NEW YORK, May 22 (Reuters) - New York Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman on Tuesday created a 15-member task force to help
implement his proposal to require prospective New York lawyers
to perform 50 hours of pro bono work.
The panel will be co-chaired by Victoria Graffeo, an
associate judge on the state court of appeals, and Alan Levine,
a partner at Cooley and former chair of the Legal Aid Society.
Others named to the committee include Fern Fisher, the
deputy chief administrative judge for New York city courts;
Steven Banks, the attorney in chief of the Legal Aid Society;
and John Feerick, a former dean of Fordham University Law
School. The presiding justices of the state's four appellate
departments will also serve as ex officio committee members.
"Pro bono services are part and parcel of our legal
culture," Lippman said as he made the announcement at a
conference at Cardozo School of Law.
Lippman said the proposal, unveiled on May 1, is the first
of its kind in the United States. It would require bar
applicants to complete 50 hours of uncompensated legal work
before receiving a license to practice in the state. "The eyes
of the legal communities around the nation are on New York," he
said on Tuesday.
The committee will give recommendations to Lippman and the
four appeals court presiding justices, who head the committees
that approve bar admissions, on how best to implement the
proposal.
Among its areas of research will be how to structure student
pro bono projects, how to incorporate law school clinics and
other undergraduate and postgraduate programs into the pro bono
requirements, and how to add access-to-justice issues to law
school curricula.
The proposal has drawn praise from legal-service providers
and court advocates, but some have questioned whether it can be
deployed in a way that expands access to legal services while at
the same time giving would-be lawyers hands-on training.
"The challenge is to implement a pro bono program that's
both cost-effective and manageable but also a valuable learning
experience," St. John's University School of Law dean Michael
Simons said during a panel discussion following Lippman's
remarks.
The proposal is expected to add 500,000 hours to the 2
million hours of pro bono legal services donated each year to
help low-income people in New York state. Lippman estimated that
only 20 percent of the need for civil legal services -- things
like matrimonial and family court proceedings, consumer debt and
residential foreclosures -- are currently being met.
About 2.3 million individuals appeared without any
representation in civil legal proceedings before the state's
courts last year, according to a recent report from the Task
Force to Expand Access to Civil Legal Services in New York,
created by Lippman in 2010 to study ways to provide civil legal
services to low-income New Yorkers.
The committee will begin soliciting recommendations,
questions and suggestions in the coming weeks via the New York
state court system's website.
(Reporting by Jessica Dye)
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