Chief Judge's 2024 hearing on CLS — The New York Legal Services Coalition

Chief Judge’s 2024 Hearing on Civil Legal Services in New York Testimonies

The New York Legal Services Coalition

Pay Equity for Advocates Serving Historically Disadvantaged Communities

This testimony is respectfully submitted on behalf of the New York Legal Services Coalition (NYLSC). Our Coalition consists of almost 50 member organizations providing vital legal services in every Judicial District of the State of New York.

Low-income families who cannot afford to hire a lawyer rely on our agencies to provide effective and compassionate legal services when facing critical challenges such as domestic violence, loss of income, housing instability, child support/custody disputes, or lack of immigration status. Our clients are disproportionately BIPOC and have been systematically denied equal access to justice. In addition to their specific legal problems, our clients also face the additional challenge of navigating a legal system which disadvantages individuals who lack equal resources to hire legal counsel. At a structural level, the system will continue to perpetuate this inequity unless and until it is addressed.

Brooklyn Legal Services Corporation A

Thank you for the opportunity to comment at the 2024 Chief Judge’s hearing on civil legal services in New York. My name is Jessica Rose and I am the Executive Director at Brooklyn Legal Services Corporation A (Brooklyn A).

Thank you for continuing to examine the unmet requirements for civil legal services and evaluating the resources needed to address them.

Brooklyn A is a civil legal service provider and member of the New York Legal Services Coalition (NYLSC) and the Leap Coalition. Our mission is to wield community-focused civil legal services to confront injustice. Brooklyn A works to ensure all New Yorkers have equal access to legal services to seek justice, make their voices heard, and overcome systemic oppression and racism. We address the myriad systemic issues facing our communities by providing a combination of legal assistance, including full legal representation, brief advice/services, and community education, to marginalized populations—including the low-income working poor, the unemployed or underemployed, the disabled, seniors, survivors of domestic violence, families in crisis, community-based organizations ("CBOs"), and largely women, immigrant, and BIPOC-owned small businesses throughout New York City ("NYC").

Center for Elder Law & Justice

Thank you for the opportunity to submit written testimony. The Center for Elder Law & Justice (“CELJ”) is an 80-person full service regional civil legal services organization with dedicated staff for outreach, training, and pro bono activities. Our work includes both policy advocacy and individual direct legal services. We have units dedicated to health care, housing, kinship care, public benefits, elder abuse & consumer scams, and more. Our mission is to use the legal system to ensure that our clients live independently and with dignity.

Incorporated in 1978, in Erie County New York, Judiciary Civil Legal Services funding enabled us to expand. We now provide outreach and brief services to all counties in the Fourth Department, full-service representation to 11 Western New York Counties and have four offices in the counties of Erie, Niagara, Chautauqua, and Cattaraugus, have three medical legal partnerships. and operate a state-wide free civil legal advice helpline.

Empire Justice Center

Good afternoon. My name is Kristin Brown, and I am President and CEO of Empire Justice Center. We are a statewide, not-for-profit law firm and advocacy organization with seven offices across the state: in Albany, Rochester, Yonkers, White Plains, Central Islip, and Hempstead.

Empire Justice focuses on areas of law where we can have the most impact, with the goal of addressing the root causes of injustice through our 360-degree approach to systems change. We center client experience to identify barriers, and we break them down using targeted training, legal intervention, and policy advocacy. In this way, we practice, teach, and change the law to make it work for all New Yorkers.

I am also the President of the New York Legal Services Coalition, the statewide association representing the interests of civil legal services organizations and the communities we serve. Our 45 members collectively provide legal services in family law, housing, immigration, public benefits, and many other areas of poverty law in every region of New York State.

The Legal Aid Society

Good afternoon, I am Adriene Holder, Chief Attorney of the Civil Practice of The Legal Aid Society. I also serve as a member of the Permanent Commission on Access to Justice and as a board member for the New York Legal Services Coalition. I first want to thank Chief Judge Rowan D. Wilson; Presiding Justices Dianne T. Renwick, Hector LaSalle, Elizabeth A. Garry, and Gerald J. Whalen; Chief Administrative Judge Joseph A. Zayas; and New York State Bar Association President Domenick Napoletano for the opportunity to address you today.

Investing in legal services is a long-term commitment to advancing the fight against racism, injustice, and poverty. By providing low-income New Yorkers with access to essential civil legal services, we empower individuals to achieve greater stability and economic opportunity. This, in turn, strengthens the resilience of families and communities, enhancing both the economic and social fabric of New York City and the State. On behalf of The Legal Aid Society and the broader New York State civil legal services community, I extend our sincere gratitude for your continued investment and support.

Volunteer Lawyers Project of CNY, INC.

Good afternoon, I am Sal Curran, Executive Director of the Volunteer Lawyers Project of CNY, Inc. (VLPCNY). I also serve as a member of the Permanent Commission on Access to Justice and as a board member for the New York Legal Services Coalition. I first want to thank Chief Judge Rowan D. Wilson; Presiding Justices Dianne T. Renwick, Hector D. LaSalle, Elizabeth A. Garry, and Gerald J. Whalen; Chief Administrative Judge Joseph A. Zayas; and New York State Bar Association President Domenick Napoletano for the opportunity to address you today.

Volunteer Lawyers Project of CNY, Inc. is a legal aid program whose mission is to provide access to justice by engaging the legal community in service to those in need. In the past year, our staff of attorneys, pro bono coordinators and legal assistants worked together with our panel of over 600 lawyers, law students and paralegals to serve over 4,000 clients in Central New York and throughout Upstate New York, benefiting over 10,000 community members.

Western New York Law Center

My name is Karen Welch, and I serve as the Executive Director of the Western New York Law Center in Buffalo, NY. I am honored to present testimony to the Chief Judge’s 2024 Hearing on Civil Legal Services in New York.

Since the 1990s, our organization has been committed to providing free legal representation to low-income residents throughout Western New York. We operate walk-in consumer clinics, defend tenants from eviction, protect homeowners from foreclosure, advocate for students facing school suspensions, support low-income entrepreneurs, and tackle issues related to vacant and abandoned properties in collaboration with local municipalities.