Convening Our Pro Bono Partners: January Newsletter

VOLS kicked off the year with a full house of New York City’s pro bono leaders from law firms, companies, and legal services organizations at the VOLS 2025 Pro Bono Partners Convening. Co-facilitators led a series of frank conversations on anticipated trends, priorities, opportunities for support, and how to maximize the impact of pro bono under the new federal administration. We are grateful to our pro bono partner Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP for hosting the event at their office. Thank you to everyone who attended, and to our pro bono community, for your unwavering commitment to supporting New Yorkers and helping close the access to justice gap in our city. 

Best, 

Abja Midha | She/Her
Executive Director, Volunteers of Legal Service

We’re Hiring

Join our team and help close the access to justice gap for low-income New Yorkers. The following positions are currently open: 


Get To Know Our Team

As part of the VOLS Spotlight Series, we spoke with Adama Fonah, Pro Bono Specialist at VOLS. 

What does your role as the Pro Bono Specialist at VOLS involve? 
At VOLS, as a pro bono-first organization, our primary mission is to bridge the justice gap by connecting underserved New Yorkers with free legal services. In my role as the Pro Bono Specialist, I support all of our practice areas. My responsibilities include managing communication with pro bono partners, assigning cases, updating our website, and overseeing pro bono data collection and reporting. I also handle video editing and content posting on our YouTube channel. Additionally, I work with the PBAC and support outreach efforts in collaboration with our project directors across various initiatives such as the Immigration, Benefits Law, Microenterprise, Incarcerated Mothers Law, and Senior Law Projects. This involves placing cases, coordinating with pro bono attorneys, and liaising with law firms and corporate partners. I also manage our weekly Pro Bono Opportunities Newsletter, which highlights available pro bono cases at VOLS, and handle incoming requests from pro bono attorneys looking to take on new matters. I send conflict checks and connect attorneys to their VOLS point of contact for each client they assist. On the data side, I update our Legal Case Management System, introduce new volunteers to VOLS, and ensure our website is regularly updated with the latest pro bono opportunities and template documents. 

Is there an experience and/or client that you found particularly memorable?   
There was one particular client who had a challenging time finding placement. They had been featured in our newsletter for several weeks and were seeking assistance with drafting a will, power of attorney, and a few other important documents. This client was seriously ill and hospitalized, which meant they needed legal help in person at the hospital. After explaining the client’s urgent needs, I was able to successfully connect them with a firm that could assist. It was incredibly rewarding to be part of that process, helping someone in genuine need of free legal services. By leveraging our network, we were able to provide the client with the essential legal support they required. 

Tell us about yourself. What makes a “good weekend” for you?   
A great weekend for me starts with an early Saturday morning, walking my dog, doing some light cleaning, and hosting a game night with friends. On Sundays, I enjoy going to the gym with my husband and shopping at the farmer’s market. Afterward, I love coming home to prepare a delicious meal and relaxing by either watching a good show or diving into a captivating novel. Right now, I’m reading Awakening to the Spirit World: The Shamanic Path of Direct Revelation. It’s a fascinating book that explores how we can clear away the projections and distorted thoughts of the conscious mind to see the world and others more clearly, without the lens of our own biases.   


Project Updates

VOLS Incarcerated Mothers Law Project (IMLP) returned to Rikers Island Rose M. Singer Center for the first time since 2019 to provide family law education, advocacy, and counsel to our incarcerated clients alongside pro bono volunteers from Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP and Freshfields LLP. Earlier this month, we held a legal clinic at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility with volunteers from Bloomberg, Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, and new partners Freshfields LLP and Milbank LLP. 

VOLS Senior Law Project (SLP) held legal clinics and educational programs for older adults with community partners Greenwich House’s Center on the Square, Queens Community Justice Center – The Rockaways, and Westbeth Older Adult Center. We were excited to work with pro bono partner Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, on an execution clinic for our older adult clients served through the New York City Council’s initiative to offer free life planning services to eligible New Yorkers.  

VOLS Microenterprise Project (MEP) continues to support small business owners through our transactional legal services, presentations and educational programming. This month VOLS MEP held an intellectual property clinic with DLA Piper and an entity selection clinic for small business owners in collaboration with Goodwin Procter LLP and NYC Department of Small Business Services (SBS) Black Entrepreneurs NYC (BE NYC) initiative. 

VOLS Benefits Law Project (BLP) helped New Yorkers meet their housing needs through our Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption (SCRIE) and Disability Rent Increase Exemption (DRIE) legal services programming. This month, VOLS BLP led a CLE on NYC Housing Law Basics for pro bono volunteers from Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP, Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP, and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP. Next week VOLS BLP will lead a CLE on SCRIE/DRIE Eligibility Benefits and Advocacy for nonprofit legal services organizations in the LEAP Coalition and conduct a rent freeze presentation and clinic in collaboration with Goddard Riverside and Con Edison.  

VOLS Immigration Project (IP) supported immigrant young people and their families, including new arrivals, throughout the month. This month we conducted a screening clinic through our partnership with Trinity Commons, supported by pro bono volunteers from Cooley. 


Recent Testimony

On Thursday, January 16, VOLS Immigration Project testified before the New York City Council Committee on Immigration Oversight Hearing on Protections for Immigrant Communities.


Save the Date: VOLS New York, Together 2025 Gala

Tuesday, April 22, 2025 | volsprobono.org/GALA2025


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