Greenbaum, Rowe, Smith & Davis LLP

In This Issue:

• New Jersey Site Remediation Reform Act Signed into Law »
• Personal Jurisdiction and the Internet: When Will Maintaining a Website Subject the Owner to Lawsuits in Far Flung Jurisdictions? »
• New Jersey WARN Act »
• Trademarks 101 »
• One Corporate Lawyer Proves That Knowing When to Aerate the Greens is a Good Thing for Business »
• Highlights »
• Attorneys Quoted in the Media »
• Transactions »
• Focus on Pro Bono Services: Hany Mawla »

Litigation partner Hany Mawla’s appointment last year as the Chair and Commissioner to the New Jersey Arab-American Heritage Commission by Governor Corzine could be seen as a capstone to a worthy career, but it will probably be a marker in the midsection of a career devoted to family law and effecting positive change for his community. In addition to the Heritage Commission, Hany is a Commissioner to the New Jersey Commission on Civil Rights and a member of the New Jersey Supreme Court Committee on Minority Concerns. But the work that brings him the most gratification is the pro bono work he does on behalf of WAFA House, a shelter in Paterson open to all victims of domestic violence that grew out of a need to assist women within the Arab American community.

Hany became involved at WAFA House after he was asked to speak at a fundraiser. The pro bono services he and other lawyers at the firm provide are family law related, with an emphasis on helping domestic violence victims and dealing with custody and other family law issues. Hany notes that the existence of the WAFA House, in and of itself, is significant for Arabs and Muslims in New Jersey because it provides the community with a meaningful way to contribute to civic life and provide basic social services to New Jerseyans of all backgrounds.

In his own words, Hany says that, “The services provided by the WAFA House are invaluable because they fulfill a moral obligation that we, as New Jerseyans, have, to care for those in need.  This obligation is especially important to lawyers who, by providing pro bono services while also serving non-pro bono clients, satisfy the highest calling of their profession.”

When he is not at home with his wife and daughter, Hany is an adjunct professor at Rutgers University in the Department of Political Science and the Center for Middle East Studies and an adjunct faculty member at Raritan Valley Community College, where he teaches in the Paralegal Studies Degree Program. He is also on the editorial board of New Jersey Family Lawyer magazine, a publication of the New Jersey Sate Bar Association.  Hany is an accredited mediator for Economic Aspects of Family Law Cases, a panelist in the Early Settlement Program for Family Court matters in Essex, Middlesex and Morris Counties, and a member of the Family Law Executive Committees of both the Essex County and Middlesex County Bar Associations.