As is a beloved VLJ tradition, every month we highlight an “above and beyond” volunteer as part of VLJ’s Volunteer of the Month series. For January 2023, we highlight three VLJ volunteers who donated their time and talent as members of VLJ’s Board of Trustees: Angela Coxe, Bill Krovatin, and Susan McGahan. Angela, Bill, and Susan completed their terms as board trustees at the end of 2022, and have now transitioned off the board. As a way to say “Thank you!” for their service, please read about a few of the names and faces who serve and support VLJ.

For some of our pro bono attorneys, VLJ is their first experience with volunteering. For others, they’ve been volunteering long before joining the ranks of ESQ. This month, we honor one such pro bono attorney who started her volunteer work long before she knew the joys of blue booking, CLEs, and “It depends.” For VLJ’s December 2022 Volunteer of the Month, we honor and recognize Michelle Smith, Esq., Pro Bono Fellow for the City of Newark at McCarter & English LLP.

With today being Veterans Day, VLJ is mindful of the many volunteers and supporters who help us serve those who served in the U.S. Armed Forces. For VLJ’s November 2022 Volunteer of the Month, we honor Steve Berlin, Esq., Managing Senior Counsel Labor and Employment at Panasonic North America, a longtime volunteer with VLJ’s Veterans Legal Wellness Clinic.

Steve attended the University of Maryland, where he majored in journalism, and then attended law school at Brooklyn Law. Steve has been practicing law his entire life and “can’t imagine doing anything else.” Steve goes so far as to say that he “loves” the practice of law, describing it as “a challenging profession but rewarding.” Steve is active with the New Jersey State Bar Association and serves as editor of their publication, New Jersey Labor and Employment Law Quarterly.

VLJ’s October 2022 Volunteer of the Month joined us just a couple years ago amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, and her tenure as a volunteer supporting VLJ’s Trafficking Program has personified “Taking cases. Changing Lives.”

Michelle Stegmann, Esq. has built a career over the past three decades as an attorney and Insurance Claims Senior Vice President, with experience in various lines of business, including environmental, transportation, general liability, professional liability, surety, construction, construction defect, employer’s liability, asbestos and mass tort, crisis management, and E&O claims. Her responsibilities have encompassed attracting, developing and retaining talent, as well as achieving financial goals and sustaining profitability. She is currently with Crum & Forster, based in Morristown, NJ.

VLJ’s September 2022 Volunteer of the Month is fairly new to VLJ, but is no stranger to pro bono and volunteering his time and talent to help others. VLJ is ecstatic to recognize and celebrate Nuo Jiang, Esq. as this month’s Volunteer of the Month. Nuo is a litigation associate at Capehart Scatchard where he focuses his practice, in federal and New Jersey courts, on creditors’ rights, business collection, tort defense, premises liability and products liability defense, Tort Claims Act defense, construction, estates, employment and professional malpractice.

In the midst of the August summer heat, we honor a volunteer who always keeps his cool, Jason Holt, Esq. Jason is a member with Chiesa Shaninian & Giantomasi (CSG) where he works with the Real Estate, Development and Land Use practice group and the firm’s cannabis law team. He draws upon his background navigating the political and economic challenges of New Jersey to assist CSG Law in representing its varied portfolio of clients. Holt is a recently appointed Co-Chair of CSG’s Diversity Equity & Inclusion Committee. He also serves on several leadership teams and diversity committees for business, bar and community associations.

VLJ proudly features Nina Peckman, Esq. as our July 2022 Volunteer of the Month. For over sixteen years Nina, a staff attorney with Advocates for Children of New Jersey (“ACNJ”), has provided legal assistance to parents, including advice, representation in Individualized Education Program (IEP) meetings and at mediations. Nina earned her Juris Doctor from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and her Bachelor of Arts from Rutgers University.