Thank You to Our Volunteers at the September 7th Pro Bono Legal Clinic in Brooklyn

Thank you everyone for joining us at the Brooklyn Pro Bono Legal Clinic on September 7, 2024, co-sponsored by CPC-Brooklyn at their 4101 8th Avenue location. Thanks also to the following co-sponsors: Community Service Committee, Councilman Justice Brannan, State Senator Iwen Chu, Council Member Alexa Avilés, the Parent-Child Relationship Association, the South Brooklyn Community Coalition, Homecrest Community Services, the United Chinese Association of Brooklyn, New York Team Up, and the United Chinese Americans Organizations. We met 16 clients who had questions about real estate, consumer fraud, and immigration issues.  Hope you all had a wonderful time learning from one another and informing the community about current laws! 

During the pandemic, many people were experiencing difficulties in canceling their gym memberships. Even worse, some clubs would close with limited notice or no notice at all to their customers. Due to reports of deceptive practices in health clubs, the New York State legislature passed the New York Health Club Services Act in 2023 to protect consumers. One of our clients came in to discuss such deceptive practices and the sudden closure of a spa. Under this Act, to protect members who prepay for their memberships, health clubs must file a bond or other type of financial security with the Secretary of State in case the club closes:

  • Clubs must mention this bond in all their contracts and must post about the bond in their facilities.
  • Clubs do not have to meet this requirement if they do not offer pre-paid memberships, or if payments do not exceed $150, memberships do not exceed one year, and the contract does not contain an automatic renewal provision.

Any contract that does not comply with the New York Health Club Services Act is void and unenforceable. If the health club violated the act, the customer can sue in small claims court and seek treble damages and reasonable attorney’s fees. For information about small claims court, visit https://www.nycourts.gov/courts/nyc/smallclaims/index.shtml .

Thank you to the following volunteers:

Volunteer Attorneys
Anna Chen
Chenyi Wang
Francis Chin
Gary Yeung
Kwok Kei Ng
May Wong
Interpreters & Shadowers
Albert Tong
Chenyi Wang
Jaymark Hawlader
Junjie Wang
Nandar Win Kerr
Wendy Zeng
Xiang Li
Xing Yang

Thank you again and please join us at the next clinics:

Manhattan Pro Bono Clinic on September 18th, 2024 at AAFE Community Center, 111 Norfolk St, New York, NY 10002. Sign up here – https://forms.gle/SD2VMY8X6yE4vsxW9

Queens Pro Bono Clinic on October 2nd, 2024 at AAFE One Flushing Community Center, 133-29 41st Ave, 2nd Floor, Flushing, NY 11355. Sign up here – https://forms.gle/5PjG8A73EE1XENyV9

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