City Bar Justice Center to Honor Venable and MetLife with Pro Bono Awards – Event Moved to Sep. 24

April 1, 2020

New York, April 1, 2020 – The City Bar Justice Center’s 15th Annual Gala will honor the law firm Venable LLP and financial services company MetLife, Inc. with the 2020 City Bar Justice Awards for their leadership and dedication to pro bono and public service. Originally scheduled for April 1, 2020, the Gala will take place … Continue reading City Bar Justice Center to Honor Venable and MetLife with Pro Bono Awards – Event Moved to Sep. 24 →

Free Life-Planning Legal Assistance to NYC Front-Line Health Care Workers to be Provided by City Bar Justice Center

March 30, 2020

New York, March 30, 2020 – The City Bar Justice Center’s Planning & Estates Law Project (PELP) will provide free, remote legal assistance to New York City front-line health care workers in preparing simple life-planning documents, including wills, powers of attorney, designations of standby guardians and health care proxies. PELP consists of a panel of … Continue reading Free Life-Planning Legal Assistance to NYC Front-Line Health Care Workers to be Provided by City Bar Justice Center →

Leading Human Trafficking Attorney to Become Deputy Director of the City Bar Justice Center

June 21, 2019

New York, June 20, 2019 – Suzanne Tomatore will assume the role of Deputy Director of the City Bar Justice Center beginning July 1, 2019, the organization announced today. Tomatore has worked at the Justice Center for nearly two decades, including as Director of the Immigrant Women and Children Project and the Cancer Advocacy Project. … Continue reading Leading Human Trafficking Attorney to Become Deputy Director of the City Bar Justice Center →

City Bar Justice Center Announces Honorees of 2018 Jeremy G. Epstein Awards for Pro Bono Service

October 18, 2018

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   Contact: Eric Friedman Director of Communications efriedman@nycbar.org 212-382-6754 Michael Fil Communications and Development Coordinator mfil@nycbar.org 212-382-6727 City Bar Justice Center Announces Honorees of 2018 Jeremy G. Epstein Awards for Pro Bono Service New York, October 18, 2018 – The City Bar Justice Center, the pro bono affiliate of the New York City … Continue reading City Bar Justice Center Announces Honorees of 2018 Jeremy G. Epstein Awards for Pro Bono Service →

City Bar Justice Center Gala to Celebrate Pro Bono

April 10, 2018

On April 11, the City Bar Justice Center’s 13th Annual Gala will honor the global biopharmaceutical leader Pfizer Inc. and the international law firm Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy, LLP with the 2018 City Bar Justice Awards, for their leadership and dedication to pro bono and public service.

Kurt M. Denk Joins City Bar Justice Center as Pro Bono Counsel

March 13, 2018

Kurt M. Denk has joined the City Bar Justice Center as Pro Bono Counsel. Denk comes to CBJC from Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP, where he practiced general civil and complex commercial litigation and maintained an active pro bono docket on behalf of diverse clients and causes.

Innovative Online Portal Provides Help to Low-Income New Yorkers with Consumer Issues

January 25, 2018

Low-income consumers in New York City now have a dynamic new tool for obtaining legal help on a consumer issue. The NYC Consumer Help Finder is an online portal through which low-income New Yorkers can apply for legal help with a consumer problem and be assured a prompt call-back from an attorney or authorized case handler.

City Bar Justice Center’s Planning and Estates Law Project Announces Collaboration with the Mount Sinai Medical Legal Partnership

November 29, 2017

The City Bar Justice Center’s Planning and Estates Law Project (PELP) has announced a collaborative project with the Mount Sinai Medical Legal Partnership to connect Mount Sinai’s neediest patients with PELP lawyers.

City Bar Justice Center Announces Honorees of 2017 Jeremy G. Epstein Awards for Pro Bono Service

October 20, 2017

The City Bar Justice Center, the pro bono affiliate of the New York City Bar Association, has announced the winners of the ninth annual Jeremy G. Epstein Awards for Outstanding Pro Bono Service.

Caitlin Miner-Le Grand Appointed Next Fragomen Fellow at City Bar Justice Center to Enhance Pro Bono Immigration Representation

September 25, 2017

Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy, LLP, the world’s leading provider of immigration legal services, has announced the appointment of Caitlin Miner-Le Grand as the firm’s latest “Fragomen Fellow” effective September 25, 2017. The Fragomen Fellowship is a two-year rotating position the firm’s New York office established to enhance the pro bono immigration services provided by the City Bar Justice Center, the pro bono affiliate of the New York City Bar Association.

