Always full of provocative issues and timely articles, the New Jersey State Bar Foundation’s free legal newspaper for kids, The Legal Eagle, devoted an entire issue to the topic of tolerance and diversity.

Under the leadership of NJSBF Tolerance Committee Chair Lisa James-Beavers, the 10-member committee supervised the content of the newspaper’s special Diversity Issue. The special edition features articles on affirmative action, hate crimes, eyewitness identification, as well as an essay from a young Japanese-American student who recounts her family’s struggle for identity. Also included in this issue is an opinion poll answered by students from Sampson G. Smith School in Somerset. The students gave their opinions on how cultural background could affect a person’s view of the justice system.

According to Sandra Haftel, a teacher at Brookside Middle School in Allendale, the special edition came at the right time, as their school’s theme this year is diversity and tolerance, and was received enthusiastically by the students. Haftel noted that the goal in her classroom is to have her students establish respect for each other as well as eliminate prejudice. The Diversity Issue fit in well with that objective, she said.

Haftel asserted that her students were able to grasp the concepts in the articles, understanding complex issues of affirmative action and racial profiling which led to discussions of the civil rights movement and relevant Supreme Court decisions.

"All the articles in this special Diversity Issue are relevant and of importance," said Haftel. "The issue provided for stimulating discussions with participation by all of my students."

Geared primarily for middle school students in grades five through eight, the Legal Eagle is distributed free to nearly 170,000 New Jersey students in more than 1,400 elementary, middle and high schools.

The Legal Eagle is made possible by funding from the IOLTA Fund of the Bar of New Jersey. Copies are available free to interested schools across the state. To request copies of the special edition of The Legal Eagle and to receive future issues, please contact the New Jersey State Bar Foundation at 1-800-FREE LAW.

Most sons don’t get to spend as much time with their fathers as they would like. Not so with the Preziosi’s who keep coaching all in the family as the only father-son mock trial coaching team in the Vincent J. Apruzzese High School Mock Trial Competition, sponsored annually by the New Jersey State Bar Foundation.

Since its inception in 1982, the Vincent J. Apruzzese High School Mock Trial Competition has taught more than 48,000 high school students the fundamentals of our court system.

While it is teacher-coach Mike Preziosi’s first year with the Bergen Catholic High School mock trial team, his father, Dominick P. Preziosi Jr., has been the team’s attorney-coach since 1988. He also coached the team to its 1991 national championship, when they became the first New Jersey team to win the national title. The team will attempt a second run at the national title in May, as they recently captured the state champtionship by besting the team from Cherry Hill East.

The senior Preziosi, an attorney with the law firm of Breslin, Auty & Preziosi in Hackensack, took a break from the Bergen Catholic team in 1994 to start the mock trial program at Northern Highlands High School with his son. Mike was a student at the time and served as a lawyer on the team.

Both father and son have aggressive coaching styles and both stress professionalism to the team’s members. Mike noted that a benefit to having father-son coaches is that the team hears the same advice from two different sources, which reinforces the concepts that he and his father are trying to teach.

The unity has been an added plus for the team as evidenced by their new status as state champions. The elder Preziosi coach also believes his son’s students have the unusual added benefit of having a teacher who was once a mock trial participant.

"When Mike was a student, we would run a lot of exercises at home and we still do," said Preziosi. "The team benefits from that and gets a teacher-coach who puts in a lot of extra time, which has made it a better experience for the kids," he added.

His son echoes similar praises for his father and said that he enjoys the time spent with his dad. "He is so smart with trial techniques," said Mike, "and he puts in a lot of time for the team."

Participants in this year’s Vincent J. Apruzzese High School Mock Trial Competition, sponsored by the New Jersey State Bar Foundation, tried a criminal case in which a student was charged with aggravated manslaughter and death by vehicular homicide. The fictional case centered on Daniel Gunnet, who allegedly recklessly operated a powerboat while under the influence of alcohol. A boy who was swimming illegally nearby was struck and killed, allegedly by the boat Daniel was operating.

Attorney Preziosi commended the Mock Trial Committee on this year’s case, which he feels was appropriate for high school students for the issues that it raises.

Open to all New Jersey high schools, the Mock Trial Competition gives high school students an opportunity to experience first-hand what it’s like to participate in the American justice system as they step into the roles of lawyers, jurors and witnesses. A record 214 high school teams entered this year’s competition.

"The Mock Trial Competition helps to educate students about the law and to develop basic life and leadership skills, such as listening, speaking, reading, writing and analyzing," said William E. Nugent, an attorney with Nugent, Fitzgerald & McGroarty in Linwood and chair of the Foundation’s Mock Trial Committee.

Of his experience as a student-lawyer in the competition, Mike stated that the Foundation’s mock trial program "refined his public speaking skills, gave him self-confidence and helped him to think logically." The younger Preziosi now sees coaching the Bergen Catholic team as an opportunity to spend time with students outside the traditional classroom setting.

Sponsored in cooperation with New Jersey’s county bar associations, the contests began at the county level in January.

