City Bar Justice Center - City Bar Justice Center

2011 Refugee Assistance Highlights

Posted on January 27, 2012 by Administrator

In 2011, 28 individuals from countries including Chad, China, Colombia, Mauritania, Mexico, Nepal, Tibet, and Ukraine, were granted asylum or other immigration relief in the U.S. through the efforts of pro bono attorneys working with the Refugee Assistance Project at the City Bar Justice Center.

Two notable cases, on behalf of clients from the Ivory Coast and Mexico, illustrate the types of issues the Justice Center’s volunteer attorneys handle. Aileen McGill and Stephanie Teplin from Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP represented a young man who had fled Mexico after years of threats and violence due to his sexual orientation. The Patterson team was able to highlight the reality of cultural and social conditions in Mexico, in contrast to recent pro-LGBT legislative accomplishments that they argued are as yet only paper tigers, and win asylum for their client in October.

Morgan Clark, Kristin McNamara Pauley, Nicole Naples and Mei Lin Kwan-Gett from Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP represented a client who had been subjected to female genital mutilation as a child and fled the Ivory Coast to escape a forced marriage. Soon after arriving in the United States, she was diagnosed with HIV and then eventually AIDS. With the help of her Willkie team, the client was able to overcome a difficult 11-year filing deadline issue and win asylum in December.

Difficult Removal Cancellation Case Closed

Posted on January 19, 2012 by Administrator

As a child, Mr. Z had been abused, removed from his home by the Administration for Children’s Service, and endured homelessness. As a result of minor run-ins with law enforcement when he was a teenager, he was now, as an adult, facing removal from the United States to China, where he had not been since he was brought to the U.S. as a young boy. That’s when he came to the Varick Removal Defense Project at the City Bar Justice Center for help.

Andrew Kleiman and Garrett Wright of Proskauer Rose LLP took on Mr. Z’s case knowing that, although modest, his criminal history presented a substantial hurdle for his ability to remain in the United States. Their strategy focused on retaining an expert in trauma, who ultimately concluded that Mr. Z’s Post Traumatic Stress Disorder resulting from his childhood abuse contributed to the poor choices that led him to have contact with law enforcement. After nine months in detention, Mr. Z was granted cancellation by the immigration court.

“The team’s skillful preparation of witnesses, particularly in helping Mr. Z overcome his timidity to articulate his claim effectively, was remarkable,” said Barbara Camacho, Fragomen Fellow with the City Bar Justice Center. “There is no doubt in my mind that had their client been represented by less able attorneys, he would not have been granted cancellation.”

Posted in City Bar Justice Center | Tagged Andrew Kleiman, Barbara Camacho, City Bar Justice Center, Garrett Wright, immigration, Proskauer Rose LLP, Varick Removal Defense Project | Leave a comment

Emerging Issues with Trafficked Youth

Posted on January 12, 2012 by Administrator

The City Bar Justice Center’s Immigrant Women and Children Project, together with Greenberg Traurig and the New York Anti-Trafficking Network, hosted a panel discussion on National Human Trafficking Awareness Day, January 11, to highlight emerging issues with trafficked youth in New York City.

The discussion was moderated by Suzanne Tomatore, Director of the Immigrant Women and Children Project at the City Bar Justice Center. Featured speakers included Christa Stewart, Coordinator of Human Trafficking Programming and Supervisor of the Newcomer Transition Unit at the NYS Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance; Laura Matthews-Jolly, Equal Justice Works Fellow at the Immigrant Women and Children Project at the City Bar Justice Center; Jayne Bigelsen, Director of Anti-Human Trafficking Initiatives at Covenant House International; and Martina Vandenberg, Open Society Fellow.

The audience included many people from law firms, non-profit organizations, and both federal and NY state government. Speakers discussed a range of issues, including unmet legal needs, recent trends in trafficked youth cases, the role of service providers, and ways pro bono attorneys can address them.

From left: Suzanne Tomatore, Christa Stewart, Laura Matthews-Jolly, Jayne Bigelsen, Martina Vandenberg

January 11^th was designated National Human Trafficking Awareness Day by the U.S. Senate in 2007. The resolution was passed with the intention of raising awareness of, and opposition to, human trafficking. Additionally, President Obama has proclaimed January to be National Human Trafficking Awareness Month. In his White House Presidential Proclamation, he stated, “Throughout the month of January, we highlight the many fronts in the ongoing battle for civil rights—including the efforts of our Federal agencies; State, local, and tribal law enforcement partners; international partners; nonprofit social service providers; private industry and nongovernmental organizations around the world who are working to end human trafficking.”

