I am thrilled to announce that Peter Kempner will join VOLS as the Project Director of our Elderly Project on May 14th.

Pete comes to us with more than 16 years of experience providing legal assistance to low-income New Yorkers.  Currently, he is Director of the Veterans Justice Project and a Deputy Director of the Housing Unit at Brooklyn Legal Services (BLS), where he has worked since September 2001.  Under Pete’s leadership, BLS started a clinic at the Manhattan VA hospital staffed by pro bono lawyers. Before helping to found BLS’ Veterans Justice Project in 2011, Pete spent a decade as a Staff Attorney and Government Benefits Specialist in BLS’ HIV Unit representing clients who were HIV positive.  As part of this work, Pete worked with pro bono lawyers who drafted life-planning documents such as advance directives and powers of attorney.

Pete has extensive experience representing clients at administrative hearings and has litigated cases at every level of the New York State court system, from Small Claims Court to the Court of Appeals.  In addition to representing individuals, Pete has brought impact litigation, including Naser v. New York City Department of Consumer Affairs, in which plaintiffs succeeded in broadening the definition of disability the city uses to grant special vending licenses to include veterans with mental health disabilities.

Pete serves on the Advisory Committee to the Brooklyn Veterans Treatment Court and is a former Chair of the Social Welfare Law Committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York.  He is also an adjunct clinical professor at New York Law School.  Pete received his J.D. from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University in 2001, where he won the Charles H. Revson Public Interest Fellowship.  Before attending law school, Pete graduated with a B.A. from the State University of New York College at Purchase and received an M.A. in Political Management from George Washington University.

Please join me in welcoming this experienced and dedicated public interest lawyer to the team of experts at VOLS.

Sincerely,

Bill Lienhard,
Executive Director