(Photo: Delaware Judiciary)
Fund overview:
Justice Randy J. Holland, throughout his long and distinguished judicial career, modeled the fundamental legal principles of ethics, fairness, and justice. The Randy J. Holland Family Law Chair Endowment Fund (RJH Endowment Fund) was created to honor Justice Holland’s legacy and to give meaning to his deeply held belief that access to justice must not be dependent on ability to pay. This Endowment Fund secured funding in perpetuity for an attorney at one of the three Combined Campaign for Justice (CCJ) agencies to provide legal services pertaining to family law matters, including domestic violence and abuse and other civil legal problems encountered by indigent families in Delaware. The RJH Endowment Fund has been established at, and is being managed by, the Delaware Community Foundation (DCF).
Randy J. Holland Fellow:
The beneficiary position created by the RJH Endowment Fund is a two year fellowship that is known as the Holland Fellow. The Holland Fellow will be employed for 2 years by one of the CCJ agencies: Community Legal Aid Society, Inc. (CLASI), Delaware Volunteer Legal Services, Inc. (DVLS), or Legal Services Corporation of Delaware, Inc. (LSCD). The Holland fellowship began in 2021 and will serve the family law needs of low-income families in Delaware, including victims of domestic violence. By assisting the efforts of these individuals to obtain protective orders, as well as with custody/visitation rights, divorce, and housing and consumer issues, the work of the Holland fellow will help to empower hundreds of people each year, giving them the opportunity to leave their abuser or other unhealthy situations and put them on a path to their own independence and safety. By assisting families facing domestic violence, homelessness, and hunger, the Holland attorney will be supporting Delaware’s most vulnerable residents in their efforts to be safe, health, and secure.
The Holland fellowship was created in honor of Justice Randy J. Holland. Throughout his long and distinguished judicial career, Justice Holland modeled the fundamental legal principles of ethics, fairness, and justice. The Randy J. Holland Family Law Chair Endowment Fund (RJH Endowment Fund) was created to honor Justice Holland’s legacy and to give meaning to his, and CCJ’s, deeply held belief that access to justice must not be dependent on a client’s ability to pay. This Endowment Fund secured funding in perpetuity for an attorney at one of the three Combined Campaign for Justice (CCJ) agencies to provide legal services pertaining to family law matters, including domestic violence and abuse and other civil legal problems encountered by vulnerable families in Delaware. The position created by the RJH Endowment Fund will be a two year fellowship at one of the CCJ agencies: Community Legal Aid Society, Inc. (CLASI), Delaware Volunteer Legal Services, Inc. (DVLS), or Legal Services Corporation of Delaware, Inc. (LSCD). The first two years will take place at CLASI.
MEET LSCD’S HOLLAND FELLOW
Gabrielle D’Andrea was admitted to both the Delaware and Pennsylvania Bars in 2024 and the New Jersey Bar in 2025. During her undergraduate years at Drexel University, D’Andrea was a founding member of Neurodragons, a student organization that provided support as a social group for neurodivergent (including Attention Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder, Autism Spectrum Disorder, and Asperger’s syndrome) and allied students. When she started law school, she sought opportunities to transition her advocacy toward legal aid. Throughout her 2L and 3L years D’Andrea worked as a law clerk at Delaware Volunteer Legal Services, Inc. (DVLS) and primarily conducted intakes with potential clients. Her goal was to ensure that each phone call ended with the individual in a better position than before they called—even on the phone calls that ended without DVLS accepting the case. Before working at Legal Services Corporation of Delaware, Inc. (LSCD) D’Andrea clerked for Chief Judge Carl Danberg at the Court of Common Pleas in New Castle County.
As LSCD’s Holland fellow, D’Andrea says her new goal is to alleviate the underlying issues her clients face. To D’Andrea, helping clients through the toughest times in their life requires helping them address persistent issues. For example: she may be able to get an eviction order dismissed on procedural grounds, but how will the client make their next rent payment to avoid problems down the road? She spends most days negotiating payment plans with landlords to keep her clients housed. D’Andrea is passionate about the mental health crisis, accessible mental health treatment, and views her work as a piece of that puzzle.
