It’s almost 5 p.m. Monday at the Irondequoit Public Safety Building and I am directed into Room B where volunteer attorneys from the NYS Appellate Division, Fourth Department are checking in with VLSP staff attorney Karen Chung to learn about the issues that brought numerous tenants to Town Court this evening.
Since January 2016, Alan Ross, AD4th Deputy Court Clerk, has worked behind the scenes to ensure VLSP has attorneys to staff the Tenant Town Court Program twice a month. From the Office of Attorneys for Children, Linda Kostin also helps recruit volunteers, facilitating training and collaboration for new law clerks cycling through the Fourth Department.
John T. Ryan
and Gabriela Wolfe are both on two-year assignments as court attorneys, Ryan
starting last August, and Wolfe now in her second year.
Ryan, who spent
two years as an associate at a small firm before coming to the Appellate
Division noted, “In tenant court, there is no time to make sure you are perfect
on the law, it is about understanding your client’s situation and finding a
solution that works best for them.”
Wolfe, a 2016
Syracuse Law graduate, added: “I have participated approximately 5 times and
always come away feeling as if I have directly and positively impacted
someone’s life. It can be challenging to
meet and represent a client within such a tight timeframe, but it is certainly
worth the almost palpable look of relief on the faces of those clients I am
able to help.”
Nicole Thompson is finishing her
Monroe Community College Paralegal Certification program and is volunteering
with VLSP to meet the pro bono requirement of her legal certification program. She’s quick to greet clients looking for help
and gets their basic information collected on some forms on a clipboard.
“I plan to come back and volunteer in the
future,” Thompson said.
Once clients
were all checked in Thompson had the opportunity to observe Linda Kostin’s
discussion with a client about a payment schedule for overdue rent. Kostin and the attorney for the landlord were
able to negotiate a settlement with payments spread over several weeks. The court accepted their terms and eviction
was avoided.
This particular
Monday evening there are four tenants seeking relief from imminent
eviction. Most hinge on money owed. The problem is, most tenants do not know
their options or how to go about negotiating a payment plan the landlord will
accept.
“Most clients
don’t know what their options are, and having a volunteer attorney walk through
the choices goes a long way towards calming the panic a notice of eviction puts
into people,” VLSP attorney Karen Chung explained.
Additional
attorneys from the Appellate Division who currently volunteer for the program
include Michael G. Paul, Michael Tuohey, Lisa Paine, Adam Oshrin, Joe Dinolfo,
Kristen Henderson, Kristen Warner, Erin Sanger, Cory Schoonmaker, Jon Caterero,
Michael Staszkiw, and Maria Gaige.
Because many of
the court attorneys involved are on two-year assignments at the Appellate
Division, reinforcements have been needed at times to meet client needs. That’s where Nixon Peabody, LLP came to the
rescue on several occasions. Special
thanks to Darren Miller and Daniel Brennan for responding to the plea for help.
Written by Nora A. Jones
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