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Center for Social Justice

Center for Social Justice

Serving the Community Through the Center for Social Justice

The Center for Social Justice (CSJ) is a dynamic hub where clinical legal education and community service come together. Through CSJ clinics, pro bono services, and advocacy projects students can gain practical experience while also making a positive difference in the world around them.

Director Letter | CSJ Scholars | Apply for Clinic

CSJ Clinical Courses

Civil Litigation & Practice

Handles a variety of civil cases, with a primary focus on landlord-tenant cases and housing-related civil matters as part of the state-funded Housing Justice Project.

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Criminal Defense and Community Advocacy

Shifts the focus from the “system” to the community members most affected by the criminal legal system: those facing charges and their families.

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Equal Justice

Challenges discrimination against non-citizens and works to advance the civil and constitutional rights of people who are incarcerated.

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Family Law

Provides free legal services to individuals needing representation in family matters, including restraining orders, divorces, custody issues, and support issues.

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Health Justice

Provides free legal services to individuals needing representation in civil matters, addressing the social determinants of health with a focus on maintaining safe and affordable housing.

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Housing Justice and Legal Design

Employs a legal design framework to understand and respond to housing inequity in New Jersey and seeks to offer high-impact support to tenants.

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Immigrants' Rights/ International Human Rights

Assists people from all over the world who need protection from persecution, trafficking, and torture, as well as non-citizens who have survived domestic violence, workplace abuse or other violent crimes in the United States.

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Impact Litigation

Focuses on federal appellate and other important cases, such as representing an indigent client before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, or amicus briefs before other federal courts of appeals or the New Jersey Supreme Court.

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Transactional Legal Clinic

This clinic provides hands-on experience for law students on topics such tax issues, corporate governance, real estate, contracts, and risk management.

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CSJ Projects

The Center for Social Justice also engages in broader advocacy efforts that align with our commitment to providing legal services to underrepresented communities. Currently, the CSJ is engaged in two such projects.

CSJ Exterior

Detention and Deportation Defense Initiative (DDDI)

The DDDI is a state-funded program that provides pro bono immigration counsel to indigent New Jerseyans in removal proceedings. As part of this initiative, Seton Hall Law provides opportunities for clinical, pro bono, and extern students to gain start-to-finish, hands-on experience representing detained and formerly detained noncitizens fighting deportation.

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CSJ Interior

Housing Justice Project

The Housing Justice Project is a collaborative initiative between Seton Hall Law and Rutgers Law School that seeks to provide representation and support to tenants in landlord-tenant disputes and with other housing needs, advocates for broader social change in the field of landlord-tenant law, and specifically focuses on the implementation and enforcement of landlord-tenant reform measures

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Students and faculty working in a clinic.

New Jersey Legal Design Lab

The NJ Legal Design Lab facilitates creative, collaborative, and community-driven approaches to housing justice problems in New Jersey. By co-creating with our neighbors, we seek to dismantle unjust systems and secure housing for all.

Learn more about the New Jersey Legal Design Lab

A letter From the CSJ Director

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The first Seton Hall Law clinical program was established in 1970, in conjunction with Essex-Newark Legal Services. In 1991, the Center for Social Justice (CSJ) was established as a public interest law firm for the disadvantaged and underrepresented.

The CSJ houses most of the Law School's clinical programs and the Pro Bono Service Program. Final-year law students can apply to participate in CSJ clinics, working closely with experienced faculty to provide legal services throughout New Jersey and beyond.  The program combines individual client representation, impact litigation, and public policy advocacy to pursue justice for our clients and the community. Students also write reports and community education materials, manage social media sites, and offer Know Your Rights presentations to help educate individuals on their legal rights.

First-year law students can work with the CSJ by volunteering for the Pro Bono Service Program. We help students find a placement that matches their interests, fosters the skills they seek to develop, addresses a community need, and fits with their schedule.

The Center for Social Justice proudly trains law students to become legal professionals who effect positive and lasting change. We are committed to the pursuit of equitable treatment for all, through cases and advocacy that challenge systemic racism and seek just outcomes for our clients.

We invite all Seton Hall Law students to join us on this mission.

Lori Outzs Borgen

Director

Center for Social Justice

 


Become a CSJ Scholar

The CSJ Scholars Program supports law students with a strong commitment to public service who are planning public interest careers. The Center for Social Justice is in the process of restructuring the CSJ Scholars Program. More information will be posted about the program by summer 2025.

Learn more about previous Scholars here.


Apply for Clinic

If you are interested in participating in a CSJ clinic, please fill out the application form linked below.

Apply For Clinic


Contact Us

[email protected]
973-642-8700
973-761-9000 ext. 8700
833 McCarter Highway, Newark, NJ 07102