Legal Referral Service, Assn. of the Bar of the City of New York Contact: Julie Anna Alvarez, Assistant Director Legal Referral Service Association of the Bar of the City of New York 42 West 44th Street, New York, NY 10036 E-mail: LRS@abcny.org This program was a winner of the 1997 Law Day Activity Awards. Activity Summary: A mobile van carrying volunteer attorneys visiting various New York City neighborhoods to assist residents by providing free legal information to the public (via free one-on-one consultations and myriad educational legal pamphlets) and acquainting people with their rights and responsibilities and how the law influences aspects of their daily lives. A program encouraging people to celebrate their freedoms under our nation's laws and delivering to them an easy way to educate themselves about the law and lawyers in an accessible, non-threatening atmosphere. Activity Narrative: The Legal Referral Service (LRS) of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York and the New York County Lawyer's Association, decided reaching the public effectively required a program extending "Law Day" into "Law Week." The LRS brought Law Day to 5 New York City neighborhoods April 29-May 4: Brooklyn Borough Hall, the Bronx County Building, Public School 124 in Manhattan's Chinatown, Queens Borough Hall and Woolworth's at 181st Street in Manhattan's Washington Heights. These sites are located in areas where the diversity of New York's population is fully reflected. The Borough Presidents of the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens and the Bar Associations of those counties all participated as co-sponsors with the LRS. Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani officially proclaimed it "Law Week." The LRS traveled in a rented van staffed with volunteer attorneys from the LRS Referral Panel and others invited, including the Asian American, Dominican, Puerto Rican, Hispanic National Bar, and National Employment Lawyers associations. The law and a positive image of lawyers was "delivered free of charge" by 93 volunteers. Free legal information and advice was dispensed in areas including consumer law, family/matrimonial law, immigration, criminal law, credit, employment, real estate, landlord/tenant law, elderlaw, civil rights, bankruptcy, small business formation and many other specialities. Copies of the U.S. Constitution and several thousand copies of nearly 200 different titles of printed educational pamphlets were distributed free. How Law Day Goals/Theme Were Addressed We addressed the ABA's "Celebrate Your Freedom" theme in various ways. The events promoted the concept that an informed citizenry is an effective citizenry via providing a wealth of information to law day visitors through: one-on-one consultations with attorneys discussions with the volunteers the myriad educational printed materials distributed The LRS also supplied voter registration forms at each site. Many of the volunteer attorneys practiced in areas that directly or indirectly touched upon constitutional issues related to clients' personal dilemmas and questions such as criminal law and employment discrimination. The many clients who received information regarding immigration law and citizenship perhaps provide the best example of those who deeply understand the need to celebrate the freedoms available in America and who are eager to embrace what our nation's laws represent to them as a new way of life. The accessibility of lawyers, the resolution of disputes via peaceful means and education about one's rights and responsibilities under the law were all elements promoted. Going to neighborhoods where average people were able to explore legal issues helped the public to develop a new appreciation of freedom under law. Impact Statement The Law Week events were attended by over 1850 people, with over 500 being assisted via one-on-one consultations. The co-sponsoring Borough Presidents' Offices, other elected officials and community offices publicized the event to their constituents via flyers, press releases and verbally through ombudsmen's offices. Woolworth's placed flyers in customer's shopping bags and flyers were posted in some of the neighborhoods. Events received the following media exposure: (as noted by clients on their intake sheets): the New York Post, NY1 News TV's Community Bulletin Board, radio stations, the New York Daily News, Newsday, Co-op City Times, TV's Eyewitness News, Parkchester News, Brooklyn Heights and Park Slope News, Sing Tao News, World Journal, Ming Pao, and the New York Law Journal. Media coverage of the actual Law Week events was provided by: the New York Law Journal, Ming Pao, The China Press, Sing Tao, Sinovision TV, Queens Counsel News, and the 44th Street Notes newsletter. PARTNERSHIPS & POTENTIAL The LRS forged cooperative partnerships with all the co-sponsoring bar associations and Borough President offices mentioned above in order to reach the communities that most needed the assistance. For many of these groups it was the first time that a Law Day event was held jointly and actually addressed the needs of the public rather than being limited to lawyers making formal speeches. The collegiality developed via focusing on helping people has built professional bridges that will allow for positive future collaborations. We strengthened our prior relationship with Woolworth's and generated interest from other "community hub" stores who would like to sponsor educational events for their community. For example, Goodwill Industries has proposed a collaboration. Most importantly, our proving for a second year that the Law On Wheels project is workable and reaches a large segment of the public, has generated interest from the co-sponsors to hold more of these types of events. Several corporations and grant sources are currently exploring the possibility of funding the purchase and outfitting of a permanent van for the LRS so that the public can benefit on a continuing basis from Law On Wheels. Sample Programs Home | By Audience | By Location | By Sponsoring Organization