About The Committee
The 8th Judicial District Pro Bono Committee is part of the statewide initiative “ProBonoNY,” sponsored by the New York
State Unified Court System to encourage and help support attorneys’ pro bono involvement. The initiative was originally envisioned by Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye and organized under
the aegis of Hon. Juanita Bing Newton, Deputy Chief Administrative Judge for Justice Initiatives.
The Eighth Judicial District Pro Bono Committee was convened by Hon. Sharon S. Townsend, Administrative Judge, to investigate the unmet legal needs of low income people in the Eighth Judicial District, assess current available resources and to develop ways and means for encouraging more attorneys to do pro bono work.
The Committee is comprised of a cross-section of the District’s legal community, including private attorneys, members of the judiciary, the Unified Court system, pro bono programs and UB Law School faculty. The Committee’s goals are to establish an organized process to increase attorney pro bono involvement, connect volunteer attorneys with pro bono programs to receive pro bono case assignments, coordinate attorney and judicial training, inform the population about available legal resources and devise a system to measure the Committee’s impact on meeting the legal needs of the poor.
In order to implement the Committee’s goals, an Eighth Judicial District Pro Bono Coordinator has been hired on a contract basis through the Erie County Bar Association Volunteer Lawyers Project.
The Pro Bono Coordinator will work in close cooperation with the following pro bono programs to supplement and expand existing legal services to the poor by enhancing pro bono work being performed by private attorneys in their communities:
- Erie County Bar Association Volunteer Lawyers Project - primarily serving Erie County, but also providing additional limited services to other counties of the 8 th Judicial District
- Legal Aid of Chautauqua Region, Inc. - serving Chautauqua County
- Niagara County Legal Aid Society - serving Niagara County
- Oak Orchard Legal Services - serving Orleans, Genesee and Wyoming Counties
- Southern Tier Legal Services - serving Allegany, Cattaraugus and Chautauqua Counties
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