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Law360 (September 4, 2020, 7:47 PM EDT )
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| Kimberly Yonta |
Those events quickly gave rise to her career's most important to-do list, much of which the solo criminal defense lawyer and former county prosecutor has started to tackle since she was inducted during the first-ever virtual iteration of the association's annual convention in May. Yonta is watching the chaos of 2020 unfold through the lens of small practitioners who comprise the bulk of the association's 18,000-strong membership, and she's using that perspective as she works to steer the group toward a better future.
The association now has a COVID-19 task force making recommendations on post-pandemic court operations, a racial equality commission that drew hundreds of attorneys to its first online event, and a group helping to fine-tune state legislation aiming to keep jurists and court staffers safe. And while Yonta is at the helm of the initiatives, she said she's far from alone.
"During that really hard time when no one was going anywhere or doing anything, you saw a lot of lawyers coming together to help," Yonta, of Yonta Law LLC in New Brunswick, told Law360 during a phone interview.
She began eyeing the role of president when she was nominated in 2015 to be the association's secretary, a post she won over two challengers. She has moved through the roles of treasurer, second vice president, first vice president and president-elect in recent years.
Then, the pandemic began plowing its destructive path through the United States in March, causing business shutdowns that Yonta said were particularly cruel to small firms already struggling to manage a business on top of practicing law. Attorneys who work in the municipal courts have borne the brunt of the business slowdown, Yonta said, and some are considering closing up shop.
"It's something I take heavy to my own heart," she said.
She formed the association's pandemic task force within two weeks of starting her presidential term. The group has subcommittees examining safe court operations during the pandemic and the state judiciary's plans to resume jury trials under a hybrid system of mostly remote jury selection and in-person testimony.
The subcommittees have provided recommendations to the judiciary about the plans, particularly with respect to the association's concerns about balancing health and safety with constitutional due process.
The task force has also amassed knowledge from the state's top employment lawyers about how to safely reopen law firms, Yonta said.
The next order of business for Yonta followed the May killing of George Floyd and ensuing police brutality protests that have come in waves in the months since. The civil unrest inspired her to start a racial justice commission within the bar association.
The commission's first event was a daylong Zoom symposium that included guest speaker Kevin Richardson from the Central Park Five, the group of Black and Latino teenagers who were wrongfully convicted in the 1989 rape of a jogger in New York City. Yonta found the symposium to be "honest, inspiring and thoughtful."
"This was a great first step in continuing the conversation. I really look at this year as an inflection point to really move the ball along," Yonta said.
To that end, she's written to the state Supreme Court to ask that professional development courses for Garden State lawyers include instruction on diversity, inclusion and the elimination of bias.
Yonta's next test as president came in June, after a disgruntled attorney fatally shot the son of U.S. District Judge Esther Salas and seriously wounded the judge's husband at their New Jersey home. The shooting sent shock waves through the Garden State legal community and beyond, prompting Judge Salas to call for tighter laws to ensure the safety of judges.
Yonta and the bar association sprung into action. The bar helped draft pending state legislation that would make it a crime for individuals, government agencies or businesses to post the phone numbers and addresses of working and retired judges and prosecutors online.
The bar association is now working with lawmakers on amendments to other bills aiming to ensure the safety of judges, whom Yonta said put themselves in harm's way every day.
Yonta made clear that she's just getting started. "There's still work left to do," she said.
--Editing by Aaron Pelc and Kelly Duncan.
For a reprint of this article, please contact reprints@law360.com.
