Summer 2009 (Downloadable PDF)

The Legal Project

Pro Bono Corner
Lisa A. Frisch, Executive Director

Congratulations also to the wonderful award winners! We were thrilled to see several of our fabulous pro bono attorneys receive well-deserved recognition for all of their service to the CDWBA and to the community! And we were especially delighted to see our very own Katie Weinberg be awarded for her incredible work, every single day, with domestic violence victims who come to us for help, often in great distress. Katie has a very special, gentle way about her when helping the victims who call us and we appreciate her more than she knows! Thank you, Katie!

Katie Weinberg, Legal Services Coordinator

We also have several upcoming free CLE training programs for pro bono attorneys that we are cosponsoring with Legal Aid of Northeastern New York and the Albany County Bar Association. On September 17th, we will be holding a training on Pro Bono Wills and Estates with presenters Anne Reynolds Copps and Meg Reed and on September 25th, we will be providing a training for pro bono bankruptcy representation with Judge Robert E. Littlefield, Michael J. O’Connor, Anthony Arcodia and Marc Ehrlich presenting, also co-sponsored with the Capital District Bankruptcy Bar Association. Please contact Gina Marie at gcannistraro@legalproject.org for more information.

Some Good News: The Legal Project Receives a $25,000 Matching Grant for Domestic Violence and Immigration Assistance

Our donor has asked us to raise an additional $50,000 as a match to his grant. We have already raised half of the match through other foundation grants to date in 2009—from the Barry Gold Memorial Fund of the Community Foundation of the Capital Region and from the New York State Bar Foundation, for which we are very grateful. Given the uncertainty of state and IOLA funding, the support that we receive from the community is even more critical. Please consider making a donation to The Legal Project, of whatever size, toward our match. Every dollar that is donated will make a tremendous difference in our ability to help others in our region. You can send your tax deductible donation to our address at Stuyvesant Plaza, 1475 Western Avenue, Albany, NY 12203 or donate on line at www.legalproject.org. If more people do this right now, we will make our match without asking you to stretch your budget at a time when it may be particularly challenging. Thank you in advance for your generosity and support!

Meet the Legal Project Staff: Natalie Birch

Natalie Birch is our new bi-lingual Legal Services Coordinator, specializing in outreach to the Hispanic Community and working on domestic violence immigration issues. Natalie writes about her background: “Having recently arrived in Albany and back in the United States after seven years overseas, it is a privilege to form part of the Legal Project team as a Spanish Speaking Legal Services Coordinator. I received my B.A. in Cultural and Social Anthropology from the University of Barcelona, Spain, and am currently completing a Masters in Human Rights and Democracy from UOC, Spain. Growing up in ten countries has given me a special interest in people from different cultural and social backgrounds. My professional experience has included work with both women and children in domestic violence situations; the resettlement of refugees; the design and implementation of the Student Intercultural Project for the IESE MBA University; and European Projects financed by the European Commission, including the coordination of a two year project with partners in four different countries including local and national Governments, NGO’s and Advocacy groups focusing on the research and application of good practice with Roma, this project resulted in the publication of the Good Practice Guide for Roma in Europe and a final presentation in the European Parliament in Brussels.”

New York State Budget Update

The budget process is at the end, and we want to thank all of you who reached out to your Legislators and the Governor in support of Civil Legal Services funding. The end result was relatively positive, considering the economic climate. The Assembly, who have long been our friends in legal services, reinstated their legislative funding in full. The Governor did put $1 million in his 30 day budget amendments, only one of two amendments he did for the entire budget, so that sent a positive message. The Senate is in the process of putting funds in place to “match” the Assembly support, and the formulas for distributing these funds are in development. We are grateful to our many supporters in the Legislator who helped maintain at least a portion of the funding for civil legal services in one of the most challenging fiscal times we have experienced. Locally, we send our sincere thanks to Senator Neil Breslin, Assembly Marjority Leader Ron Canestrari, Assemblymen Jack McEneny and Robert Reilly for their critical support. As always, we send our special thanks to Assemblywoman Helene Weinstein, who has long spearheaded the support of the Assembly for our funding statewide and was tireless this year in her efforts to keep our funding issues in the forefront. There is much more work to be done to put in place a more appropriate and consistent funding mechanism for our work across the state, and we will keep you informed in the efforts to avoid more scrambling in next year’s budget process to better ensure that our essential programs receive the support that is vital to our services.

Legal Project Featured on Schenectady Today!

Host Ann Parillo, Lisa and Michelle Wildgrube on Schenectady Today on June 3, 2009 as Non-Profit of the Month

Thank you for volunteering in May and June!

14th Annual Pro Bono Reception

We will be holding our Pro Bono Reception on Thursday, October 22, 2009 at the NYS Museum, and will be having a wonderful auction, several raffles and for the first time, a live auction with celebrity auctioneer, Susan Arbetter from WMHT! We are seeking items for our auction, so if you have any wonderful items that you would be interested in donating, please contact me at lfrisch@legalproject.org. We also have underwriting and advertising opportunities and would welcome new members of our Honorary Committee for the event. Especially this year, the proceeds are critical to helping support our domestic violence civil legal services program!