Tag: legal services

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AABANY Members: Pro Bono Opportunity – Help Close Civil Justice Gap through New York State Attorney Emeritus Program (AEP)

AABANY encourages its members to become involved in the New York State Attorney Emeritus Program (AEP) this year. The AEP is an initiative of the New York State Unified Court System to promote pro bono civil legal service by senior attorneys. AEP, endorsed by Chief Judge Rowan D. Wilson, presents a substantive opportunity for AABANY members to give back and look out for its New York community.

AABANY recognizes the importance of pro bono legal services to ensure fairness in our courts and assist individuals who cannot afford lawyers. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, New York’s civil justice gap has grown significantly, leading to increased demand for civil legal services in areas such as housing, consumer debt, unemployment benefits, and family law. Through the AEP, senior attorneys who volunteer will provide vital access to justice for New Yorkers facing essential life challenges. 

To volunteer, AEP seeks lawyers aged fifty-five or older, retired or still in practice, in good standing, and with ten years experience. Attorney Emeritus volunteers commit to performing 60 hours of pro bono work with an approved legal services organization or court program over the two-year attorney registration period. 

Attorney Emeritus volunteers also receive benefits including up to 15 CLE credits and special recognition from Chief Judge Rowan D. Wilson and Deputy Chief Administrative Judge Edwina G. Richardson-Mendelson.

More information on the AEP or to volunteer, it can be found at https://feerickcenterfordham.galaxydigital.com/

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In the News: AABANY Connects Fung Family with Pro Bono Legal Services to Assist Baby Faye who Suffers from Inoperable Brain Tumor

On April 13, 2023, State Senator Iwen Chu invited AABANY and other community leaders to join a press conference to bring attention to the Fung family, who faced many hardships when their 9-month-old daughter Faye was diagnosed with an inoperable optic-chiasm tumor in her brain when she was only three months old.

The bureaucracy of multiple agencies denied Faye and her family critical support on numerous occasions. However, with the help of AABANY’s Pro Bono and Community Service Committee, the Fung Family was connected with Yen-Yi Anderson whose firm, Anderson & Associates, provided pro bono services to the family and established a trust to help pay for Baby Faye’s medical and other needs.

At the press conference, AABANY Co-VPPO Beatrice Leong, and Board Liaison to the Pro Bono and Community Service Committee, spoke about AABANY’s mission to help the Asian community for the past 34 years, and our monthly pro bono clinics. Various Chinese newspapers were there, including World Journal and Sing Tao.

If you would like to donate to help the Fung Family with Faye’s medical bills please click here.

We thank Anderson & Associates for their pro bono legal services. We also acknowledge Yen-Yi Anderson for volunteering to serve as Co-Chair of the Solo & Small Firm Practice Committee during the 2024 Fiscal Year.

Here is an article in BKReader about the Fung Family and Baby Faye.

Here is an article in the World Journal about the Fung Family and Baby Faye

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NAPABA Partners with New Initiative to Combat Anti-Asian Violence

For Immediate Release: Date: April 15, 2021

Contact: Priya Purandare, Executive Director

NAPABA is proud to join the newly established Alliance for Asian American Justice (“The Alliance”) as part of a coalition of leading AAPI advocacy organizations, Fortune 1000 General Counsel, and over 40 law firms in a national initiative designed to ensure that victims of anti-Asian crime, hatred, and bigotry are able to access pro bono legal services. The work of The Alliance leverages NAPABA’s existing intake efforts on hate crimes and hate incident reporting, and bolsters NAPABA’s leadership in providing victims, community based organizations, and community leaders with the information they need, in the language they understand, through its groundbreaking collection of hate crimes reporting toolkits, which were developed in partnership with the APIA Health Forum and translated into 24 different AAPI languages, the largest collection of its kind. For more on The Alliance, please click here.

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The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) represents the interests of approximately 50,000 legal professionals and nearly 90 national, state, and local Asian Pacific American bar associations. NAPABA is a leader in addressing civil rights issues confronting Asian Pacific American communities. Through its national network, NAPABA provides a strong voice for increased diversity of the federal and state judiciaries, advocates for equal opportunity in the workplace, works to eliminate hate crimes and anti-immigrant sentiment, and promotes the professional development of people of color in the legal profession.

