Brooklyn Eagle reports… The New York court system and the NYS Bar Association helped to establish a pro bono network of lawyers that will provide free attorneys for New Yorkers dealing with coronavirus-related legal issues that arise as a result of the pandemic. On Wednesday, the NYSBA announced that it has created a COVID-19 recovery task force to oversee that network.
The initial duty of the pro bono network is to assist unemployed people who are struggling to sign up for benefits, but it will extend beyond that aim as other issues arise. Right now, the network is monitoring issues such as evictions, domestic violence, and job and housing discrimination.
“The blue-ribbon panel we have assembled includes some of the best minds the New York legal community has to offer,” said Chief Judge Janet DiFiore. “I have the utmost confidence that this panel will ensure that those who are in desperate need of legal help will get the assistance they need.”
NYSBA President Hank Greenberg said that the task force is also evaluating what its priorities should be, recruiting as many lawyers as possible, and coordinating the resources they have to connect lawyers to clients.
“I’m so grateful that at this difficult time in their own lives, the members of this task force are giving of themselves to help those who are less fortunate,” Greenberg said. “We can always count on the generosity of New York’s lawyers and I’m proud to be part of this effort. I know that this esteemed panel will act quickly to ease the anguish of fellow New Yorkers.”
Former Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman, who retired from being the state’s top judge at the end of 2015, is the coordinator of the pro bono network.
See NYSBA – Announcement here …… https://nysba.org/covid-19-recovery-task-force-appointed-to-oversee-pro-bono-network/
Here are the appointed members
Task force members include:
- Syracuse University School of Law Dean Craig M. Boise
- Saralyn Cohen, pro bono counsel at Shearman & Sterling
- Mylan L. Denerstein, partner at Gibson Dunn & Crutcher
- Fordham Law School Dean Matthew Diller
- Vincent E. Doyle, president of Neighborhood Legal Services in Buffalo and past president of NYSBA
- Cynthia F. Feathers, director of quality enhancement for appellate and post-conviction representation at the New York State Office of Indigent Legal Services
- Robert J. Giuffra, Jr., a partner at Sullivan & Cromwell
- Seymour W. James, former attorney-in-chief of the NYC Legal Aid Society, a partner at Barket Epstein Kearon Aldea & LoTurco and past president of NYSBA.
- Marcia Levy, executive director at Volunteers of Legal Service
- John Kiernan, a partner at Debevoise & Plimpton and past president of the New York City Bar Association
- Alan Levine, partner at Cooley
- Deputy Chief Administrative Judge for Justice Initiatives Edwina G. Mendelson
- John R. Morken, partner and head of the pro bono department at Farrell Fritz
- Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York Executive Director Lillian M. Moy
- A. Gail Prudenti, dean of Hofstra Law School and former presiding justice, Appellate Division, Second Department
- James Sandman, president emeritus of the Legal Services Corporation in Washington, D.C.
- Kathryn Wheelock, law clerk to Chief Judge DiFiore
