In the heat of summer, most students don’t remember their spring breaks. For a team of Rutgers–Camden law students, however, their spring break activity continues to have a real impact for an elderly woman in New Orleans.

Jacquie Huynh-Linenberg, Andrew Dodemaide, and Andrew Linenberg— all students in the Rutgers School of Law–Camden – spent their 2010 spring break as volunteers for the Housing Unit at Southeast Louisiana Legal Services (SLLS). Thanks to their efforts, an elderly woman has been able to avoid eviction and is able to remain in her home.

During March 15-19, the Rutgers–Camden law students participated in the APIL (Association for Public Interest Law) Alternative Spring Break. During their work with SLLS, they provided pro bono legal service to an elderly woman who had lived in a public housing facility in New Orleans for more than 20 years. Many of her family member also lived at that particular site.

Under the federal One Strike and You’re Out public housing policy, she faced eviction due to the actions of her nephew, who was caught selling drugs in the common area of the public housing complex. Although the elderly woman was unaware of her nephew’s drug activities, had no contact with or control over him, and never permitted him to use her address nor stay at her apartment, the One Strike policy nonetheless allowed for her eviction.

The plight of the elderly woman touched the Rutgers students. “This client is a sweet elderly woman, a Hurricane Katrina survivor, who works two jobs, volunteers for her church, and engages in community service to help keep her community clean,” explains Mount Laurel resident Andrew Linenberg. “Despite this, for no fault of her own, she was going to be evicted even though the nephew never stayed with her, was never given permission to stay with her, she had no control over nor even a connection with him, and had no knowledge of his drug activities. This would be a totally unfair result and would leave her with no place else to live.”

A 2006 graduate of Temple University, Linenberg, 27, found that the work for the elderly client resonated strongly with his passion for the law. “I have always wanted to become a lawyer to help people and directly improve the lives of others by helping them enforce their rights. When Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, I felt frustrated because I could not make much of a difference from so far away. Therefore, when I heard about the Alternative Spring Break trip, it was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up—putting my skills to work for an entire city that is still recovering from that devastation.”

Linenberg received his Juris Doctor degree from the Rutgers School of Law–Camden in May. Starting in September, he will clerk for the Honorable Linda Feinberg, assignment judge for Mercer County.

Lawrenceville resident Andrew Dodemaide, 23, echoes Linenberg’s sentiments. “(The client’s) situation was so unfortunate and unfair that we had a moral obligation to develop a winning argument. Luckily, her case was markedly different from earlier cases – to the point that the precedent really didn't support the claim against her,” says the 2008 graduate of Rutgers–New Brunswick who is entering his second year at the Rutgers School of Law–Camden.

The law student team researched housing statutes, public housing rental agreements, and a mountain of cases, and interviewed the client to obtain more information. They summarized their findings in a predictive memorandum and collaborated on a strategy section—including likely opposing arguments and possible ways to defeat those arguments.

While they could not be present for the trial in May, the supervising attorney at SLLS subsequently informed them that the case presented in court – based on the attorney’s litigation skills and the team’s research memo – became one of the only One Strike cases to be decided in favor of the tenant since the Supreme Court upheld the One Strike Policy in HUD v. Rucker in 2002. According to Linenberg, this decision “is possibly the only post-Rucker decision in New Orleans refusing to evict a One Strike tenant.”

“It was difficult to believe the legislative intent behind the policy was to wrongfully evict those like our client,” says Mount Laurel resident Jacquie Huynh-Linenberg. “We knew if she won her case, it would help to open the doors in preventing wrongful evictions.”

A 2007 graduate of Penn State, where she earned her MBA degree, and a 2004 graduate of Drexel University, where she earned her undergraduate degree, Huynh-Linenberg looks forward to returning to New Orleans to provide legal support for citizens still coping with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. “It was one of the first opportunities as a law student to apply what we were learning at school to help provide legal assistance to those who need it the most,” explains the student entering her second year at the Rutgers–Camden law school.

“The work done by these students, and the real impact that it has on the life of an elderly woman, is just one example of how Rutgers–Camden law students apply their skills on behalf of citizens in New Jersey and across the nation,” explains Eve Biskind Klothen, assistant dean for pro bono programs at the Rutgers School of Law–Camden. “Through our pro bono and clinical programs, the Rutgers–Camden law school delivers more than 30,000 hours of service each year to people who otherwise would not have the opportunity for support as they confront the complexities of the legal system.”