City Bar Justice Center

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The City Bar Justice Center, the nonprofit affiliate of the New York City Bar, seeks to increase access to justice for low-income New Yorkers by leveraging the resources of the New York City legal community.

The Justice Center provides legal assistance to over 25,000 clients annually by mobilizing and coordinating the activities of lawyers, law firms, corporate legal departments, nonprofits, government agencies, academic institutions and more.

In addition, the Justice Center works to educate the public and advocate for improvements in public policies to increase access to justice.

The Justice Center provides direct pro bono legal representation, information and advocacy on behalf of over 25,000 clients through projects focused in three areas: Immigrant Justice, Economic Justice and Family Justice.

The Justice Center also operates New York City's busiest legal hotline and, in collaboration with other legal services organizations, manages LawHelp/NY, an online, legal-information resource.

1 Immigrant Justice
2 Economic Justice
3 Family Justice
4 Legal Hotline: (212) 626-7383
5 LawHelp.org/NY
6 External links

[edit] Immigrant Justice

The Immigrant Woman and Children Project offers guidance for immigrant victims of domestic violence who seek freedom from their abusers and legal status in the United States. The Anti-Trafficking Project educates law enforcement, community-based organizations and NGOs about legal remedies available to victims of human trafficking.

The Refugee Assistance Project represents asylum seekers who have suffered torture and other forms of persecution in their home countries.

[edit] Economic Justice

The Neighborhood Entrepreneur Law Project provides legal assistance to low-income micro-entrepreneurs in the initial stages of structuring a company or strengthening an existing business.

The Consumer Bankruptcy Project advises low-income consumers of their rights and responsibilities regarding outstanding debts, assists self-represented debtors in filing Chapter 7 cases, and provides pro bono representation to debtors in contested matters.

The Elderlaw Project assists the elderly in connection with wills, living wills, health care proxies, powers of attorney, government benefits and consumer issues.

The Legal Clinic for the Homeless provides legal assistance and education to the homeless, and reaches out to individuals and families at shelters, drop-in centers and fair-hearing sites.

The Veterans Assistance Project provides help for veterans in the filing of disability benefit claims before the New York City Regional Office of the Department of Veteran Affairs.

The Reentry Project provides legal services to the formerly incarcerated who are victims of the hidden and collateral consequences of having a criminal record, such as job or housing discrimination.

The Cancer Advocacy Project provides cancer patients, survivors and their families with legal information and assistance related to discrimination in the workplace, health law, insurance issues, access to benefits and wills.

[edit] Family Justice

The Uncontested Divorce Project assists self-represented divorce seekers in filing for uncontested divorces.

The Contested Divorce Clinic provides consultations with experienced volunteer matrimonial practitioners for unrepresented litigants embroiled in contested divorce cases.

[edit] Legal Hotline: (212) 626-7383

The Legal Hotline offers legal information, advice, referrals and brief services to low-income New Yorkers who cannot afford a private attorney or do not have access to legal representation. The hotline hours are Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

[edit] LawHelp.org/NY

LawHelp.org/NY is an online resource providing low-income residents of New York State with information, links to social services and government agencies, and referrals to free legal services. LawHelp is a collaborative project of the City Bar Justice Center, Legal Services for New York City, Pro Bono Net, the Legal Aid Society, Volunteers of Legal Service, the New York State Bar Association, the Greater Upstate Law Project, the Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York and Legal Assistance of Western New York.