After becoming disabled in a machete attack on a visit to his native Haiti, Jean-Claude Joseph needed help persuading his landlord to move him from a fifth-floor apartment to one on the ground floor. Isaac Benjamin became ensnared in a bureaucratic snafu that took away his Social Security disability payments for more than two years. The story of Martha, a woman from Sierra Leone, was more compelling. Beaten, raped and tortured in her politically repressive homeland, she knowingly used someone else's passport to escape to America, but was caught by immigration authorities upon her arrival. She desperately sought political asylum. Not the kind of cases that lead to ground-breaking upheavals in the law, but the kind of cases that are handled day in and day out by lawyers for the legally disenfranchised who have no where else to turn. The work of attorneys from Legal Services of New Jersey will be highlighted in a onehour documentary, "Quest for Justice," to be aired 9 p.m. today on New Jersey Network. Produced by NYD2, a communications firm based in Somerset, the documentary features case histories of clients whose needs ranged from housing to fighting off deportation. Joseph, a 54-year-old naturalized citizen, turned to Legal Services when the landlord of his federally subsidized apartment complex in Elizabeth turned a deaf ear to his request for a ground-floor apartment. Having lost the use of his left arm in warding off the machete attack during a robbery attempt, Joseph said he found it increasingly difficult to negotiate the five flights of stairs lugging groceries or laundry on the frequent occasions when the building's elevator was out of order. "With this, it became impossible for me to stay upstairs," he said, pointing to the scars on his forearm. "If I cannot carry my groceries or my laundry, how can I live?" "It was a compelling case," said Legal Services attorney Stephen St. Hilaire. "The key for us -- and we have to make tough decisions all the time on whether to take a case -- was visualizing what he had to do to get to the fifth floor, struggling with a bag of groceries," he said. Benjamin, 53, of Jersey City had been collecting Social Security disability after undergoing double bypass surgery when the checks stopped coming. He said the agency claimed he had failed to return a form updating the condition of his health. "But what got me was they didn't let me know they didn't get it, they just cut me off," he said, adding he found it impossible to negotiate the Social Security bureaucracy himself.

Who thinks that it is difficult for people in Legal Services to decide whether to take cases.

For much of the world, the Algarve is synonymous with Portugal, yet the Portuguese will tell you the exact opposite: the region has little in common with the rest of the country. The southern stretch of coast is more reminiscent of a North African landscape than a European one. It has no cosmopolitan cities, like Lisbon and Porto, which are farther north. Most of Portugal is known for quaint towns, medieval castles, and grand palaces. The Algarve is more recognizable for impenetrable blocks of tourist apartments, hotels, and meticulously manicured golf courses. And beaches. Think Algarve and the mind pictures long, glorious stretches of golden sands, secluded coves framed by odd ochre-colored rock formations, and deep green waters. With about 160 km (100 miles) of coastline, Portugal's southern province is one of Europe's premier beach destinations. The occasionally chilly ocean is the Atlantic, but the Algarve has a sultry Mediterranean feel. Its consistent climate is the best in Portugal, and one of the kindest in the world: more than 250 days of sunshine a yearmore than almost any other international resort area. The moderating effect of the Gulf Stream produces a fresh springtime breeze throughout winter, and in late January and February, white almond blossoms blanket the fields. In summer the heat is intense but rarely unbearable, and regardless, beautiful beaches and innumerable pools are always just a dive away. Magnificent year-round weather has made the Algarve a huge destination for sporting vacations. Superb golf facilities aboundseveral with tees dramatically clinging to cliffs and fairways just skirting the edge of the oceanand horseback riding, tennis, big-game fishing, sailing, and windsurfing are immensely popular. Sports, beaches and hospitable weathernot to mention easily organized package vacationsare surely the reasons the Algarve receives as many visitors as the rest of Portugal in its entirety. But it's not just international tourists that descend on the Algarve; many Portuguese from Lisbon and elsewhere in the north have holiday homes and spend their summer vacations here. The coast is neatly divided into the rugged Barlavento to the west and the flat beauty of Sotavento to the east. West is where you'll find the famous orange cliffs and surreal eroded rock stacks.

What southern stretch of coast is more reminiscent of a North African landscape than a European one?

Charlie Y. Reader is a 35-year-old theatrical agent in New York , living a seemingly idyllic life as a bachelor . Numerous women ( among them Poppy , Helen , and Jessica come and go , cleaning and cooking for him . Charlie 's best friend since kindergarten , Joe McCall , who has a wife named Ethel and children in Indianapolis , comes to New York for a stay at Charlie 's apartment , claiming that the excitement is gone from his 11-year marriage and that he wants to leave his wife . Joe envies and is amazed by Charlie 's parade of girlfriends , while Charlie professes admiration for Joe 's married life and family . At an audition , Charlie meets singer-actress Julie Gillis . She has her life planned to a tight schedule , determined to marry and retire from performing to a life of child-rearing by 22 . Although at first she wards off Charlie 's advances , she comes to see him as the ideal man for her plans . Julie demands that Charlie stop seeing other women . Charlie balks , but he begins to fall in love with her . Joe starts keeping company with Sylvia Crewes , a sophisticated classical musician and a typically neglected lover of Charlie 's . Sylvia is approaching 33 and desires marriage as much as the younger Julie does . One day , annoyed by Julie and possibly jealous of Joe 's attentions , Charlie blurts out a proposal of marriage to Sylvia . She is thrilled , only to discover the morning after their engagement party that he has proposed to Julie as well . Joe confesses his love to Sylvia and asks her to marry him .
What is Charlie's role at the audition where he meets Julie Gillis?