September News: CLE, Celebrations, & Client Services
It’s been a busy month at VOLS, as we have welcomed new staff, including our Microenterprise Project Director Andrea Tan, returned to safely visiting schools, gathered with pro bono partners for clinics, and monitored important changes for unemployed workers (detailed below).
VOLS was proud to celebrate Latinx Heritage Month with the Boriken Neighborhood Health Center/EHCHS at their September Health Fair. VOLS Senior Law Project’s La Extensión Comunitaria para Adultos Mayores met with over 50 older New Yorkers to share critical life planning information in English and Spanish.
We must also acknowledge the continuing and urgent needs of asylum-seeking Latinx immigrants who are being relocated in New York City. VOLS has met with the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs and is an active member of the Immigrant Advocates Response Collaborative in order to help provide legal services and policy recommendations.
Please continue to follow our social media for updates on our work with new arrivals and information for all of our clients and partners. As always, your support of our work is greatly appreciated.
Best,
Abja Midha
Executive Director
Volunteers of Legal Service
VOLS Updates/Events:
Language Access in Pro Bono Practice
Join VOLS for our upcoming virtual CLE (pending approval of the NYS CLE Board): Language Access in Pro Bono Practice. The CLE will review a variety of federal, state, and local laws related to language access. Our presenters will also discuss how to address the interpretation and translation needs of pro bono clients. Click to register for the CLE.
Recently, Unemployed Workers Project Director Stephanie Taylor attended the Association of Pro Bono Counsel Joint Programming Conference in Kansas City, Missouri alongside VOLS Executive Director, Abja Midha. Stephanie presented on a panel entitled “Language Access: Honest Conversations About Meeting this Vital Pro Bono Need” along with Christina Yang, General Counsel and Pro Bono Director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California, and Annie Mohan, Senior Manager, Pro Bono and Corporate Social Responsibility at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft.
VOLS PBAC End-of-Summer BBQ
The inaugural VOLS Pro Bono Advocates Council (PBAC) BBQ was a great success! VOLS staff, PBAC members, family, friends, and colleagues came together for an end-of-summer celebration that raised critical funds to benefit VOLS’ mission to provide high quality, free civil legal services in NYC. Thank you to our sponsors Davis Polk, Cadwalader, Latham & Watkins, and WilmerHale!
Pro Bono Spotlight: Cindy Pan
Updates from the VOLS Legal Team
VOLS Immigration Project (IP) ushered in the fall by community and capacity building. Our attorneys attended John Jay College of Criminal Justice’s Student Orientation to inform students of our services and provide Know-Your-Rights and informational immigration materials. Over a dozen students signed up for immigration legal advice and further screening at VOLS. Our project continues to provide meaningful trainings and clinics alongside volunteers: we provided a DACA & Special Immigrant Juvenile Status workshop to attorneys at Duval & Stachenfeld, and partnered with Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP and Goldman Sachs on a DACA renewal clinic. Finally, we are thrilled to welcome Immigrant Justice Corps Fellow Jaime Balbuena Hernandez and Community Fellow Christy Suquitana. VOLS is proud of our continued partnership with Immigrant Justice Corps!
VOLS Microenterprise Project (MEP) is pleased to welcome our new Project Director, Andrea Tan! Andrea has legal services experience in community and economic development, including counseling nonprofit organizations, grassroots groups, and small businesses in a wide range of transactional matters. She sits on the Board of Riseboro Community Partnership in Brooklyn, a longtime partner of VOLS. She is also a clinical adjunct professor at New York Law School where she co-teaches their Nonprofit and Small Business Clinic. We are thrilled to have her leadership of VOLS’ work with small business owners and microentrepreneurs.
VOLS Senior Law Project’s (SLP) new decision-making tool, Planning for Your Future, is live! Check it out here. SLP also welcomed a new member to the team- Berkeley Law School Fellow Mary Fata – who will be launching a new Senior Women’s Empowerment Initiative, designed to help older women in New York City plan for the future.
James Fenton, VOLS’ Housing Rights & Special Populations Senior Staff Attorney, testified at the New York City Council Committee on Aging, in support of removing the income cap in the NYC Right to Counsel Program, expanding the program and ensuring specific protections for seniors in housing. A full version of the testimony can be found here.
VOLS Legal Director and Senior Law Project Director, Peter Kempner, joined other members of the New York City Veterans Law Working Group in submitting a statement to the New York State Permanent Commission on Access to Justice, advocating that legal service providers screen for military statuses of their clients as well as train legal services attorneys with cultural competency to reflect the diverse pool of veterans living in NYC, which includes Veterans of Color; Women, Gender Diverse, and LGBTQIA+ Veterans; and Veterans with Disabilities. The full written testimony is available here.
VOLS Unemployed Workers Project (UWP) staff presented on Unemployment Insurance (UI) Eligibility for Immigrants to our community partner, Voces Latinas, in Jackson Heights last month. There have been a few important policy changes with respect to Unemployment Insurance: The New York State Department of Labor (NYS-DOL) has launched a multi-factor authentication (MFA) system for unemployment insurance claimants, and UWP anticipates this will present new barriers for claimants. UWP will closely monitor the launch and convey issues to the NYS-DOL as they arise. See here for the full announcement, and note that pre-enrollment for MFA to access the Unemployment Services at NY.gov began on September 7, 2022. All users will be prompted to set up MFA when using the online unemployment Services portal. The NYS-DOL has also posted updates regarding overpayment waivers. If you are a claimant or otherwise interested in learning more, call the UWP hotline at (347)-521-5720 or visit Overpayment Waiver and Appeal Process | Department of Labor (ny.gov).
Client Success Stories
Mr. S., a client who worked in a restaurant, was fired from a hostile environment after being berated by his manager. He applied for unemployment insurance benefits and was approved, but his decision was then overturned by the NYS-DOL after his employer shared conflicting information. Mr. S reached out to VOLS UWP attorneys, who helped him to request and prepare for a hearing, ultimately attending it remotely with him from VOLS’ office. Mr. S. won his hearing and was able to recover over $13,000 in benefits. We are grateful for our talented staff attorneys that work with clients like Mr. S, who depend on VOLS’ high quality, free legal services!
Join the VOLS Community
- If you are affiliated with a VOLS partner law firm or company and would like to volunteer, please contact your company’s pro bono counsel.
- Make a donation to support VOLS’ free civil legal services: Click here to donate.
- Forward this page and ask your friends to sign up for the VOLS e-newsletter at www.volsprobono.org/join.