Thus, throughout the month of January, Americans are urged to educate themselves about the forms, signs, and consequences of human trafficking and observe the month with appropriate programs and activities.

Posted in City Bar Justice Center | Tagged City Bar Justice Center, Equal Justice Works, Greenberg Traurig, Immigrant Women & Children, National Human Trafficking Awareness Day, National Human Trafficking Awareness Month, New York Anti-Trafficking Network, trafficked youth, trafficking | Leave a comment

City Bar Justice Center Releases Economic Empowerment Resource Guide

Posted on January 10, 2012 by Administrator

The City Bar Justice Center’s Immigrant Women and Children (IWC) Project has produced an Economic Empowerment Resource Guide, providing resource information for immigrant victims of violent crimes and low-income New York City residents in general. Topics covered in the guide include public benefits, job training and placement, employment agencies, personal finance, financial aid for higher education, and small business resources.

The Immigrant Women and Children Project (IWC), one of the Justice Center’s core initiatives, was launched in 1996 in response to new developments in immigration law brought about by the 1994 Violence Against Women Act. IWC has assisted hundreds of survivors of domestic and other violence with regularizing their immigration status in the U.S. In addition to immigration issues, IWC’s low-income clients often experience a range of challenging legal, financial, and personal problems, for which the IWC often refers them to other legal and social service organizations.

“We realized that a single resource compiling contact information for organizations would be extremely helpful for our clients,” said IWC Program Director Suzanne Tomatore. “Many of our clients are receiving employment authorization for the first time, or they or their children are interested in going to college or perhaps starting a business. In our work we have found many terrific programs that we would like to link our clients up with, and other service providers could benefit from this guide as well.”

The Economic Empowerment Guide can be downloaded here.

Posted in City Bar Justice Center | Tagged City Bar Justice Center, Immigrant Women & Children, Suzanne Tomatore | Leave a comment

Model Anti-Trafficking Legislation

Posted on December 15, 2011 by Administrator

Earlier this month, Suzanne Tomatore, Project Director of the City Bar Justice Center’s Immigrant Women & Children Project, attended a drafting committee meeting of the Uniform Law Commission (ULC).

Established in 1892, the ULC provides states with nonpartisan draft legislation designed to provide clarity and stability to critical areas of state statutory law. The open drafting process draws on the expertise of commissioners appointed by the states, and it also utilizes input from legal experts, advisers and observers representing the views of other legal organizations and interested groups.

Ms. Tomatore had been invited by the commission along with other experts in the field to observe a ULC committee that is working on model state anti-human trafficking legislation, which had been proposed last year by the ULC, and to participate in the process. The scope of the project is specifically focused on (a) human trafficking for sexual purposes, in which a sex act is induced by force, fraud or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform a sex act has not attained the age of majority, and (b) human trafficking in which force, fraud or coercion is used to obtain the labor or services of an individual under circumstances that amount to involuntary servitude.

Currently, 41 states in the U.S. have human trafficking laws. However, the quality and comprehensiveness vary from state to state. New York has one of the nation’s more comprehensive laws, which includes prosecution tools and victim benefits components, and which was recently further strengthened by a new law that allows victims of sex trafficking to vacate prior convictions if they can show they were trafficked into such criminal acts. Other states have little or no protections for victims.

The ‘reporter’ for the project is Professor Susan Deller Ross of Georgetown University Law Center, who is also the director of the International Women’s Human Rights Clinic there, where she has been working closely with her clinic students on this project. The committee members, observers, and advisers had a review period of some three weeks before attending the recent two-day meeting in New Orleans.

“The draft prepared for the committee was very comprehensive, and the work by Professor Ross and her students was a strong first step toward developing this important legislation,” said Tomatore, who, along with other commissioners, observers and advisers, was offered the opportunity to give line-by-line feedback on the 34-page document. “It draws from current state laws, model legislation drafted by other groups, and suggestions from prosecutors and victims’ advocates, and it includes many benefits for trafficking victims,” she said.

The committee will meet again in San Antonio in February to review the next draft, and next July at the annual meeting of the ULC. The overall process should take two years, after which the document will be released to the states for their consideration as uniform legislation to assist in the prosecution of offenders and improve the treatment of our nation’s trafficking victims.

