Press

For all press inquiries, please contact Cheryl Lopez.

Press Releases
CBJC in the News

City Bar Justice Center Launches LGBT Advocacy Project

May 28, 2014

The City Bar Justice Center has launched the LGBT Advocacy Project to provide direct civil legal services to low-income LGBT New Yorkers. Seed money for the initiative has been provided by the Tiger Baron Foundation.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

25,000-member NYC Bar Urges City to Guarantee WiFi in Homeless Shelters

August 24, 2020

“An organization representing 25,000 New York City attorneys has joined a chorus of advocates urging the city to guarantee WiFi inside homeless shelters and bridge a digital divide exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Advocates for NY veterans seek help, answers amid pandemic

August 14, 2020

“’We have spoken with too many veterans who have lost their jobs or have had to drop out of school, too many veterans concerned about whether they will have housing next month or who have suddenly been tasked with serving as caretakers for their elderly and ailing family members,’ Logan Campbell, project coordinator of the City Bar Justice Center’s Veterans Assistant Project, which helps low-income disabled veterans in New York City, said in written testimony.”

Small businesses can again seek help with commercial leases through city program

August 11, 2020

“The City Bar Justice Center is running a legal clinic that offers pro-bono consultations to small-business owners impacted by the pandemic’s effects …”

Over One Third Of NYC Restaurants And Bars Surveyed Couldn’t Pay Last Month’s Rent

August 3, 2020

“Keitt said the agency has assisted 200 small businesses understand legal requirements under leases and connected more than 150 businesses to City Bar Justice Center for legal assistance on commercial leasing, insurance, contracts, and other issues.”

Shirley Siegel, Leading New York Civil Rights Lawyer, Dies at 101

June 23, 2020

“Ms. Siegel continued practicing into her 90s, working on a New York City Bar Justice Center project to prevent mortgage foreclosures in the aftermath of the 2008 recession. Last year she was awarded Barnard’s Medal of Distinction for her ‘trailblazing civil rights and fair housing’ work.”

City Demands Residents Repair Retaining Wall After Boulder Wrecks Apartment

June 17, 2020

“Scott Kohanowski is a pro-bono lawyer with the City Bar Justice Center. He’s helping the homeowners form an association and says many of the residents on Clay Avenue have lived there for decades. ‘But living in that property for so many years and not even knowing that [the wall] was there, it is kind of insane to then hold these property owners responsible for this. We’re talking hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of dollars to repair this wall,’ Kohanowski explained.”

No internet in shelters worsens conditions for homeless New Yorkers, NYC Bar finds

May 22, 2020

“A lack of internet access is preventing New Yorkers in city shelters from finding and securing affordable housing amid the city’s historic homelessness crisis, according to a new report issued Tuesday by the City Bar Justice Center.”

Few Families in Homeless Shelters Can Access Internet

May 21, 2020

Only 6% of people who live or had lived in a New York City homeless shelter for families said they could access the internet through their shelter, according to a new report from the City Bar Justice Center.

City Bar Sizes Up Lack of Internet Access at Homeless Shelters

May 20, 2020

“A survey of current and former homeless shelter residents in New York City showed that only 6% were able to access the internet via their shelter, according to a report released by the City Bar Justice Center, which argues for the city to provide reliable Wi-Fi and updated internet-ready devices to shelter residents in order to fight the city’s growing homelessness problem.”

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.”