| Legal Services NYC |
Legal Services NYCFor more than 40 years, our staff of talented attorneys, paralegals, social workers and clerical workers have helped low-income New Yorkers with nowhere else to turn navigate the civil legal system. And each year, through our efforts, we have helped more than 10,000 families avoid homelessness and more than 25,000 poor and low-income New Yorkers with a full range of their legal needs, benefiting more than 70,000 people overall. Our network is community-based and includes offices in low-income communities and transportation hubs throughout New York City. In addition to serving clients, each of our offices offer opportunities for attorneys in private practice and law students to gain valuable legal experience while making a difference in our clients’ lives and communities. |
What's New at Legal Services NYC
In a January 2nd editorial, the New York Times calls for Governor David A. Paterson and the New York State Legislature to restore crucial funding for civil legal services:
Dollars will be restored here and cut there in the negotiations to come. When they are, there is one interest group, quieter and far less powerful than most, that always needs a voice. That is the poor, among whose setbacks in this budget is the zeroing-out of noncriminal legal services — a chronically underfunded need for which, in this budget, there is no funding at all.
A recent report by watchdog group Community Voices Heard found that the Human Resources Administration's (HRA) efforts to place work-ready clients in sustainable jobs through its Back to Work program is hampered by a high sanction rate and poor job placement and retention rates. Paralegal Fernando LeBron has seen the consequences up-close in his work at Queens Legal Services Corporation, a program of Legal Services NYC, City Limits Weekly reports.
A story in the Dec. 29th Staten Island Advance highlights the immigration assistance now offered by Staten Island Legal Services ("SILS," a program of Legal Services NYC). A previous Advance story focused on the ways in which SILS is helping an immigrant victim of domestic violence protect herself and her family.
Waver Brickhouse came to Brooklyn Legal Services Corporation A ("Brooklyn A," a program of Legal Services NYC) after losing her home in a foreclosure rescue scheme. Brooklyn A filed suit against the scheme organizers, their associates, the straw buyers and the lender. While the suit is ongoing, Brooklyn A was able to get the deed back in the client's name within a matter of months and is now pursuing claims regarding her mortgage. On December 11, CBS 2's Kirsten Cole covered Ms. Brickhouse's story.
A New York Times article on efforts to fight the foreclosure crisis in Washington includes the perspective of South Brooklyn Legal Services ("SBLS," a program of Legal Services NYC) client Aoah Middleton. Ms. Middleton began missing payments on her mortgage in 2006 when her 5-year-old daughter was diagnosed with cancer. She spent a year trying to catch up, and could meet her obligations if her interest rate were reduced. Instead, her home is scheduled to be sold at a foreclosure auction this month.
In a January 19th letter to the New York Law Journal, NYC Council Speaker Christine Quinn calls upon the Manhattan Supreme Court to stop the New York City Rent Guidelines Board (RGB) from increasing rents for the New Yorkers who can least afford it. The City Council has joined South Brooklyn Legal Services (a program of Legal Services NYC) and the Legal Aid Society in a lawsuit against the RGB.