Posted in City Bar Justice Center | Tagged City Bar Justice Center, human trafficking, Immigrant Women & Children, immigration, Suzanne Tomatore, Uniform Law Commission | Leave a comment

Justice Center’s Lynn Kelly Testifies Before New York City Council on Immigrant Detention

Posted on December 14, 2011 by Administrator

City Bar Justice Center Executive Director Lynn M. Kelly testified on December 13th before the New York City Council’s Committee on Immigration on the topic of “Oversight–Treatment of NYC’s Immigrants in Detention Centers.”

Kelly’s testimony was based largely on the Justice Center’s experience counseling detainees at the Varick Street detention facility beginning about three years ago, at a pro bono clinic set up by the Justice Center along with The Legal Aid Society and the American Immigration Lawyers Association. Since the closing of Varick in 2010, the project has adapted and, working with volunteer lawyers, the Justice Center has interviewed more than 400 detained New Yorkers and obtained the release and restoration to their families of more than a dozen.

“The Justice Center starts from the proposition that the biggest problem with immigration detention is the lack of counsel,” said Kelly in her submitted testimony. “To be clear, there is no right to government assigned counsel for anyone facing removal, including those with green cards (lawful permanent residents). According to a recent study by the Vera Institute of Justice, an immigrant with a lawyer who has been released from detention or never been detained has a 74% success rate in a removal hearing, compared to a dismal 3% success rate for immigrants who were detained and lacked counsel. Immigrants who obtain release are more likely to obtain their own attorneys so the goal should be to decrease the numbers of non-violent offenders who are detained and increase counsel for those who are detained, to ensure that all of their legal defenses are raised. In this regard, the recent city funding for additional immigration attorneys at the defenders and domestic violence programs is a very good idea.”

Kelly’s complete testimony can be read here.

Posted in City Bar Justice Center | Tagged City Bar Justice Center, immigrant detention, immigration, Lynn M. Kelly, New York City Council, right to counsel, Varick detention | 1 Comment

Whatever it Takes: A Legal Clinic for the Homeless Story

Posted on December 7, 2011 by Administrator

Lisa Pearlstein, Director of the Justice Center’s Legal Clinic for the Homeless project, met a new client named Karen and her six-year-old son at one of our clinics at a homeless shelter in September. Lisa learned that Karen’s son was severely autistic, and as a result was very difficult to keep safe when walking outside. Shopping for groceries was an impossible task for Karen, who needed to keep her hands free so she could grab her son if he began to bolt into the street.

Karen (left) with Lisa Pearlstein

Karen was told by her son’s therapists that Medicaid would turn down her request for a special-needs stroller because her son was “ambulatory.” It would have been a long, drawn-out fight with Medicaid over the matter.

Instead, Lisa applied to the Children’s Aid Society/NY Times Neediest cases fund on Karen’s behalf for the $500 heavy-duty stroller, as well as a list of toys that the boy’s occupational therapist had said would greatly benefit him.

The request was granted. “Karen picked up the stroller, and she is absolutely ecstatic!” Lisa said. “She left me five messages on my voicemail saying how happy she and her son are right now. She got me on the phone this morning, and she was crying. She does not fear for his safety. He enjoys riding around in the stroller. She can go food shopping.”

Children’s Aid/Neediest Cases paid for the educational toys as well, and that was just the beginning. Lisa teamed up with Cathleen Clements, Director of Legal Advocacy at Children’s Aid, to advocate for an immediate decision on Karen’s application for supportive housing based on her son’s other health issue, which is that he’s allergic to cockroaches found at many shelters, which triggers asthma. Lisa and Cathleen felt strongly that the City wasn’t moving fast enough while a child’s health was being compromised by his living environment. Through their efforts, the Department of Homeless Services approved the application, and Karen and her son will be moving into their own place very soon.

Posted in City Bar Justice Center | Tagged Cathleen Clements, Children's Aid Society, City Bar Justice Center, Legal Clinic for the Homeless, Lisa Pearlstein | Leave a comment

Reentering the Legal Field Through the Public Service Network

Posted on November 23, 2011 by Administrator

Lisa Peterson had been an Associate at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, and then served as in-house counsel to an adoption agency before leaving the practice of law for several years to raise her two sons.

Last year, ready to return to the law, she contacted the Public Service Network. An initiative of the City Bar Justice Center, the Network’s mission is to foster public service in the legal community by matching attorneys, law firms and corporate legal departments with legal and non-legal volunteer opportunities in the not-for-profit sector. Attorneys are drawn to the Network for different personal and professional reasons. For some, like Lisa, it offers a pathway back to legal practice after a hiatus.

