Volunteer Lawyers for Justice (VLJ) is honored to recognize Janet (Jan) Nagotko as our December Volunteer of the Month. Jan has consistently volunteered with VLJ for over two years, quickly becoming one of the most dedicated attorneys at VLJ’s Divorce Clinics. She has helped nearly 50 clients thus far.
Jan is an Associate in the Litigation and Insurance Services Practice Group at McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney & Carpenter, LLP (MDMC) where she has practiced for the past 10 years. Jan is also a Certified Public Accountant who worked for Deloitte as a Senior Manager in its Financial Services Group for 10 years prior to attending law school. Through MDMC’s pro bono partnership program with VLJ, Jan was introduced to the Divorce Clinic and began volunteering. Jan has assisted clients with completing their initial divorce complaints and supplemental pleadings, drafting answers to divorce complaints, and preparing default documents and final judgments of divorce. She has also advised clients regarding the court process.
Jan is no stranger to volunteering her time and professional skills to the community. As a student at Seton Hall Law School, she volunteered at the school’s Family Law Clinic. Jan won a case that had been pending for many years, getting the court to recognize her client’s marriage through a bride pride ceremony in Nigeria, requiring the husband to pay alimony and child support.
VLJ staff attorney Nari Wang observes that, “Jan truly is one of those remarkable volunteers where every client leaves the meeting with a big smile on their face, no matter what. Clients sense her genuineness and value her advice.”
When asked what the best part of volunteering is, Jan said, “Seeing the expression and emotion on the clients’ faces when they realize for the first time that someone is listening, and that all hope is not lost. Sometimes they smile, sometimes they cry, sometimes they want a hug after the experience, but mostly they are so grateful and appreciative of something that is so easy to give as a lawyer but is so life altering for the clients.” In the end, Jan says that she gets back much more than she could ever give through the experience of volunteering and that she is grateful to the VLJ program and to MDMC for supporting pro bono programs such as this one.