From Humble Beginnings: Touro Law Center’s Clinics Provide Tremendous Service to the Community

By, Leif Rubinstein, Director of Clinical Programs

Touro Law Center, a pioneer in experiential learning, continues to expand its Clinical Programs to offer invaluable legal service to the community.  The Law Center’s Clinical Programs provide students with the opportunity to gain legal experience while learning valuable lessons about life and practice. Students work under the supervision of seasoned lawyers to learn lessons that simply cannot be taught in a classroom. The Law Center’s investment in its Clinical Programs has fostered its tremendous growth and success.  Over the past two years, more than 250 students have given in excess of 40,000 hours to serve others.  In this past year alone, the clinic serviced over 900 cases. This practical experience helps to prepare Touro students to be practice-ready attorneys. Simultaneously, the students are constantly reminded of the desperate need to serve those who would normally not have access to legal services because of financial difficulty.

The students in the clinics help clients from a plethora of backgrounds and family situations. The Immigration Law Clinic, for example, provides legal services to those who are attempting to start a new life in the United States. Faced with an influx of young children on Long Island, many of whom have emigrated from Central American Countries, the students in the Immigration Law Clinic help find these children an opportunity to legalize their residences in the United States, and ultimately change their lives.

As time marches on, the students, and practitioners that guide them, continue to help those affected by problems that many believe have past. For example, more than two years after Hurricane Sandy, students in the Disaster Relief Clinic continue to help those who lost their homes and are attempting to rebuild them. These clients still face obstacles to rebuilding, and the students work diligently to cut through bureaucratic red-tape and other barriers to rebuilding.  The effects of the mortgage crisis of the past are still being felt today, and Touro students in the Mortgage Foreclosure Clinic are working tirelessly to save their client’s homes. Often interrelated with the mortgage collapse is the increased need for our Bankruptcy Clinic. The Bankruptcy Clinic helps many of its clients, some who have lost their jobs as a result of the recession, start-over with a clean slate. An evening session of this clinic will be opened this fall semester.

The Family Law Clinic continues to expand, this spring the Clinic started an evening session.  Our evening students can now participate in the Family Law Clinic representing and advising litigants in the areas of custody and visitation, orders of protection, child support and divorce related matters.

The Veterans’ and Servicemembers’ Rights Clinic, has shown tremendous growth in the past two years.  Led by Associate Dean Ken Rosenblum, (an Army veteran), the students in this clinic display unparalleled dedication and compassion for the men and women who have served our country. The veterans who are assisted by the clinic seek help with a wide variety of legal needs. Some clients, for example require help with administrative military procedures, such as those seeking to upgrade their discharge. Other clients, for example need assistance with legal issues including tax matters, clearing driving records, or family law related issues. In many instances the client can be referred to another Touro Law Clinic.  This referral process promotes the spirit of collegiality among the clinic students.

Many of our students are interested in the criminal law programs.  Our clinics offer our students the opportunity to participate on both sides, working for the prosecution or for the defense.  The Prosecution Clinic works directly with the Suffolk District Attorney’s office and affords our students the opportunity to perform the duties of a Junior Assistant District Attorney in the District Court Bureau.  Students assist in prosecuting misdemeanor and lower level cases under the guidance of an Assistant District Attorney.  In the Federal Prosecution Clinic students participate in witness’ interviews, trial preparations, and civil depositions.  In the Criminal Defense Clinic, students represent low income defendants in the Brooklyn, Legal Defender’s Office assisting experienced defense attorneys in a various stages of the criminal process, from arraignment to trial.

Each clinic at Touro continues to grow and serve those most in need of legal assistance. The lessons Touro students learn through their experience in the clinic help them develop into practitioners who are keenly aware of the needs of others. These invaluable life lessons will serve the clinic students well when they become practicing attorneys.

Touro’s Disaster Relief Clinic Invited to Senate Panel on Hurricane Sandy Task Force Meeting

On April 28, 2015, the Disaster Relief Clinic traveled to Washington DC as they were invited to participate in the first meeting of the Sandy Task Force to examine problems within the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) arising in the wake of Superstorm Sandy and develop recommendations for short- and long-term fixes.

Members of the task force include the four Senators from New Jersey and New York, their staff, FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate, FEMA officials, outside experts, Sandy victims, and other stakeholders. Participating in the meeting were: Sens. Menendez, Booker, Schumer and Gillibrand; FEMA Admin. Fugate; Assistant Professor Benjamin Rajotte, Touro Law School (N.Y.); Executive Dir. Sue Marticek, Ocean County (N.J.) Long-term Recovery Group; George Kasimos, founder of Sandy victims’ advocacy group “Stop FEMA Now”; and Assistant General Manager Denise Neibel, Breezy Point (N.Y.) Cooperative.

