AABANY’s Monthly Pro Bono Legal Clinic at Asian Americans for Equality, a walk-in free legal service service given the second Wednesday of each month, was recently featured in the Chinese-language newspaper Sing Tao on July 17, 2016. Their coverage includes a photo with Pro Bono & Community Service Committee Co-Chair June Lee and quotes from our Pro Bono & Community Service Committee Co-Chair Samuel Lui. See below for the gracious summary translation of the article by Sam himself.
We actively encourage our members to volunteer for these Chinatown free advice clinics as attorneys or translators. Please contact June Lee at [email protected] to sign up for the next clinic. Be a part of our efforts to give back to the community.
The AABANY legal clinic that began in November of last year at CCBA (Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association) has moved to AAFE at 111 Division Street, New York, NY.
“We wish to get more volunteering lawyers, and we want to expand our service to serve small business in the near future,” said Pro Bono Committee Co-Chair Sam Lui.
Sam Lui states that the attorneys volunteered their own time on the second Wednesday of the month to help people with their legal issues. The clinic was moved from CCBA to AAFE because the demand for legal services is great, and the public usually comes after work hours. Since CCBA ends its business hours around 5pm, AAFE can better accommodate the public needs. The clinic is from 6:30pm to 8:30pm. Legal areas covered include, but are not limited to, housing (SCRIE, DRIE) and other areas that are important to the community.
“The level of attendance dropped when we first moved here, but it is starting to rise again,” said Sam Lui.
“Generally, we get about 6 to 8 volunteers for each clinic. We hope that the clinic will serve not only Chinese-American but the public in general. Also, there are small business advocacy groups that expressed desire for similar clinic; and it is our aim to serve them in the near future.”