As New York faces a budget gap due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the state has delayed payments to non-profits who contract with the government. Kristin Brown, President and CEO of the Empire Justice Center, talked about the deepening financial straits her organization faces without this state funding.
LASNNY would like to welcome Joseph P. Orzechowski, Esq. as a Staff Attorney in our Low Income Taxpayer Clinic (LITC).
Joe assists clients with tax debt issues, penalties, notices, examinations, assessments, injured/innocent spouse applications, appeals and Tax Court litigation, among other things.
Joe has a B.A. in Economics and a B.A. in Psychology from the University of New Hampshire. He received his J.D. from Seton Hall University School of Law.
Prior to joining the LITC, Joe was a highly-ranked Appeals Officer with the IRS for ten years. Appeals Officers administratively adjudicate a taxpayer’s continuing objection (from a neutral and impartial perspective) to some IRS action or failure to act. Joe also spent four years with the Legal Aid Society of Suffolk County, NY in their Family Court Bureau and four years in private practice as a civil trial attorney. In his 20-year career as an attorney, he has made thousands of court appearances and conducted hundreds of trials.
Welcome to the LASNNY Team Joe!
To learn more about the LASNNY LITC program – go to https://www.lasnny.org/litc/
Every day brings stark news of how the coronavirus pandemic has worsened hunger in New York State. Because hunger will remain a challenge throughout the economic downturn, and increased effort needs to continue to enroll people in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). New York’s Nutrition Outreach and Education Program (NOEP) provides free, confidential services to help people learn about and apply for SNAP benefits. The Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York (LASNNY) works with SNAP and NOEP to service its clients, and New Yorkers are at risk due to the non-renewal of NYS contracts for SNAP outreach and application assistance through NOEP.
With unemployment skyrocketing, more people than ever will need to enroll in SNAP. NOEP services are integral in helping newly unemployed people successfully apply for SNAP, and requests for NOEP services have been increasing since the pandemic began, and are needed now more than ever. NOEP services across New York State are at risk and are currently scheduled to end on June 30th. LASNNY’s NOEP contract with Hunger Solutions NY serves six counties: Albany, Clinton, Fulton, Montgomery, Saratoga and Washington counties.
NOEP focuses on helping vulnerable populations such as low-income families, seniors, and people with disabilities, veterans, immigrant families, clients with Limited English Proficiency (LEP), and other underserved communities. NOEP Coordinators can tell you if you are potentially eligible for SNAP, answer your questions, and help you complete and submit your application. It is free and confidential.
Recent cases of LASNNY NOEP assistance include:
SNAP provides monthly benefits to spend at local grocery stores and farmers’ markets. People, especially those in vulnerable populations, may also use SNAP to shop for food online and have groceries delivered or picked up, to keep themselves safe during the pandemic.
When people go grocery shopping, they stimulate and support the economy. Every dollar in new SNAP benefits spent when the economy is weak, and unemployment elevated would increase the gross domestic product by as much as $1.80 for every new dollar in SNAP benefits during a recession. (USDA)
“NOEP keeps the most vulnerable New Yorkers fed”. said Deanne Grimaldi, LASNNY, Director of Development and Communications. “We hope that the Governor will release funding for NOEP. NOEP funding is a priority to meet people’s basic needs, and to stimulate the economy during and after the pandemic.”
We watched for two weeks after George Floyd was murdered…about two months after Breonna Taylor was murdered…four since Ahmaud Arbery was murdered. Almost four years after Philando Castile; eight after Trayvon Martin. Six and a half decades after Emmett Till. During this watch we steeped in anger, despair, disgust and sadness. We felt shame, fear, horror – we were both heartbroken and outraged. We mistrusted each other and those around us. We journaled, shouted out, organized, marched and protested, donated, wept and all the while, at work, we responded to deep injustice even in the midst of a pandemic.
We meditated and prayed, talked and shared, and now we write to express our ongoing commitment to the black people we serve, work with and partner with. The Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York stands with the Black Lives Matter movement. We believe that Justice Delayed Is Justice Denied. Justice requires an end to racism and the systemic structures, policies and laws that perpetuate poverty and racial inequity and endanger the lives of black people. We will use our talent and time to create a world free of systemic inequality and racist violence.
The Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York remains committed to:
Our mission embodies this commitment to a society which is inclusive and equitable for all. We will always use the law to “address individual and systemic wrongs and inequities” and to ensure fairness, dignity and justice for those living in poverty.
Legal Aid will continue to be an anti-racist law firm that embodies a compassionate, unconditional commitment to condemn police brutality against black and brown people, to stand alongside and behind the Black Lives Matters movement, and to persevere in ensuring justice for all.
This article was originally published by the New York Law Journal on June 4, 2020
Just as COVID-19 disproportionately impacts the health of the poor and minorities, so too it is giving rise to an unprecedented demand for legal services by those who cannot afford to pay for an attorney. These individuals require legal assistance for an ever-growing range of matters and disputes, at a moment in time when they (along with the rest of society) grieve over the death and despair caused by the crisis.
In response to this enormous challenge, the courts, organized bar and legal services organizations have acted swiftly and comprehensively. For example, the New York State Bar Association (“NYSBA”) is working in partnership with the state’s Uni?ed Court System, the Governor’s office, and legal service providers to ensure increased demand for legal services, especially among the poor and minorities, can be met as New York recovers. To this end, NYSBA has developed a statewide pro network of volunteer attorneys to meet the demand in those areas where the greatest surge in new cases is anticipated.
