The Justice Action Center and the Office of Student Services cosponsored Public Service Day on Friday, September 28, 2007, in the Stiefel Reading Room at New York Law School. The event introduced students to various public service opportunities in the New York metropolitan area. The groups listed below partcipated in the event. Students interested in volunteering with any of these organizations are are invited to contact the organizations at the numbers and emails provided below.

Jump to: Brooklyn Bar Association | Citizenship Day | Court Interpreting Services, New York State Unified Court System | Domestic Violence (DV) Project | FoodChange (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program) | LawHelp | NYC Housing Court Volunteer Lawyers Project | Project FAIR | Public Interest Coalition | Public Service Corps/America Reads | Unemployment Action Center (UAC)

For photos from the event, click here.

The Brooklyn Bar Association invites students to get involved with their volunteer opportunities. For more information, please contact Jessica Spiegel, Pro Bono Coordinator, Brooklyn Bar Association, Volunteer Lawyers Project, Inc., by phone at 718-624-3894 extension 4.

Citizenship Day Training
For those of you who could not attend the live program on August 18, a training tape is available. You can watch the training tape and learn how to assist lawful permanent residents apply for naturalization. Once you have completed this training, you can participate in our upcoming Citizenship Day planned for October 13th. You will be paired with trained attorneys and assist individuals hoping to obtain United States citizenship. To get involved, send an email to immigration@nyls.edu, indicating your name, any foreign languages spoken, and whether you would like to help in preparations for the event, or participate the day of the event (Saturday, October 13th).

Coordinator of Court Interpreting Services, New York State Unified Court System
Voucher-paid interpreters are independent contractors, not court employees. The court system contracts with individuals on a per-diem basis, as needed, and pays a per-diem rate ($250 for a full day; $140 for a half day), to provide interpreting services when a court or judicial district does not have a staff interpreter available. To be eligible for assignment, interpreters must qualify for inclusion in the court system’s Interpreter Registry. More information is available at http://www.courts.state.ny.us/courtinterpreter/careers.shtml. Interested students should contact Sandra Bryan, Director, at sbryan@courts.state.ny.us.

A representative from New York Law School's Domestic Violence (DV) Project discussed the Courtroom Advocates Project (CAP), which enables students to participate in a range of legal activities, including interviewing, education, and direct in-court advocacy, while providing critical assistance to victims of domestic violence in New York City's most underserved boroughs. Students assist petitioners seeking orders of protection. The next CAP training will be at St. John's University on October 5th from 1 to 5 p.m. To get involved, contact any of the following individuals: Trisha Olson (tolson05@nyls.edu), Katie Leota, (kleota07@nyls.edu), Kathy Greenier (kgreenier07@nyls.edu), or Megan McDonald (Mmcdonald07@nyls.edy).

FoodChange
FoodChange offers free quality tax preparation services to low-wage New Yorkers to help them secure all the tax benefits to which they are legally entitled. More information can be found at the organization's website, www.foodchange.org. If you would like to volunteer, contact Jennifer Prissel, Director, Partnerships & Volunteer Services, FoodChange, by phone at 212-894-8070 or by email at jprissel@foodchange.org.

LawHelp – Improving Access to Legal Resources
LawHelp.org/NY is an online, legal-information clearinghouse that provides low-income people throughout the State of New York with referrals to free legal services, information about their legal rights, links to social services and government agencies, and information about the court system. For more information, contact Emma Greenwood (NYLS ’06), Consultant/Outreach Coordinator, at 212-382-6621 or egreenwoood@nycbar.org.

A representative from NYC Housing Court Volunteer Lawyers Project spoke about a new city-wide program they are running for law students. For more inforamation, contact Marcelle Brandes, Director, Volunteer Lawyers Project, NYC Housing Court, by phone at 646-382-5412 or by email at mbrandes@courts.state.ny.us.

Project FAIR is a collaborative, New York City-based project working towards greater economic justice for low-income and homeless New Yorkers. Project FAIR empowers individuals and their communities by increasing access to information about public benefits, rights in the administrative "fair hearing" process, and community services; by securing quality legal assistance for public assistance, food stamp and Medicaid recipients; and by serving as a resource for community organizers. Numerous NYLS students have volunteered with Project FAIR, and many volunteers have been able to represent individuals at actual hearings. For more information, check out their website at www.projectfair.org.

A representative from the New York Law School Public Interest Coalition discussed opportunities within the coalition to educate the community on public interest matters and raise money for student public interest fellowships.

A representative from Public Service Corps discussed opportunities for interns help to improve reading skills in NYC's youngest citizens through the "America Reads" federal literacy initiative. For more information or to get involved, please contact Terry Denson at 212-669-3655 or tdenson@dcas.nyc.gov.

A representative from the NYLS Chapter of the Unemployment Action Center (UAC) discussed opportunities available there. The UAC is a non-profit, student-run organization devoted to the representation of unemployment insurance claimants throughout New York City and Long Island. After training, students are directly responsible for advising and representing claimants seeking to secure unemployment insurance benefits. Full-time summer advocates are hired every year to continue their services.