Remember your school days when a guest speaker came to talk to your class? On that day, school would be a welcome departure from the everyday grind of tests and textbooks. You were able to ask questions of someone who had firsthand knowledge of what you were learning and could bring a different perspective from that of your teacher. And, you just might learn something too.

The New Jersey State Bar Foundation Speakers Bureau enlists volunteer attorneys to bring that experience to interested schools as well as senior citizen and community groups. Speakers Bureau attorneys address more than 35 different topics including juvenile delinquency, drunken driving, sexual harassment, constitutional law and much more.

Cheryl Scully, a teacher at Pitman High School, utilizes the Foundation’s Speakers Bureau frequently and believes that the attorneys add credibility to what students learn. Scully has obtained speakers for her class on such topics as the Bill of Rights, personal injury and malpractice, drunken driving and criminal law.

"Students want to know that what they are learning will help them in real life," she said. "When they hear the information firsthand, it adds credibility and realism to what they have learned."

A volunteer with the Speakers Bureau for less than six months, Westmont attorney David Ragonese, spoke to Scully’s class on the subject of constitutional law. Interested in speaking about legal issues, particularly to students, Ragonese decided to volunteer in

the Foundation’s program after seeing an advertisement in New Jersey Lawyer newspaper.

According to Scully, Ragonese’s presentation was met with rave reviews from the students. The attorney noted surprise at the deep and probing questions the students asked him on such complicated issues as the recent impeachment process and other complex theories of constitutional law.

Criminal law attorney H. Robert Boney, of Somers Point, is a 12-year veteran of the Foundation’s Speakers Bureau. A popular speaker, Boney has been placed three times this year and was requested specifically by one middle school teacher to help her students prepare their mock trial case for the Foundation’s Law Adventure Competition.

A former history teacher, Boney taught at the high school level for three years before pursuing his law career. He has always loved speaking to students about legal topics and the history of the law.

Boney echoes Ragonese’s sentiments about the level of questions from students. He noted that the students’ inquiries can be quite "nitty gritty," because they usually have specific questions about cases that have been in the news.

"Seeing the bright students and fielding the excellent questions is what is most rewarding to me," Boney said. "The fact that they are interested at all is great."

The Foundation currently has a pool of more than 280 attorneys in its Speakers Bureau, however, more volunteers are always needed. Volunteers are welcome from all counties, but there is a particular need for attorneys willing to travel to the southern part of the state including Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem counties.

There is also a need for attorneys willing to speak to students and teachers on the topic of sexual harassment in school situations including student-to-student sexual harassment. In addition, tolerance and diversity issues are becoming popular subjects for discussion among students, creating a need for qualified speakers on those topics as well.

To volunteer for the Foundation’s Speakers Bureau or to request a speaker, contact Jodi Miller, Law-Related Education Coordinator, at (732) 937-7529.

The public is invited to attend a workshop on disability issues, sponsored by the New Jersey State Bar Foundation. This free Law and Disability Conference will be held Tuesday, April 25, from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the New Jersey Law Center in New Brunswick.

Cosponsored by the New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education, the conference is planned and presented by the Community Health Law Project (CHLP). Kenneth H. Zimmerman, executive director of the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, will deliver the keynote address, titled Housing Discrimination Facing People with Disabilities: Current Issues and Challenges to National and Local Enforcement.

Four workshops on different issues relating to disability will run concurrently. Street Smart, Savvy, Educated New Jersey Consumers, moderated by Lynnette Lee-Villanueva, associate state director at AARP-NJ, will focus on ways that senior citizens can protect themselves against scams and other forms of exploitation and where to go for help if they have been victimized. Panelists for this workshop include Dorothy Dowling, state coordinator for consumer issues at AARP-NJ, and Joan Neuwirth, New Jersey State Coordinator for Health Advocacy Services, AARP-NJ, who will discuss Medicare fraud.

Laurie Gruber, an attorney with CHLP, will moderate The Work Incentive Improvement Act: Helping People With Disabilities Achieve Independence, where panelists will provide an overview of the new law and explain how it will expand current work incentives and its impact on the employability of New Jersey’s citizens with disabilities. Panelists will include Steven Fishbein, from the Division of Mental Health Services; Fiona Norton, public affairs specialist at the Social Security Administration; and Sarah Wiggins Mitchell, executive director, NJ Protection and Advocacy, Inc.

Gail Levinson of CHLP will moderate the third workshop, Access and Services for Hard of Hearing and Late-Deafened Persons: A Major Unmet Need, which will examine the communication, mental health, rehabilitation and service needs of the hearing-impaired population. David Baquis, director of Self-Help for Hard of Hearing People; Nancy Kingsley from the Association of Late-Deafened Adults; Alan Tenthoff, a deafness specialist from Saint Clare’s Hospital; and Pat Tomlinson, a rehabilitation consultant specializing in hearing loss, will serve as panelists for this workshop.

An employer’s lawyer, a plaintiff’s lawyer and a representative of the New Jersey Division of Civil Rights will review the protections against employment discrimination for people with disabilities in the final workshop, New Jersey Employment Discrimination — Better than the ADA?

