NY State Legal Services Providers to Get $25 Million State Appropriation
By: Steve Grumm
Some good funding news for a change. According to Thomson-Reuters:
Nonprofit groups that provide free civil legal services to low-income people in New York have received twice the state funding they were awarded last year, state court administrators said.
At the request of Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman, state lawmakers this year doubled to $25 million total funding for the programs, court administrators announced on Tuesday. The programs have lost millions of dollars in federal and local funding over the last few years.
Judge Lippman has of late been getting a lot of press regarding the new rule which will require 50 hours of pro bono before one can be licensed to practice in New York. (Here is our super intern Maria Hibbard’s take on that.) But for a much longer stretch he’s been working tirelessly to support access to justice – and he’s backing it up with funding. This is great news for legal services providers – and perhaps also for law grads who may see more employment opportunities as a result of this cash infusion.