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Stand With Us and Support the Pro Bono Clinic on GivingTuesday, Dec. 3, 2019

Happy Thanksgiving!

GivingTuesday is being held this year on December 3. It is a global movement that began in 2012, and the idea behind it is simple: Do good and help transform your community with your generosity. During this holiday season, we ask that you support our Pro Bono Legal Advice and Referral Clinic, a project of the Asian American Bar Association of New York (AABANY) and the Asian American Law Fund of New York (AALFNY).

The Pro Bono Clinic began in December 2015 and has since served thousands of low-income clients facing various legal hardships. The Clinic has been held in Manhattan’s Chinatown on the second Wednesday of each month since that time. The success of our Clinics in Manhattan has led to an expansion into Brooklyn, which started this fall on a bimonthly basis. We work with local elected officials and community organizations to reach Brooklyn’s Asian American community and draw upon the expertise and language skills of AABANY’s active and diverse membership to serve them. Clients have been coming not only from the five boroughs but from as far as Yonkers, Long Island, New Jersey, and Connecticut.

Our Clinics provide high-quality legal services that are culturally sensitive and linguistically competent. Language and culture pose serious barriers for low-income Asian American community members to receive reliable legal advice. Our Clinics help community members overcome these barriers and seek to widen their access to justice. The Clinics now include mental health professionals and benefits counselors to help community members with their non-legal problems.

Hundreds of volunteers have dedicated thousands of hours for the Pro Bono Clinics. Month after month, they freely donate their time, expertise and legal knowledge to help community members who otherwise would not get the help they need.

Our Pro Bono Clinics can only continue to operate with the generosity of our donors. In September, we announced our goal to raise $25,000 to support the Clinic’s growing operations. We ask that you stand with us and support this vital project. Help us not only to reach our goal of raising $25,000 — through your donations on GivingTuesday – but exceed it! Your donations will support our ongoing expansion efforts and pay for much needed administrative support and supplies.

To make it easier for our members and our community to donate to the Pro Bono Clinic, you can text APAPROBONO to 44321 on your phone. That will send you to our Give Lively page, and you can follow the simple instructions there to make your contribution. You can also donate via the AALFNY website at https://www.asianamericanlawfund.org/donate/ (make sure to indicate that you are donating to the Clinic). Any amount, large or small, will go a long way towards helping us meet our $25,000 goal.

With our best wishes to you all during this holiday season,

Karen Kithan Yau
Pauline Yeung-Ha
Judy Ming Chu Lee
Asako Aiba
Co-Chairs, AABANY Pro Bono and Community Service Committee

A copy of AALFNY’s latest annual report may be obtained from AALFNY at  [email protected] or from the NY Attorney General’s Charities Bureau website www.charitiesnys.com. Information may also be obtained from the NYS Attorney General at 212-416-8686.

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Hurricane Irma Resources

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Dear colleagues, 

Our thoughts and prayers are with the communities across Florida, the Southeast, and the Caribbean impacted by the devastation left by Hurricane Irma.

NAPABA and our Florida affiliates, the Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Tampa Bay, the Asian American Bar Association of South Florida, and the Greater Orlando Asian American Bar Association are working with community leaders to assist with the recovery and support the Asian Pacific American and other communities.

To assist attorneys and community members find resources and information for the Asian Pacific American community, we have updated our Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma disaster relief toolkit to direct you to information and opportunities to engage with legal services organizations.

Requests for legal assistance should be directed to Florida’s Disaster Legal Services hotline at 1-866-550-2929. We encourage Florida barred attorneys to sign up to provide pro bono services for this program—sponsored by the American Bar Association and the Florida Bar—by clicking here.

I am heartened by the response of the legal community to support those affected by these recent disasters during the long recovery process. Together, we can continue to represent our profession’s highest values and serve those in need.