Currently, demand for legal help on unemployment-related issues has been an acute area of need. Many are daunted by the process and have turned to civil legal aid and pro bono attorneys for guidance. Some organizations have seen about three hundred percent or higher increase in volume covering a wide range of unemployment benefits issues. Common issues are eligibility determination and appealing denials.
The number of jobless workers has swelled during the pandemic to levels not seen since the Great Depression. Many people are already confused about how to access the myriad of state and federal public benefits, including stimulus monies, and interpret moratoriums that are essential to their shelter, health and well-being.
To address this need, NYSBA has established a program that matches volunteer pro bono attorneys with persons whose unemployment claims have been denied, through an innovative website. A similar program is being stood up to provide pro bono assistance for the families of those who lost loved ones, in small Surrogate Courts and estate matters. Nearly 1,000 attorneys have volunteered their time and expertise to these initiatives.
Of course, civil legal aid is the backbone and most critical component of New York’s efforts to provide justice for all. New York’s legal service providers’ budgets are based on as much as 70% of state funds to provide free services to low-income New Yorkers. Before the pandemic, these legal aid organizations were already unable to serve 61% of low-income New Yorkers who needed their assistance. As the fallout from the COVID-19 unfolds, we anticipate that the gap between those that need legal help, and those that can afford it, will dramatically increase.
Increased efficiency alone will be not be enough. With a projected $61 billion revenue shortage through 2024, New York needs the federal government to do its part in helping states recover by providing stimulus funding.
Even before the pandemic, legal services programs for low-income New Yorkers were stretched to the brink, where less than half the needs could be met. Post pandemic, any proposed cuts to these programs will disproportionately affect people in low-income communities holding high risk positions in health care, grocery stores, cleaning and delivery. Many of these people have gotten sick, lost their jobs or don’t make enough to support their families. When legal proceedings surge against frontline workers, New York state must ensure that their basic civil legal needs can be met.
Henry M. Greenberg, past president of the New York State Bar Association
Lillian Moy, executive director of the Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York
Over the past two weeks, judges, chambers staff and support staff in courts in the previously mentioned judicial districts−which have all met the Governor’s safety benchmarks−have been returning to their courthouses.
The goal of Phase Two is to safely increase courthouse foot traffic in a gradual manner, so that the Court can select matters that require an in-person appearance while continuing to maximize virtual appearances, as follows:
Steps implemented during this second phase to encourage physical distancing and reduce the number of people in any given room in courthouses include staggering case types, court calendars and courtroom use. During Phase Two, non-judicial staffing levels will minimally increase to support necessary administrative court functions as well as to provide support for the increase in foot traffic into the courthouse. Non-reporting court staff will continue to work virtually.
Phase One measures that will remain in place to protect the health and safety of judges and staff, attorneys, litigants and members of the public, include:
Individuals with court-related questions are encouraged to call their designated county courthouse.
Additional legal information and resources can also be found at the following websites:
For information and updates from the New York State Unified Court System on the coronavirus, please visit www.nycourts.gov or call the Coronavirus Telephone Hotline at 833-503-0447.
A Schenectady Supreme Court ruling will allow former St. Clare’s workers to speak in regards to a request that would dissolve the St. Clare’s pension fund, according to the Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York (LASNNY) who represent two St. Clare’s pensioners.
On May 8, a court blocked the corporation’s request for dissolution. The Attorney General’s office will be reviewing the case to find out if any laws were broken by the corporation.
Two more former employees have been allowed to join the lawsuit opposing the dissolution of the corporation that controlled the collapsed St. Clare’s hospital pension.
“We have two clients objecting. They are part of it now,” Victoria Esposito, advocacy director for the Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York said of Kelvin Isolda and Laurie Wasniski.
They are among more than 1,100 former hospital employees who were left with greatly diminished pensions or no pensions at all when the St. Clare’s pension fund dried up a decade after the hospital was absorbed by the larger Ellis Medicine group and closed.
Because St. Clare’s was considered part of the Albany Catholic Diocese, the hospital in the 1990s took advantage of a religious exemption that allowed it to stop paying insurance for the pension fund. But that meant it would be excluded from the federal Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. program. The Guaranty Corp. typically backstops, albeit at a discount, pensions that have run into financial trouble.
Legal advocates are expanding their reach in three rural upstate counties in the greater Capital Region to assist clients facing increased civil legal hardships because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Legal Aid Society for Northeastern New York launched an online assistance program Monday for potential clients in Fulton, Montgomery and Schoharie counties dealing with the coronavirus pandemic that has taken nearly 90,000 lives in the United States and more than 28,000 statewide.
Since the pandemic began, 43 percent of the client intake at LASNNY has been related to COVID-19, the society said in a news release.
“Our clients have no resources to fall back on during this dangerous time, and their access to food, shelter and health care was precarious long before the virus arrive,” the news release.
The new program, based out of the LASNNY office in Amsterdam, began just as judges in Fulton, Montgomery and Schoharie counties returned to their courthouses along with some members of their staffs.
Confusion over different Federal and State Eviction Moratoriums, court backlogs, and illegal evictions are discussed with Tara Glynn and David Crossman, Attorneys with North Eastern Legal Aid.
Reported by Michele Maserjian for the Hudson Mohawk Radio Network.
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