By the numbers…

While most of us have been distracted by the single digit numbers on the thermometer to start 2018, the VLSP offices have been tracking the incoming donations for the 2017 Campaign for Justice. With 81% of goal recorded, the actual dollars needed to make the $270,000 goal hovers around $51,000.

Many of the individual donations to date are from lawyers who also donate pro bono hours to VLSP over the course of a year. Some of the dollars came from young attorneys who participated in this year’s Law Firm Challenge where 202 young attorneys raised $9,466.68 in a special 3 weeks competition in November. The average “under-40” donation was $46.86. Ten of the 20 participating law offices had 100% participation by the age-eligible attorneys.

“Now that we’ve had a break in the weather, I hope to see more activity around incoming pledges,” noted VLSP’s Executive Director Tina Foster.

The start of a new year is also a great time to review some of the civil legal services available through VLSP, the Legal Aid Society of Rochester, and LawNY -- which utilize the campaign dollars.

The 7 th Judicial District Court Help Center just marked its fifth anniversary, with annual traffic to this community resource hitting 3,600 last year. That surpassed the 2016 total of Help Center requests by 750.

The Family Law and Custody Clinic is held about 20 times a year, and VLSP staff attorney Mary Beth Conway typically places about 115 cases with volunteer attorneys each year—in addition to matters handled at the clinics.

The Federal Pro Se Assistance Program is committed to two sessions per week in the Rochester location as it approaches its one-year anniversary since launched last February. In the course of 2017, the PSAP served approximately 73 pro se litigants in Rochester’s U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York.

More numbers next time…. Let’s focus on the $50k needed to complete the Campaign for Justice.

Written by Nora A. Jones