VOLS Mission

2009 marks the 25th anniversary of  Volunteers of Legal Service (VOLS), which was founded on Law Day, May 1, 1984.  The mission of VOLS is to provide pro bono civil legal services to benefit poor people in New York City.  We identify areas of legal need, create projects to meet these needs, and recruit and train volunteer lawyers to provide the needed legal services. By providing pro bono legal services to poor people in our city, we strive to fulfill the highest aspirations of the legal profession.

2009 VOLS Program

Providing Lawyers to Serve Vulnerable New York City Populations

Children.
(1) Hospital-based Project. Volunteer lawyers, working with doctors and social workers, provide services to pediatric patients and their families on legal issues that have an impact on health outcomes; for example, working with landlords to eliminate asthma triggering conditions in the family home. Project sites are at New York-Presbyterian Hospital (Weill-Cornell Campus); New York University Medical Center; The Children's Hospital at Montefiore; Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of New York-Presbyterian; Harlem Hospital Center; Bellevue Hospital Center; and Metropolitan Hospital Center.

(2) School-based Project. In this project, VOLS matches law firms with schools to address civil legal problems facing families that threaten to disrupt the education of their children. For example, an eviction can lead to children having to withdraw from the school they attend, a calamity for the children and family. Five law firms are matched with five schools.

The Elderly.
Volunteer lawyers provide legal services to elderly poor persons living in Manhattan. Legal clinics are held at 11 senior centers and referrals come from an additional 80 agencies.

Claimants Denied Unemployment Insurance Benefits.
Volunteer lawyers provide pro bono legal services to claimants who have been denied unemployment insurance benefits.

Incarcerated Mothers.
Volunteer lawyers provide legal information to mothers at the city jail on Rikers Island, and at two state prisons, on issues relating to child custody and visiting issues.

Persons with HIV/AIDS.
Volunteer lawyers provide lifetime planning legal services to persons with HIV/AIDS at hospitals and at legal clinics based at community centers and poverty law office.

Low-Income Microentrepreneurs.
Assistance on business law issues is provided to low-income microentrepreneurs. Eighteen law firms are matched with economic development organizations throughout the city.

Outreach to the Legal Community

VOLS works with law firms to develop, or expand, pro bono programs. Forty-two New York City firms have taken the VOLS Pro Bono Pledge to provide annually at least an average of 30 hours of qualifying pro bono work per attorney. VOLS conducts an annual survey of pro bono activity by law firms. In 2008, lawyers at these firms performed 1,117,907 pro bono hours through participation in the projects of legal services organizations, including VOLS projects.  

VOLS participates in the preparation of these pro bono resources, available in print and on-line.

• "Pro Bono Opportunities: A Guide for Lawyers in New York City," undertaken with the City Bar Justice Center, and Pro Bono Net, and with the New York State Bar Association as a statewide resource, available online here.
  
  
• Law Help, www.lawhelp.org/ny, a comprehensive database of legal services for low-income New Yorkers, where VOLS serves as a member of the consortium that oversees this website.