Sincerely,

Cyndie M. Chang
NAPABA President 2016–17

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NAPABA Opposes Proposed Elimination of Funding to the Legal Services Corporation

For Immediate Release
March 16, 2017

For More Information, Contact: 
Brett Schuster, Communications Manager
[email protected], 202-775-9555

WASHINGTON — The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) strongly opposes the elimination of federal funding for the Legal Services Corporation (LSC) as detailed in President Trump’s proposed Fiscal Year 2018 budget. The LSC was formed with the critical mission of ensuring that all citizens have equal access to civil legal services and the justice system — regardless of their ability to pay for counsel.

“We call on Congress to reject this proposal and increase funding for the Legal Services Corporation,” said NAPABA President Cyndie M. Chang. “As Congress has recognized in a bipartisan manner, the LSC plays a critical role in ensuring access to justice for individuals of all backgrounds, regards of their ability to pay. Asian Pacific American attorneys work for legal aid programs funded by the LSC and engage in pro bono community assistance programs that have their roots in the LSC. Most significantly, the elimination of funding means that the most vulnerable in our country would not receive critical legal assistance.”

Each year, LSC assists 1.9 million families across the country in every state in our nation. Clients of legal services organizations represent all ethnicities and ages, including those who are limited English proficient, immigrants, the working poor, veterans, people facing foreclosure or evictions, families with children, farmers, people with disabilities, domestic violence victims, natural disaster victims, and the elderly. Without the strong support of civil legal aid, these individuals would be faced with the prospect of appearing in court alone and representing themselves, without the assistance of counsel.

NAPABA stands with other bar associations (including the American Bar Association), over 150 major law firms, and countless advocates who have spoken out on the importance of adequately funding the LSC. NAPABA strongly supports the LSC and efforts to provide legal assistance to vulnerable populations.

For more information, the media may contact Brett Schuster, NAPABA communications manager, at 202-775-9555 or [email protected].

The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) is the national association of Asian Pacific American attorneys, judges, law professors, and law students. NAPABA represents the interests of almost 50,000 attorneys and approximately 75 national, state, and local Asian Pacific American bar associations. Its members include solo practitioners, large firm lawyers, corporate counsel, legal services and non-profit attorneys, and lawyers serving at all levels of government.

NAPABA continues to be a leader in addressing civil rights issues confronting Asian Pacific American communities. Through its national network of committees and affiliates, NAPABA provides a strong voice for increased diversity of the federal and state judiciaries, advocates for equal opportunity in the workplace, works to eliminate hate crimes and anti-immigrant sentiment, and promotes the professional development of people of color in the legal profession.

To learn more about NAPABA, visit www.napaba.org, like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter (@NAPABA).

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An Open Letter from the MinKwon Center

An Open Letter from the MinKwon Center

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
November 18, 2016                       

For more information, contact:

James Hong

718.460.5600
[email protected]

Dear Friends, Allies and Community,

For decades, the MinKwon Center has fought for those oppressed and marginalized in society.  Today, our mission to empower our community takes on an unprecedented urgency.

  • Legal services and consultation for immigrants regarding their status will continue.  If you are undocumented, contact us immediately to see if you are eligible for a visa or other form of relief.  This includes anyone currently with DACA.
  • DACA recipients with expirations in the next 6 months should contact us immediately, to process a renewal.  We have begun offering additional clinic days to process these applications.
  • We are preparing know-your-rights workshops on protecting yourself when approached by immigration enforcement officials.
  • The Asian American Dreamers Collective, our undocumented young adult group, is convening special meetings and events for Dreamers to share a space of grief, pain and to respond together.
  • MinKwon is strategizing with our allies in the non-profit, government and philanthropic world on how to respond to a federal government hostile to immigrants in a way not seen in generations.

We are here to help, assist and empower the community.  As an organization committed to immigrants, the MinKwon Center is renewed in its sense of mission to serve the urgent needs of the vulnerable, and to give a voice to the undocumented, low-income, limited English proficient, and Asian Americans who are now at even greater risk.
 
This is not a time to stay silent, nor to accept what is happening to our family members, friends, neighbors, or co-workers.  It is a time for action, and we invite you to join us.
 
Contact us if you have questions, need assistance or would like to volunteer.  Our number is 718-460-5600.