Moderated by David Popiel of CHLP, the workshop’s panelists will include Susan Godisman, an attorney with the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights; Kevin Kiernan, an attorney with McDonough, Kiernan & Campbell in Montclair; and Ellen O’Connell, an attorney with Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meager & Flom in Newark.

Although admission to the program is free, registration is required. Brochures containing registration forms are available at the Law Center or by calling the Foundation at 1-800-FREE-LAW. Faxed reservations will also be accepted at (732) 828-0034.

Helping individuals with disabilities understand their legal rights is the objective of the new fourth edition of Disability Law: A Legal Primer. The New Jersey State Bar Foundation and the Essex County Bar Association are offering the booklet free to the public and health organizations.

Prepared by the ECBA’s Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the booklet gives an overview of the Americans with Disabilities Act and explains what a guardian is and when one is needed. Disability Law contains special sections on such topics as Medicare, social security and workers’ compensation, as well as special education, estate planning, housing and vocational rehabilitation. A section on the workplace discusses discrimination and defines what is considered a handicap under the law. In addition, a section that examines Medicaid was added to the fourth edition of the primer.

"The Disability Law Primer provides caregivers and people with disabilities with information about the law to help them make informed decisions," said Bar Foundation President Stuart A. Hoberman, an attorney with the law firm of Wilentz, Goldman & Spitzer in Woodbridge. "The Foundation was proud to sponsor this publication again, and is grateful to the Essex County Bar Association for creating the booklet."

Disability Law: A Legal Primer will be distributed to hospitals, health agencies and at the Foundation’s annual Law and Disability conferences. Ruth Lowenkron, a member of the ECBA’s Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and one of the primer’s editors noted that the publication offers an easy-to-access, concise summary of key disability laws.

"This primer is a necessary addition to the libraries of all persons with disabilities, attorneys, paralegals, social workers and other advocates," Lowenkron said.

Free copies of Disability Law: A Legal Primer (fourth edition) are available to the general public through the New Jersey State Bar Foundation in single copies and bulk orders. To obtain copies or for additional information about the Foundation’s programs for individuals with disabilities, call 1-800-FREE-LAW. The Foundation also offers free law-related programs and seminars for the public in other areas of law including wills, landlord/tenant matters, divorce, real estate, retirement planning and health issues. Public education programs for students and educators and a variety of free publications are also available.

Among the many publications that the New Jersey State Bar Foundation offers free to the public is Law Points for Senior Citizens.

Prepared by the New Jersey State Bar Association’s Elder Law Section, Law Points is designed to give seniors an overview of issues that concern them. The booklet contains 14 sections on such topics as age discrimination, social security retirement benefits, supplemental security income, grandparents’ rights, wills, advance health care directives and elder abuse. The publication concludes with a section listing the offices of aging for New Jersey’s 21 counties.

Law Points answers such questions as how retirement will affect benefits; the difference between supplemental security income and Social Security benefits; and what to do about harassment from a bill collector.

Free copies of Law Points for Senior Citizens are available through the New Jersey State Bar Foundation in single copies and bulk orders for law offices, community groups and senior citizens. For copies or additional information about other Foundation publications and programs, call 1-800-FREE-LAW.

Let Us Know What You Want

What would you like to see printed in the New Jersey State Bar Foundation’s newsletter?

Send your suggestions to:

NJSBF Newsletter Editor
New Jersey State Bar Foundation
New Jersey Law Center
One Constitution Square
New Brunswick, NJ 08901

or e-mail: jmiller@njsba.com

Conflict resolution and peer mediation programs in New Jersey schools are attracting increased attention, particularly as concerns about violence among students escalate. Committed to the promotion of violence prevention, the New Jersey State Bar Foundation would like to help interested educators, and others who work with kids, to establish Conflict Resolution and Peer Mediation Programs in their schools.

Free conflict resolution training sessions are available for teachers in grades K-12. Intended to complement the conflict resolution and peer mediation curriculum guides published by the Bar Foundation, the two-day trainings are held at the New Jersey Law Center in New Brunswick. During the sessions, teachers are trained by other teachers on how to use the curriculum and are also instructed on how to train students to be peer mediators. Participation in the training sessions is generally limited to 10 schools, each with a team of four people. Trainings are focused at the elementary and middle/high school levels.

Space is still available in the middle/high school trainings on July 11 & 12 and July 18 & 19, and also the elementary trainings on August 1 & 2 and August 15 & 16.

To register four colleagues from your school or organization for a two-day training, call 1-800 FREE LAW for registration forms. Follow-up sessions are held several months after the initial two-day session to deal with any issues that may have arisen during the implementation of the program.

In addition, the Foundation offers a number of conflict resolution videos through its Video Loan Library. To request a complete list of videos or for a brochure highlighting the Conflict Resolution Program, call 1-800-FREE LAW or visit our website at www.njsbf.org

For more information regarding the Foundation’s Conflict Resolution and Peer Mediation Programs contact, Leisa-Anne Smith, Esq., Law-Related Education Coordinator at (732) 937-7517.