New Jersey nun uses legal talents to serve the poor

Published: 2005-01-12

POMPTON PLAINS, N.J. (CNS) -- The suggestion that "justice really is for all" is emblazoned on the brochure of Cornelian Community Counselors Inc. The law firm was founded in Pompton Plains nearly 10 years ago by Sister Rosemary McSorley, a member of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus, to be a legal and advocacy "voice" for some of the estimated 250,000 New Jersey residents who every year need an attorney for a noncriminal matter and cannot afford one. Of that number, according to Philadelphia native Sister McSorley, a nun for more than 50 years, only about 50,000 qualify for legal aid services available to those at the poverty level. "Who will speak for the rest?" she said. That's where she and her Cornelian staff come in with an affordable "sliding scale" of fees, or pro bono legal services, for some 100 low-income individuals or families every year since 1995.

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