After talking about her particular areas of interest with the Network’s coordinator, Lisa was presented with a customized list of organizations in need of a volunteer attorney. A Better Chance, an organization working to create educational opportunities for students of color, caught Lisa’s eye. The Network reached out to A Better Chance on her behalf, and Lisa was placed there as a volunteer.

Lisa now serves as volunteer general counsel for A Better Chance, working closely with senior management as legal issues arise in the development, programming and finance areas. The opportunity has allowed Lisa to regain her legal footing. “Even though I’d been out of the workforce for a substantial period of time, I came to A Better Chance with the imprimatur of the Network, and that made all the difference,” she says. “It opened the door for me to a wonderful organization where the work is always varied and interesting.” Appreciative of what the Network did for her, Lisa has since joined the Public Service Network Committee, eager to support its mission.

Since the Public Service Network’s beginning, over 1,000 attorneys have found meaningful public service work and gained valuable experience through The Public Service Network. The Public Service Network and the City Bar Justice Center invite attorneys and non-profits alike to contact the coordinator, Melissa Stanger, at 212-382-6759 or mstanger(at)nycbar.org.

Posted in City Bar Justice Center | Leave a comment

Justice Center Hosts Clinic for Claimants under Reopened 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund

Posted on November 16, 2011 by Administrator

Last week, the City Bar Justice Center hosted the first legal clinic for potential eligible claimants under the reopened 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund.

The Fund was reopened after President Obama signed into law the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010, reactivating the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 that operated from 2001-2003. Sheila L. Birnbaum was appointed Special Master of the reopened Fund by the Attorney General, to provide compensation for any individual (or a personal representative of a deceased individual) who suffered physical harm or was killed as a result of the events of September 11, 2001 or the debris removal efforts that took place in the immediate aftermath.

The City Bar Justice Center thanks the following law firms and corporate in-house legal departments for their support at the first clinic:

Bank of New York Mellon
Barclays Capital
Citigroup
Cleary, Gotlieb, Steen & Hamilton LLP
Cooley LLP
Crowell & Moring LLP
Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP
DLA Piper (US) LLP
Duane Morris LLP
Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP
Friedman, Kaplan, Seiler & Adelman LLP
Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP
Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP
Linklaters LLP
Reed Smith LLP
Ropes & Gray LLP
SNR Denton (US) LLP
Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP
Winston & Strawn LLP

Special recognition goes to Heidi Levine and DLA Piper (US) LLP for their involvement and support.

The next legal clinic for the reopened Victim Compensation Fund will take place at the New York City Bar Association on Tuesday, December 13, 2011 from 6:00-8:00 p.m.

Posted in City Bar Justice Center | Tagged 9/11, City Bar Justice Center, Heidi Levine, New York City Bar Association, September 11th Victims Compensation Fund, Sheila L. Birnbaum | 1 Comment

Justice Center Honors Winners of Third Annual Jeremy G. Epstein Awards for Pro Bono Service

Posted on October 25, 2011 by Administrator

At a ceremony Monday, the City Bar Justice Center honored the winners of the third annual Jeremy G. Epstein Awards for Pro Bono Service.

Richard Bernardo, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP; Sean Porter, Dechert LLP; Hugh Hill, Hogan Lovells LLP; Aviania Iliadis, Latham Watkins; Rene Kathawala, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP; Robert B. Fiske Jr., Senior Counsel, Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, keynote speaker; Samuel W. Seymour, President, New York City Bar

William Lang, Nixon Peabody LLP; Ben Kusmin, Cooley LLP; Kristopher Brown, Dechert LLP; Vasilios Angelos; Natalie Shimmel Drucker, Simpson Thacher/Goldman Sachs; Jay Holtmeier, Chair, City Bar Fund and Partner, WilmerHale; (not pictured: Deirdre Kessler; Jae Kim, Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP)

View more photos of the awards ceremony here.

Robert B. Fiske Jr. , Senior Counsel, Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, delivered the keynote address and Jay Holtmeier, City Bar Fund Board Chair and Partner at WilmerHale, presented the awards. City Bar President Samuel W. Seymour and Justice Center Executive Director Lynn Kelly provided introductory and closing remarks, respectively.

Jeremy G. Epstein , who passed away in May 2009, was a partner at Shearman & Sterling LLP and a board member at the City Bar Justice Center, The Legal Aid Society and the Fund for Modern Courts. He logged over 5,000 hours of pro bono and public service over the last 20 years.