Chief Judge Lippman Calls For The Expansion Of The Right To Counsel In Civil Matters; Making New York The Leader In A National Effort for Low-Income Individuals and Families

TUESDAY, MAY 04, 2010

In an unprecedented effort to provide the guarantee of a lawyer for low income New Yorkers in civil matters, Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman announced yesterday that the State's judiciary will lead an effort to ensure that protection "to bring us closer to the ideal of equal access to civil justice". Chief Judge Lippman will appoint a coalition of judges, legal service providers, law schools and bar associations to create a "comprehensive, multi-faceted, systemic approach to providing counsel to the indigent in civil cases.”

Steven Banks, Attorney-in-Chief of The Legal Aid Society, told The New York Times that Chief Judge Lippman's announcement is “a huge step” for the leader of the court system to endorse the idea that poor people had a right to a lawyer, whether they found themselves in criminal or civil court. Banks also discussed the effort on The Capitol Pressroom, an Albany radio show.

Read the full New York Times article.