Sharp Drop in City Bankruptcies Could Foreshadow Big Jump Next Year

December 21, 2020

“‘There were relief measures put into place like the New York State eviction moratorium,’ says Ramona Morel, director of the consumer bankruptcy project at the City Bar Justice Center. ‘There were definitely protections and benefits in the CARES Act.’ Some of Kransdorf’s clients made more from the pandemic unemployment aid than they had in their jobs.”

It Is Time to Address the VA’s Enormous Backlog of Claims for Disability Benefits

December 1, 2020

“Through our partnerships with the New York City Bar Justice Center’s Veterans Assistance Project, the Los Angeles County Bar Association’s Veterans Legal Services Project, and the Legal Services Center of Harvard Law School’s Veterans Legal Clinic, Proskauer attorneys have helped countless veterans obtain the benefits they deserve. Even with an experienced lawyer, delays are common and often devastating to indigent and disabled veterans who rely on the financial support for everyday necessities.”

New Gambit in NYC Self-Storage Wars: Some Owners Willing to Cut Struggling Customers Free as Demand Booms

November 15, 2020

“If the auction is soon, go ‘masked up’ to the open Human Resources Administration center in your borough to apply for an emergency storage grant, said Lisa Pearlstein of the City Bar Justice Center.”

Proskauer Virtual Volunteers Support LACBA’s Veterans Legal Service Project Clinic

November 11, 2020

“We also continue to build on our long-standing partnerships with the City Bar Justice Center’s Veterans Assistance Project in New York and the Legal Services Center of Harvard Law School’s Veterans Legal Clinic in Boston to obtain disability benefits for veterans with service-connected disabilities and to petition for “discharge upgrades” to rectify the classifications that partially or entirely bar many veterans from the disability benefits they rightfully deserve.”

Hundreds of storage units in New York heading to auction

October 27, 2020

“Lisa Pearlstein, director of the City Bar Justice Center’s Legal Clinic for the Homeless, asked the law firm, Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, to see if there could be a moratorium on auctions. The law firm said a pause on auctions would require executive action from the governor or the state legislature to modify the law that governs storage.”

There’s No Eviction Moratorium on NYC Storage Units. Now the Contents of Hundreds are Being Auctioned Off

October 26, 2020

“Lisa Pearlstein, director of the City Bar Justice Center’s Legal Clinic for the Homeless, was so concerned about auctions among people who had lost their jobs during the crisis that she asked a law firm, Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, to examine the possibility of a moratorium on auctions.

‘They’re unemployed, they can’t pay their storage bills so easily,’ Pearlstein said. ‘They pay their rent, they buy their food first. And then, you know, boom, they’re hit with a storage auction notice, and they don’t have the funds to pay the bill and they lose their possessions.'”

New York City Bar Justice Center Announces 10 Recipients of 2020 Outstanding Pro Bono Service Award

October 15, 2020

“The City Bar Justice Center has announced its 10 recipients of this year’s Outstanding Pro Bono Service Award, in which the legal services group recognizes and celebrates the ‘outstanding’ volunteer attorneys who have contributed to its core pro-bono lawyering projects.”

Homeless Students Deserve More From NYC’s Education Department

September 21, 2020

“While the DOE’s decision to supply homeless students with iPads is certainly a step in the right direction, the New York City Bar Association through City Bar Justice Center reported earlier this year that most city shelters not only lack Wi-Fi, but also have spotty cell service — making it difficult for residents to use hotspots or the unlimited data the city-issued iPads come with.”

NYC Commercial Eviction Moratorium Extended Until October 20th

September 20, 2020

“The non-profit clinic to which the city directs business owners on their website for “COVID-19-related legal assistance,” the City Bar Justice Center—which doesn’t receive funding from the city—is being inundated with requests, according to Akira Arroyo, who directs the program.”

These Families Feel Forgotten as N.Y.C. Pushes to Open Schools

September 14, 2020

“Most city shelters do not have Wi-Fi, according to a recent report by the New York City Bar Association, and many shelter units do not even have cell service, making it impossible for families to use hotspots.”