Rich Zahniser (he/him) said that his time at NJP constitutes at least his third career, following stints as a public defender in Alaska, a business owner, and a PTA president.
His volunteer supervisor, Joseph Jordan (NJP Consumer Housing Education and Employment Rights Managing Attorney), says "Rich started at NJP in 2009 as one of the first volunteers to the Home Foreclosure Legal Aid Project, a program developed as a partnership between legal aid and the private bar to respond to the foreclosure crisis during the Great Recession. Rich soon was hired by NJP as a temporary attorney, and he worked as a staff attorney in the Foreclosure Prevention Unit from 2010 to 2019. In addition to helping hundreds of Washington homeowners facing foreclosure, Rich acted as a mentor to the many new attorneys NJP hired during that time. Rich also helped lead NJP’s first special project focused on a statewide legal-services response to natural disasters. When the Foreclosure Prevention Unit dissolved in 2019, Rich continued on at NJP as a volunteer advocate, where he remains today. Rich’s practice focuses often on reverse mortgage clients in default and facing difficulties continuing to live alone. He takes a non-traditional advocacy approach to help these individuals in finding a solution that best fits their needs."