COLUMN
BY Sheila S. Boston
Greetings, my beloved New York City Bar Association community!
The New York City Bar Association was two months into commemorating its 150th anniversary when the coronavirus pandemic overran New York City. So much for looking back when so much is coming at us.
The City Bar’s leadership had to decide if and when to shut its doors. The decision was easy, and for a painful reason: One of the City Bar’s greatest assets, its magnificent House of the Association in midtown Manhattan, considered by many the ultimate destination for networking in the legal profession, would clearly also be an ideal networking venue for the coronavirus to super-spread itself. We thus closed our doors and went fully remote on March 19, partially re-opening in September on a limited basis by appointment only while most of our activity continues virtually.
& MARY MARGULIS-OHNUMA, POLICY COUNSEL
Jails and Prisons
In March, within days of the declared state of emergency in New York City and New York State, the City Bar issued a statement urging immediate steps to reduce prison and jail populations to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus among incarcerated people, corrections officers, and prison staff. The following week, the City Bar issued guidance for practitioners setting forth legal authority to release certain categories of incarcerated persons from local, state, and federal jails and prisons to prevent further spread of the virus. We also sent a letter to Governor Andrew Cuomo urging him to implement an immediate, one-time review of all elderly or infirm people currently serving sentences in New York State’s prisons and to consider sentence commutations for as many of them as possible, on an individual basis and subject to public safety concerns.
& MARY MARGULIS-OHNUMA, POLICY COUNSEL
Jails and Prisons
In March, within days of the declared state of emergency in New York City and New York State, the City Bar issued a statement urging immediate steps to reduce prison and jail populations to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus among incarcerated people, corrections officers, and prison staff. The following week, the City Bar issued guidance for practitioners setting forth legal authority to release certain categories of incarcerated persons from local, state, and federal jails and prisons to prevent further spread of the virus. We also sent a letter to Governor Andrew Cuomo urging him to implement an immediate, one-time review of all elderly or infirm people currently serving sentences in New York State’s prisons and to consider sentence commutations for as many of them as possible, on an individual basis and subject to public safety concerns.
Leveraging Pro Bono to Mitigate the Pandemic
In March 2020, when the pandemic swept through New York City, the City Bar Justice Center moved swiftly to a remote legal services model to continue serving clients during a time of unprecedented need. It also provided disadvantaged New Yorkers with a legal lifeline through the launch of three COVID-19 pro bono initiatives: the Legal Hotline COVID-19 Expansion, the Neighborhood Entrepreneur Law Project’s Small Business Remote Legal Clinic, and the Planning & Estates Law Project’s remote legal services for frontline healthcare workers. Within a few months, staff had recruited and trained over 1,000 attorneys who provided over 5,600 clients with critical legal assistance during the peak of the COVID-19 crisis through these initiatives. In addition to those generous volunteers, a fierce cohort of law firm and corporate legal departments partnered with the Justice Center to produce online trainings and education on unemployment, small business aid, and remote notarization protocols.
Leveraging Pro Bono to Mitigate the Pandemic
In March 2020, when the pandemic swept through New York City, the City Bar Justice Center moved swiftly to a remote legal services model to continue serving clients during a time of unprecedented need. It also provided disadvantaged New Yorkers with a legal lifeline through the launch of three COVID-19 pro bono initiatives: the Legal Hotline COVID-19 Expansion, the Neighborhood Entrepreneur Law Project’s Small Business Remote Legal Clinic, and the Planning & Estates Law Project’s remote legal services for frontline healthcare workers. Within a few months, staff had recruited and trained over 1,000 attorneys who provided over 5,600 clients with critical legal assistance during the peak of the COVID-19 crisis through these initiatives. In addition to those generous volunteers, a fierce cohort of law firm and corporate legal departments partnered with the Justice Center to produce online trainings and education on unemployment, small business aid, and remote notarization protocols.
Despite the COVID-19 public health crisis (and, in part, because of it), the New York City Bar Association’s criminal committees have been hard at work addressing criminal justice reform issues on multiple fronts. While these efforts focused on the pandemic in the spring, new (and not so new) issues came crashing into focus in the late spring and early summer.
Despite the COVID-19 public health crisis (and, in part, because of it), the New York City Bar Association’s criminal committees have been hard at work addressing criminal justice reform issues on multiple fronts. While these efforts focused on the pandemic in the spring, new (and not so new) issues came crashing into focus in the late spring and early summer.
The impact of the pandemic has been staggering for the communities served by the New York City Bar Association’s Office for Diversity and Inclusion. With Black and Brown students already in need of access to programming that would expose them to a range of career paths and mentorship opportunities, our signature pipeline program, the Thurgood Marshall Summer Law Internship, had to reduce its capacity substantially.
To continue to cultivate a sense of community among our network of volunteers and supporters throughout the summer, we issued a weekly Resource Roundup containing articles, webinars, and opportunities focused on racial justice education and COVID-19 topics.
The impact of the pandemic has been staggering for the communities served by the New York City Bar Association’s Office for Diversity and Inclusion. With Black and Brown students already in need of access to programming that would expose them to a range of career paths and mentorship opportunities, our signature pipeline program, the Thurgood Marshall Summer Law Internship, had to reduce its capacity substantially.
To continue to cultivate a sense of community among our network of volunteers and supporters throughout the summer, we issued a weekly Resource Roundup containing articles, webinars, and opportunities focused on racial justice education and COVID-19 topics.
The Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice this year launched a pioneering program promoting diversity and inclusion in the Latin American legal profession for Indigenous and Afro-descendent lawyers: TotalLaw Prep. It redresses the historical and current imbalance in opportunity for legal education and professional advancement for a significant portion of the population of many countries in the region.
With Brazil, Colombia, Peru, and Mexico alone having 27 million Indigenous people, the region overall is eight percent Indigenous; however they constitute 14 percent of the poor and 17 percent of the extremely poor. Higher education is particularly imbalanced: in Brazil, only 0.6 percent of the Indigenous population participates vs. 10 percent of the White population; in Mexico, only one percent of Indigenous youth attend university, of whom one in five graduates; in Colombia, 3.5 percent of the Indigenous workforce are professionals vs. 10.5 percent overall.
During the fall, the Task Force put on a five-part series on Preserving the Rule of Law in an Age of Disruption, featuring many of today’s leading legal analysts and commentators. We are pleased to make all five sessions available on video. You can find them, as well as all of the Task Force’s reports, here.
During the fall, the Task Force put on a five-part series on Preserving the Rule of Law in an Age of Disruption, featuring many of today’s leading legal analysts and commentators. We are pleased to make all five sessions available on video. You can find them, as well as all of the Task Force’s reports, here.
LAWYER ASSISTANCE PROGRAM
LAWYER ASSISTANCE PROGRAM
COLUMN
BY BRET PARKER
Justice Ginsburg’s powerful presence was rooted in her brilliant jurisprudence and in the cherished hopes that she represented for social equity, fairhanded justice, and progress. Her passing at such a trying time for these ideals has been difficult to bear. But Justice Ginsburg’s legacy is enduring. Her path-breaking legal career irrevocably broke barriers to gender equity in the legal profession and beyond, and she set a historic example in the pursuit of justice as a lawyer and on the bench.
The series regularly fills the Meeting Hall, but just as we started the 2020 Series, the City Bar had to close its doors due to the pandemic. Thanks to the speakers’ ability to pivot to a virtual format, the 2020 Series went on, and City Bar members and lawyers from the sponsoring firms attended the final three programs of the Series in record numbers.
Eric Friedman
Eli Cohen
Carrie Chatterson Studio
Arlene Bein 212.382.6685
Bret Parker
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