The Juvenile Rights Practice presented its third SOuL (Stepping Out of Line) Award yesterday to Judy Stern and Claire Merkine of the Stays and Writs Project and their supervisor, Judy Waksberg. The SOuL Award is given to a team or group that has truly stepped out of the box in provding service to our clients by thinking of new and creative ways to offer them legal or social service assistance.
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With a shared interest in the medical needs of adolescents, doctors from the Mount Sinai Adolescent Center participated in a unique specialized training program designed for lawyers of the Juvenile Rights Practice of The Legal Aid Society yesterday in the Stern Auditorium at Mt. Sinai.
Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman presented awards to 48 law firms, three corporations and approximately 300 lawyers during The Legal Aid Society's 2009 Pro Bono Awards and Law Firm Recognition ceremony at Espace on October 26, 2009.
Steven Banks, Attorney-in-Chief, participated in an important roundtable discussion on October 30 on the future of pro bono in New York City. Participants included Eve Burton, Hearst Corp.; Shayana Kadidal, Center for Constitutional Rights; Lynn Kelly, New York City Bar Foundation; Aric Press, The American Lawyers; Steve Reiss, Weil Gotshall & Manges LLP; Deborah Rhode, Visiting Professor at Columbia Law School; and Michael Rothenberg, New York Lawyers for the Public Interest.
Steven Banks, Attorney-in-Chief of The Legal Aid Society, told a special Senate hearing yesterday that the Governor's proposed $595,000 cut in the Assembly's State-wide civil legal services funding will have a harsh impact on low-income families and individuals in New York City who are already suffering in the midst of the most extreme economic conditions since the Great Depression of the 1930s. The special hearing focused on the proposed cut and the need for an IOLA bailout plan to address the dramatic drop in revenue in the Fund for civil legal services.