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civil legal services

Apr 13, 2015

On the Town: What to do: Pro bono civil legal service needs exceed resources

  Volunteer Legal Services Project handles about 1,260 cases per year. However, that only serves about 25 percent of the clients seeking civil legal services in the Rochester area. How do we increase pro bono resources? A panel consisting of the Hon. Henry J. Scudder, presiding justice of the Appellate Division, Fourth Department; Gail M. […]

Dec 3, 2013

New rule allows out-of-state attorneys to offer free services

A rule change authorizing out-of-state attorneys employed as in-house counsel in New York to provide free legal services to underserved communities goes into effect this week. Announced Monday by Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman, the measure is the latest in a series by the Unified Court System to help bridge the state’s civil legal services gap. […]

Oct 5, 2013

Judge Lippman brings hearing series to Buffalo

When Ursula M. Anderson, a retired doctor living in Cattaraugus County, was scammed by a roofing contractor three years ago, she did not know where to turn. She had gotten the loan from a federally funded government program that supplied its own contractor, over the one she had, and when the work was not completed, […]

Jul 25, 2013

Lippman schedules fall hearings

New York state Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman will be conducting his annual hearings on civil legal services beginning Sept. 17 in Albany when he will hear a panel in the Third Department. He will conduct one hearing in each of the four Appellate Division departments, with the Fourth Department hearing for Western and Central New […]

May 14, 2013

IOLA funds still impacted by slow economy

Low-interest rates and lingering effects of the economic downturn continue to impact the Interest on Lawyer Account funding for civil legal services programs in New York. Awards for 2012 were fairly consistent with those of the previous year, according to the 2012 annual report released last week. “We suspect that we’re still going to see […]

Apr 22, 2013

Lippman participates in White House forum

Nonlawyers could soon be helping the New York legal community in its efforts to try to meet civil legal service needs. Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman told a panel in Washington, D.C., last week that a committee has been formed in New York to take a look at the issue and put together a few models […]

Oct 12, 2012

Pro Bono Task Force offers recommendations

Cooperation is key among the many recommendations of a special task force to best increase pro bono involvement by all lawyers to help meet the nation’s civil legal services needs. “This is not something that any one segment of the legal profession can do alone,” said James J. Sandman, president of the Washington, D.C.-based Legal […]

Oct 3, 2012

Chief Judge Lippman: On the record

The thing Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman finds most surprising about the testimony he has heard in a series of hearings on civil legal services is the depth of the need. He also said the fact that those in need are not the poorest of New Yorkers and that are lot of working people cannot get […]

Oct 3, 2012

Task force focus on civil legal service needs

When Cheri Caiella’s son returned from serving in the military, he looked like the same person who had left, but it quickly became obvious to her that he had greatly changed. She said he suffered from severe post-traumatic stress disorder and other issues, but was denied services by the Department of Defense. An ignored traffic […]

Jun 12, 2012

State announces civil legal services awards

The Oversight Board for Judiciary Legal Services in New York recently announced $25 million in awards in 60 different programs.   Among Fourth Department recipients for the 2010-13 period are:   • Empire Justice Center: $604,757;   • Erie County Bar Association   /Volunteer Lawyer’s Project: $191,862;   • F.H. Hiscock Legal Aid Society: $260,212; […]

Nov 22, 2011

Legal services providers assess gloomy outlook

It’s a done deal. What were announced last week as proposed cuts to the national organization funding civil legal services are now law. And the news does not get any better looking into the near future. Providers, who rely on the Washington, D.C.-based Legal Services Corporation, are left to pick up the pieces and try […]

Oct 7, 2011

Lippman: Judges can’t be lawyers at the same time

Judges feel their position as a neutral arbiter may be compromised when litigants appear before them without legal representation That is one of the challenges the judiciary faces because of a lack of funding for civil legal services for the state’s poor. A panel of three judges ...

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