VOLS Monthly Newsletter


A Year of Change and Challenge

2025 was a year of change and challenge for the communities we serve. VOLS’ goal: stay steadfast in our mission of access to justice for every New Yorker. You are a partner in this vision.

We served over 6,400 New Yorkers. We traveled to New York’s prisons and jail to provide family law support. We helped older adults ensure medical wishes were respected and secured benefits that help meet basic needs. We supported children and families in crisis. We helped small business owners protect their livelihoods and empowered immigrant young people to navigate rapid changes. 83 law firms and companies partnered with our pro bono program. 1,800 pro bono volunteers said yes to being in our network.

Your personal commitment to the importance of free legal services strengthens VOLS’ programs. When you invest in NYC’s communities with a tax-deductible gift to VOLS, you help us to continue the work in 2026.

Thank you for your trust in VOLS.  

Happy New Year,

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

Ps – Like you, we believe New Yorkers deserves access to justice. Please make your contribution by Dec. 31. We can only do this work because of partners like you.

Give a Gift that Makes a Difference

Donate to VOLS in honor of someone special! Your recipient will receive a personalized e-card notifying them about your gift. Your gift helps New Yorkers access free civil legal services, when are where they are needed.


Remembering Sara Effron

The VOLS team was saddened by the passing of Sara Effron, a champion for pro bono and access to justice. Sara made an outsized impact on VOLS and the communities we support, helping to build the organization and our program over many decades. We were so pleased when she joined us last October to honor Bill Dean’s legacy at the VOLS 2025 Pro Bono Dean’s List Awards.


Welcoming New Board Member

VOLS is thrilled to welcome Michael T. Mervis, Partner, Proskauer Rose LLP, to our Board of Directors.


PLI and Community Training

VOLS IMLP Director Stephanie Taylor was a panelist at the Practising Law Institute’s “Ethical Issues in Pro Bono & Legal Services Representation” to an audience of 480 attendees. The program provided participants with a better understanding of the ethics issues that arise in the context of pro bono and legal services representation.

VOLS IP Director Keighly Newcomer was a guest lecturer at John Jay College of Criminal Justice: Visiting Voices of Migration. The presentation was offered in English and Spanish to a group of 20 students.

VOLS MEP Staff Attorney Nick Aquino co-authored “What Modern Microentrepreneurs Are Up Against—And How Lawyers Can Help“, in PLI Current: The Journal of PLI Press, Vol. 9 (2025), with Nadine Mompremier (Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP) and Andrea Tan (The Legal Aid Society).



December Project Updates

VOLS Benefits Law Project (BLP)’s Housing Court Benefits Initiative is underway. VOLS BLP has established a regular, monthly, presence in housing court. Our team is seeing housing court litigants to help prevent eviction by providing information and legal support on housing-related benefits. The team also gave presentations on the Housing Court Benefits Initiative to housing court judges and staff as well as pro bono attorneys from Goodwin Procter.

VOLS Incarcerated Mothers Law Project (IMLP) continued to provide in-person legal clinics for our incarcerated clients. We worked with pro bono volunteers from Dechert, Fried Frank, and Via Transportation, Inc. to provide family law education and counsel to clients at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility. Our team also held a legal clinic at Taconic Correctional Facility, joined by pro bono volunteers from Bloomberg, Davis Polk, Faegre Drinker, and Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton.

VOLS Senior Law Project (SLP) supported older adults with their life planning needs. This month the team held legal clinics and educational programs with community partners at Center on the Square, SAGE, and Spring Creek Senior Partners NORC in Brooklyn. SLP held a drafting and execution clinic with pro bono partners Bloomberg, Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, and held a virtual CLE training for attorneys from Bloomberg, Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, and Morgan Stanley.


Save the Date: VOLS New York, Together 2026 Gala


Support Us While You Shop

Looking for holiday cards, back to school stationery, and essentials? Enjoy 20% off Minted’s stationery and gifts when you shop using our exclusive discount code and Minted will donate 10% back to us. Use code: FUNDRAISEVOLS

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