The New Jersey State Bar Foundation has awarded grants to three New Jersey nonprofit organizations to fund a post-graduate law fellow to work on public interest legal matters and to develop advocacy skills.
The Education Law Center will receive funding for a law fellow who will provide direct legal assistance, outreach, and policy support to protect the educational rights of students facing exclusionary or discriminatory school discipline in Essex County.
Disability Rights New Jersey and Northeast New Jersey Legal Services will receive funding to continue the work started in 2025. The law fellow for Disability Rights New Jersey will continue working on the organization’s Youth Justice Project by representing youth from underrepresented backgrounds in special education and disability related matters. The fellow at Northeast New Jersey Legal Services will provide legal information and direct representation for low-income LGBTQIA+ residents of Bergen, Hudson and Passaic counties.
Jonathan Acampora – Seton Hall ’25 – who will join the Education Law Center, shared this about his law fellow opportunity: “This fellowship allows me to combine legal training with the skills I gained working as a middle/high school teacher. As an educator, exclusionary school discipline concerns me as a teaching practice. Working with the Education Law Center will help me develop the skills necessary to work with students, educators and families to advocate for the public-school students of Essex County.”
Funding for the NJSBF Law Fellowship grant program is made possible through the IOLTA Fund of the Bar of New Jersey. More about the New Jersey State Bar Foundation’s grants and cosponsorships can be found at grants.njsbf.org.
Originally published March 23, 2026
Bar Report of the New Jersey State Bar Association