Closing the gap... volunteers needed

Closing the Gap is a partnership between the Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York (LASNNY), Legal Assistance of Western New York (LawNY), Volunteer Legal Services Project of Monroe County, Inc. (VLSP) and Pro Bono Net with the goal of closing the urban/rural gap in legal services in northeastern and western upstate New York using innovative technology and cross program collaborations. The first Rochester area attorney volunteers were trained earlier this month, earning free CLE credits through VLSP in exchange for taking a rural client assignment via webcam.

This program is focused on consumer debt and eviction cases, so in addition to logistics/computer
training, the pro bono attorneys receive training and support materials in these substantive areas.
The volunteer attorney can work from their home or office – wherever they have a computer with
internet access, a webcam and microphone. The video chat feature – they tell me it’s easy.

Because some of the cases require urgent attention (emergency evictions), it is helpful for a volunteer attorney to sign up for particular days to be on call.

The attorney will communicate via webcam with the client who will have a computer connection at one of the LawNY outlying offices (Bath, Elmira, Geneva, Ithaca, Jamestown or Olean).

To volunteer for this exciting new Closing the Gap opportunity, contact Scott MacPherson at VLSP:
smacpherson@vlsprochester.org.

Written by Nora A. Jones

Savage inequalities: landlord v. tenant

For me, the clipart above is iconic for someone who seems to hold all the power.
In the landlord-tenant relationship, that is often the landlord, and most clearly so when a petition for non-payment and petition to recover possession of real property is involved (a/k/a/ eviction notice). The landlord’s decision to put someone out on the street in 72 hours is often a last resort due to the financial stress of a non-paying tenant. The tenant generally is already feeling vulnerable because of loss of job or illness that he/she has no concept of how to negotiate for more time or partial payments. The already stressed tenant has another probable disadvantage: the landlord often has an attorney and the tenant does not.

That’s where the Tenant Town Court Program, staffed by attorneys volunteering their evening hours, can help tip the balance. An advocate for the tenant can suggest an extension of time both for back-payments and evacuation date. Giving someone 10 days to find a new place is always better than 3 days.

Attorneys at the Appellate Division, Fourth Department have been helping with these types of situations in Irondequoit Town Court since January 4, 2016. Maureen Gilroy says the experience has been rewarding.

“I cannot emphasize enough the amount of gratitude the tenants have expressed basically to just have someone on their side and to talk to.”

Gilroy negotiated almost four weeks for a tenant to find alternate housing, and Libbie DiMarco reviewed another tenant’s situation, negotiating with the landlord’s attorney for a reduction in back-owed rent and three weeks to find a new place.

“The tenant had no local family, she was originally from out-of-state,” DiMarco noted, acknowledging how harsh a 3-day eviction might have been.

Linda Kostin, Lisa Paine , Alan Ross, Michael Tuohey, Adam Oshrin, Brittany Jones, Craig Peterson, Kristin Dawson Henderson, Joseph Dinolfo, Christopher Larrabee and others have been attending Irondequoit’s Tenant Town Court sessions, helping more than two dozen tenants negotiate a more tolerable outcome than what they faced coming into court that evening.

This program is funded by a generous grant from The New York Bar Foundation.
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Written by Nora A. Jones