr. Colberg-Garcia earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration at the University of Puerto Rico and a law degree at the University of Puerto Rico, School of Law, where he also became a certified Mediator for conflict resolution. Student Joshua Vaiman notes: “[Mr. Colberg-Garcia] is always a smiling face in the Clinic office and is always offering his services and experience to anyone who needs any kind of assistance, guidance, and advice. I know I am not the only intern who feels this way and feel that he must be praised for his already noticeable impact on all those who are involved in the Clinical Programs.”