By MATT CHANDLER
mchandler@bizjournals.com | 716-541-1654

Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman will conduct four public hearings to assess the extent and nature of unmet civil legal services for low-income New Yorkers.

The findings of the hearings are intended to inform the state Legislature about the level of public resources necessary to meet those needs.

Lippman will hold one hearing in each of the four Appellate Division departments with the presiding justice of the Judicial Department, Chief Administrative Judge Ann Pfau and New York State Bar Association President Stephen Younger.

The hearing panel will consider both oral testimony and written submissions. Because of the limited time available for the hearings, oral testimony is by invitation only. Those interested in testifying at a hearing must request an invitation in advance.

For information on deadlines or how to request an invitation to testify or make a written submission, see the Web site of the Task Force to Expand Access to Civil Legal Services in New York at www.nycourts.gov/ip/access-civil-legal-services and click on the Notice of Chief Judge's Hearings link.

The hearing for the 4th Judicial District, which encompasses Western New York, will be held 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Sept. 29 at the Appellate Division, 50 East Ave., Rochester.

Karen Nicolson is CEO of Legal Services for the Elderly, Disabled or Disadvantaged of Western New York. She says her organization lost approximately $132,000 in funding last year, and she plans to attend the Rochester hearing to weigh in on the growing community need.

"We are really dependent on that funding because there is really no dedicated source of state funding for civil legal services," she said.

In anticipation of the funding cuts, Nicolson laid off staff from her organization last year. Now those cuts have forced the agency to eliminate handling the estimated 150 eviction cases the organization took on annually.

"Those people are seniors and they have nowhere else to go because all of the programs are making similar cuts, so it isn't as though they can be absorbed by someone else," she said.

Robert Elardo, meanwhile, is managing attorney for the Volunteer Lawyers Project, which relies heavily on paid staff to train and support the volunteer attorneys, as well as handle the overflow of cases that come into the office. The cases can be as many as 1,500 above and beyond what the volunteers handle.

"We're barely hanging on," Elardo said. "It continues to be a big problem, trying to get our funding from New York state. They are way, way behind in not only paying us, but in even approving contracts that are done and in need of a final signature."

He said the delays have left the VLP in a precarious situation. Though layoffs have been avoided so far, Elardo said he is unsure what the future holds without some new direction.

"It's looking at this point like we are going to take a 70 to 75 percent cut in funding (from two state grants)," he said, "which is going to be really, really bad."

The question remains to be seen whether the upcoming hearings will represent change or simply lip service to groups such as the VLP and Elderly Services for the Elderly, Disabled or Disadvantaged of Western New York.

"I'm optimistic, probably for the first time in my 10 years as director here," Nicolson said. "I think Judge Lippman really understands the issue, and he has made it a priority for his administration to address."