City Bar Justice Center Gala to Celebrate Pro Bono

March 26, 2014

On April 9, the City Bar Justice Center’s 9th Annual Gala will honor the law firm of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz and the global financial services company UBS with the 2014 City Bar Justice Awards, for their leadership and dedication to pro bono service.

City Bar Justice Center Announces New Chair and Board

July 1, 2013

Mei Lin Kwan-Gett, a partner at Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, has been elected Chair of the City Bar Fund, which oversees the City Bar Justice Center, the pro bono affiliate of the New York City Bar Association.

New Estate Advisory Panel Provides Needed Resource for Low-Income Callers to Legal Hotline

April 2, 2013

The City Bar Justice Center has established an Estate Pro Bono Advisory Panel for low-income callers to its Legal Hotline, and will soon establish a regularly scheduled clinic to advise low-income people on personal planning, end of life, and estate matters.

Human Trafficking in the U.S.: Concrete Solutions for Better Data Collection

March 6, 2013

Better data collection on human trafficking, particularly on labor trafficking, would help service providers allocate limited resources and help prevent trafficking in the future, according to a white paper by the Immigrant Women & Children project (IWC) of the City Bar Justice Center.

Victor M. Tello Joins City Bar Justice Center as Coordinating Attorney for Sandy Disaster Relief

January 10, 2013

The City Bar Justice Center has hired Victor M. Tello as its Coordinating Attorney for Disaster Relief. Tello will centralize the Justice Center’s various activities in training and mobilizing volunteer attorneys to assist in Superstorm Sandy relief.

City Bar Justice Center Releases Economic Empowerment Resource Guide

January 10, 2012

The City Bar Justice Center’s Immigrant Women and Children (IWC) Project has produced anEconomic Empowerment Resource Guide, providing resource information for immigrant victims of violent crimes and low-income New York City residents in general. Topics covered in the guide include public benefits, job training and placement, employment agencies, personal finance, financial aid for higher education, and small business resources.

City Bar Justice Center Announces Winners of Third Annual Jeremy G. Epstein Awards for Pro Bono Service

October 18, 2011

The City Bar Justice Center, the pro bono affiliate of the New York City Bar, has announced the winners of the third annual Jeremy G. Epstein Awards for Pro Bono Service. Honoring volunteer lawyers for outstanding work on Justice Center projects, the awards will be presented at a Celebration of Service reception on Monday, October 24th, as part of National Pro Bono Week.

Laura Matthews-Jolly Joins City Bar Justice Center to Help Sex and Labor Trafficking Survivors

October 12, 2011

Laura Mathews-Jolly has joined the City Bar Justice Center’s Immigrant Women & Children Project on a two-year Equal Justice Works fellowship, supported by the law firm Greenberg Traurig LLP, to provide legal services to immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children and are survivors of labor and sex trafficking.

Barbara Camacho Joins Justice Center on New Two-Year Fellowship

September 7, 2011

Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy, LLP, the world’s leading provider of immigration services, has announced the appointment of Barbara Camacho as the firm’s latest “Fragomen Fellow” effective August 29, 2011. The Fragomen Fellowship is a two-year rotating position 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.

Jay Holtmeier to Chair City Bar Justice Center; New Officers Announced

June 9, 2011

Jay Holtmeier, a partner at WilmerHale, has been elected as Chair of the City Bar Fund, overseeing the City Bar Justice Center, the pro bono affiliate of the New York City Bar Association.

City Bar Justice Center Expands Pro Bono Legal Hotline for COVID-19

May 12, 2020

“In response to the disproportionate impact of the coronavirus pandemic on low-income communities, the City Bar Justice Center has launched an expansion of its pro bono Legal Hotline to deal specifically with COVID-19-related legal needs of underserved New Yorkers.”

Jenner & Block During COVID-19

May 4, 2020

Our lawyers have been working with the City Bar Justice Center’s Legal Hotline…

‘No Relief in Sight’: Court Delays Cause Money Woes for Families of NYC Deceased

April 29, 2020

“The City Bar Justice Center’s Planning & Estates Law Project (PELP), meanwhile, provides free, remote legal assistance to New York City front-line health care workers in preparing advance-planning documents including wills, powers of attorney, designations of standby guardians and health care proxies.”

The Legal Marathon Ahead

April 24, 2020

“The City Bar Justice Center, our non-profit, legal-services affiliate, is among the leaders in the response to this crisis: providing free, remote legal assistance to New York City frontline health care workers in preparing life-planning documents so that they have peace of mind while risking their lives for us; launching a pro bono remote legal clinic to help New York City’s small businesses access the federal government’s COVID-19 stimulus package and other programs; and ramping up its Legal Hotline, already the busiest in New York, to handle the expected flood of inquiries related to the coronavirus.”

Free legal clinic offers support for small businesses pinched by coronavirus

April 1, 2020

“A new clinic founded by the Lawyers for Good Government Foundation will provide free legal assistance to small businesses hit hard by the COVID-19 shutdown. L4GG is launching its Small Business Remote Legal Clinic this week in partnership with the City Bar Justice Center to guide small businesses through dire economic straits related to the coronavirus.”

NYC Bar Association: We Are Still Here to Help

March 31, 2020

“The City Bar Justice Center and a number of law firms are joining with the Lawyers for Good Government Foundation to launch a pro bono project to help small businesses access the federal government’s COVID-19 stimulus package.”

Lawyers Across the Country Are Offering Free Legal Advice to Small Businesses Struggling With the Coronavirus Pandemic

March 30, 2020

“The pro bono service consists of free 45-minute sessions that will be held across the country in coming weeks. An initial pilot program, conducted in partnership with the City Bar Justice Center, is coming to hard hit New York in the coming days. You can sign up here to see when a clinic will come to a city near you.”

Law Firm Coalition Launches National Pro Bono Campaign to Support Small Biz

March 27, 2020

“The City Bar Justice Center in New York is a tremendous resource for New Yorkers of modest means providing all kinds of services in good times and bad. They’re the first to respond with services that are created just in time for crises like this,” Haberfeld said. The New York clinic, which is expected to open early next week, will bring together lawyers from at least 26 firms to help guide small business owners in determining what help is available through the package that passed the House earlier Friday, and also assist them in filing for grants and loans available through various federal, state, and local programs.

Elderly Brooklyn couple slapped with $44,000 city water bill

May 21, 2018

“It’s really difficult for any senior who’s trying to remain in their home in New York City to be hit with that kind of bill,” said Scott Kohanowski, a lawyer for the City Bar Justice Center.

Thomas and her husband, Cecil, are in their 70s and have lived on Avenue B in Canarsie for 40 years.

Kohanowski helped them apply for relief under a city leak forgiveness program. But to qualify, homeowners must apply within 120 days of their first high bill. The DEP said the couple missed that deadline.”

A Horrifying Path to America for Hotel Workers

March 1, 2018

Our client profiled in The Atlantic magazine.

“Four people in need of work went to the first meeting and gave the man money, but Racida Eslabon was the only one who made it to the United States. She had already worked in a factory in Japan, and when she got back to the Philippines, she wanted to leave again so she could send money home to her mother, who was sick. She had been trying to get a job through a placement agency but with no success, so it seemed like very good luck when she met Alfred Briones in June 2008.”