Junta for Progressive Action
Angela Carter , Register Staff
NEW HAVEN — Inocencia Rojas has been out of work since the spring, going through a battery of tests to determine the extent of back injuries and related health problems.
Her suffering was compounded by an inability to pay attorney’s fees to handle a divorce from her husband, who moved out of state.
Rojas said he left her once he gained his U.S. citizenship.
But thanks to a new satellite location of the Jerome N. Frank Legal Services Organization based at Yale Law School, Rojas, 48, now has some help with her problems.
She meets weekly with Yale students and faculty at Junta For Progressive Action Inc. in her Fair Haven neighborhood and, if all goes well, she will sign divorce papers in early December.
"On one part, I feel sad because I still love him," she said. "He made me feel so down, so depressed. Work kept me going and now I don’t have that."
Rojas agreed to let the New Haven Register sit in on one of her clinic sessions with Professor Stephen Wizner, a faculty supervisor; law students Annie Harlan and Judith Tobey; and Oscar Quinones, an undergraduate senior who volunteers as a translator.
Wizner advised Rojas that client affairs always are kept confidential and normally the press would not be present.
The collaboration between Yale and Junta began in September, but the clinic has been providing free legal services in the New Haven community since 1986 with client sessions at the Columbus House homeless shelter, said Professor Robert Solomon.
"It’s been a wonderful experience," said Raj Nayak, a student supervisor in his third year.
For cash-strapped clients, the clinic is a place where they can resolve heavy burdens at no cost, and for law students it is where academics come to life.
"It lets us see how the law affects people’s everyday lives, which we don’t get to see in the classroom," said Anya McMurray, a second-year law student. "This is where we learn how to be lawyers."
Amy Glassman, also a second-year student, said Junta staff schedule appointments, but students also accept walk-ins.
"We’ve seen at least 60 people since September," she said.
Students are working on the types of civil cases they would tackle after the bar exam: immigration and work status, divorce, child support, mortgage foreclosures and predatory lending, Social Security filings, disability benefits, landlord-tenant disputes and accident claims.
Jerome Frank does not handle criminal issues, but the law school does run a prison clinic, Solomon said. "When we go into a courtroom, the students are well prepared.
Clients are getting a top-notch product," he said.
Many of the low- to moderate-income individuals who come to the clinic seeking help, come with a fear of the law, especially if they are in financial trouble or do not yet have legal immigration status.
"Some poor people think the law is something to fear," McMurray said. "This has been a real lesson in how the law can be a benefit to people."
Each student spends two hours per week at Junta and an average of 10 hours a week on the case work, Solomon said. "A lot of it is research for us. We have to figure out, in fact, what the law is," McMurray said.
Nine students, three student supervisors and two faculty members are divided into teams that meet with clients during one and two-hour intervals. At least one person on each team is bilingual and translates for people who speak English as a second language. "There’s no question this is an underserved community," Solomon said.
Solomon returned to the law school this summer after spending three years running the city’s Housing Authority. He answers without hesitation when asked why we chose a law career. "To change the world. It was 1969." He since has changed his view of how to bring about that change. "I used to think it was done by litigation. Now I think you do it through community building."
The students and faculty at Jerome Frank certainly have changed the world for Rojas. "I want to start the new year fresh," she said, adding a few words of caution to couples planning to tie the knot. "Make sure you know why you’re getting married," she said.
The clinic operates at Junta, 169 Grand Ave., from 6-8 p.m.
Wednesdays and Fridays 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Call 787-0191for more information.