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Volunteer Program Descriptions

VOLUNTEER LAWYER FOR THE DAY PROGRAM (VLFD)
Housing VLFD (New York County Only)
Volunteer attorneys provide limited representation for unrepresented landlords or tenants in their nonpayment cases in the Housing Court’s Resolution Part. The representation begins and ends the same day. This project is conducted in partnership with the Association of the Bar of the City of New York.
Contact: Azeeza Tropea
(646) 386-5428
email: VLFDHousing@courts.state.ny.us
website: http://nycourts.gov/courts/nyc/housing/vlfdhousing.shtml

VOLUNTEER LAWYER FOR THE DAY PROGRAM (VLFD)
Civil VLFD
Volunteer attorneys will provide limited representation for unrepresented consumer debtors in Civil Court. Volunteer attorneys will represent litigants in vacating default judgments and during settlement negotiations. This program is soon to be launched in partnership with NY Appleseed and New York County Lawyers Association.
Ameela Mohamed
(646) 386-5420
email: VLPcivil@courts.state.ny.us
website: http://nycourts.gov/courts/nyc/civil/vlp.shtml

VOLUNTEER LAWYERS PROGRAM-(VLP)
Housing VLP and Civil VLP
Volunteer attorneys provide advice to self-represented Housing Court litigants and Civil Court Consumer Debt litigants under the supervision of the Civil Court’s Help Center Court Attorneys. Volunteer lawyers meet with unrepresented litigants on a walk-in basis in the Court’s Help Centers. This is an advice-only project. Volunteer lawyers do not represent the litigants in court or file papers on their behalf. The Housing VLP operates in all counties of New York City, with an additional site for the Housing VLP in the Harlem Community Court. The Civil VLP operates in New York and Kings Counties only.
Housing Court Contact: Azeeza Tropea
(646) 386-5428
email: aztropea@courts.state.ny.us
website: http://nycourts.gov/courts/nyc/housing/vlp.shtml
Civil Court Contact: Ameela Mohamed
(646) 386-5420
email: amohamed@courts.state.ny.us
website: http://nycourts.gov/courts/nyc/civil/vlp.shtml

GUARDIAN AD LITEM - Housing (GAL)
The Civil Court’s GAL Program recruits, trains, and supervises a pool of GALs who are appointed by Housing Judges to advocate on behalf of mentally or physically impaired litigants facing eviction in landlord-tenant cases. Attorneys and non-attorneys are eligible to participate.
Nyiela Ayub
(646) 386-5429
e-mail: GALcivil@courts.state.ny.us
website: http://nycourts.gov/courts/nyc/housing/GAL.shtml

FAMILY COURT VOLUNTEER LAWYER PROGRAM
Volunteer lawyers provide legal advice on support, paternity, custody,visitation, family offense and guardianship matters to unrepresented litigants in Family Court.
Contact: Rosina Taffuri, Court Attorney, at (646) 386-5127
e-mail: RTAFFURI@courts.state.ny.us

UNCONTESTED DIVORCE PROGRAM
UNCONTESTED DIVORCE PROGRAM
While under the supervision of the Supreme Court’s Help Center’s Court Attorneys, volunteer attorneys will assist unrepresented litigants in the preparation of uncontested divorce papers to enable them to accomplish divorce through the State Supreme Court. Volunteer lawyers do not represent the litigants in court or file papers on their behalf.
Contact: Baila Kamman, Esq. (New York County)
email: bkamman@courts.state.ny.us
or
Noreen Soto-Fier (Kings County)
email: nsoto@courts.state.ny.us

FORECLOSURE VOLUNTEER LAWYER PROGRAM
(Queens County Only)
Volunteers provide legal advice on foreclosure issues in Supreme Court Help Centers under the supervision of the center’s Court Attorneys.
FORECLOSURE VOLUNTEER LAWYER FOR THE DAY (VLFD) (Queens only)
Volunteer Lawyers provide limited-scope representation in foreclosure conferences. The lawyer will represent the client in all aspects of the conference including negotiating settlement of the action. New volunteers or those with limited time may also choose to serve only as a guide during the conference (i.e., explaining the process) and would not actually participate in the negotiation of the settlement.
Contact: Tracy Catapano-Fox, Esq.
Court Attorney at (718) 298-1100
email: TCFox@courts.state.ny.us

RESOLUTION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM - Housing (RAP)
Started in 2007, The Civil Court recruits, trains and supervises volunteer law students and college students to accompany self-represented housing litigants at their court appearances. The RAP students provide support and encouragement to the litigants to voice claims and defenses during negotiations with attorneys, and in settlement conferences before Judges and law clerks. A major goal of this program is to encourage an unrepresented litigant to settle his or her case with court assistance instead of negotiating with an attorney without court assistance when the litigant is encountering difficulties in a negotiation. Volunteers do not interject into either a conference or a negotiation. Volunteers in this project also explain courtroom procedures and available resources to aid litigants with their cases. This program is currently running in every Housing Court except Harlem.
Robert West
(646) 386-4205
email: RAP@courts.state.ny.us
website: http://nycourts.gov/courts/nyc/housing/rap.shtml