Along with the Clinic Staff came two clinic students Whitney Steiner and Ambika Raghunandan, who were able to experience the Sandy Task Force meeting first-hand.
Ms. Raghunandan expressed that in the midst of all the chaos between Hurricane Sandy victims and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, there seems to be some hope for those that have been left homeless or those struggling to keep their home because they have depleted all or most of their savings in order to hold on to their property; or what is left of it. Recognition from both the Senate and FEMA proves that Touro Law Center’s Disaster Relief Clinic has played an important role in seeking justice for Sandy-affected homeowners and who have been inundated with circular answers to their concerns. We have hoped for this “meeting of the minds” to create a system that works for the people and the government in times of crisis.

Clinic student Whitney Steiner says her “trip to Washington D.C. with the Disaster Relief Clinic was by far the highlight of an amazing clinical experience.” “It is not every day you are handed the opportunity to meet four U.S. Senators, the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Administrator and Deputy Associate Administrator for Insurance, and several representatives from other nonprofit groups united in the common goal of resolving what many have referred to as the “storm after the storm.” The meeting itself was a true learning experience. Having spent the semester with the Clinic researching the issues discussed, looking for possible solutions, and assisting Sandy victims in a virtual tug-of-war over funds wrongfully denied, recouped, or in dispute with various parties, I was fascinated to see it fuse into one bitter-sweet conversation pushing towards a solution. Looking around the room, I saw mixed emotions such as tears streaming down victims’ faces, heads alternating between nods and shaking in disagreement, and occasional bursts of excitement as hope for relief seeped in.

I am not only proud and honored to have been a part of this experience, but extremely thankful that I was given such an opportunity. After spending a semester working with this group of individuals and seeing them in action during our trip to D.C., I can describe them as no less than assets to the Touro Law Center learning experience. It is her hope that the incoming Disaster Relief Clinic students will take advantage of opportunities such as this and have the chance to see that the hard work they do is worth the reward of helping those in need.

The Touro Law Disaster Relief Clinic at the first Sandy Task Force Meeting in Washington DC

JAG Captain Latshaw Talks Justice and Sexual Assault in the Military

United States Air Force Judge Advocate General’s Corps Captain Allison Latshaw, center, Assistant Staff Judge Advocate, 87th Air Base Wing, Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, visited the Touro Law Center Veterans’ and Servicemembers’ Rights Clinic on Tuesday, March 10 to discuss JAG and the military justice system, particularly recent changes in prosecuting sexual assault cases.

Back row L-R: Vets’ Clinic Director Ken Rosenblum, clinic students Stephani Schendlinger, Michael Bignami, James Lyons, Sura Sakran, Edward McIntyre, Anthony Avitable (Fall ’14) and Director of Clinical Programs Leif Rubinstein

Vets’ Clinic Visits New York Air National Guard

The Touro Law Center Veterans’ and Servicemembers’ Rights Clinic presented a briefing on veterans’ and servicemembers’ law, then conducted a legal assistance workshop at the 106th Rescue Wing, New York Air National Guard, at F.S. Gabreski Airport in Westhampton Beach on Friday, March 6. The men and women of the 106th deploy worldwide to provide combat search and rescue for U.S. and allied forces.

L-R: clinic intern Edward McIntyre; Clinic Director Ken Rosenblum; MSGT Robert Forrester ‘11, Law Office Manager, Office of the Staff Judge Advocate; and LTC Adam Feller, Staff Judge Advocate

 

Dr. Cohn Trains Clinic Students in Psychosocial Aspects of Lawyering

Dr. Elizabeth Cohn

On Tuesday, February 24th, Touro Law Center welcomed Dr. Elizabeth Cohn, a prominent expert in the field of public health and its intersection with emergency and disaster planning, elder law, and social justice to the law school. Dr. Cohn directs Adelphi University’s Center for Health Innovation, and has a background as registered nurse and as a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Nurse Faculty Scholar. She has been published in several peer-reviewed publications on these areas, and she generously shared important tools for how Touro’s Clinical Program can work with individuals and households going through grief or other difficulties. Four clinics, including the Bankruptcy Clinic, Veterans’ and Servicemembers’ Rights Clinic, Family Law Clinic, and Disaster Relief Clinic, took part in the training wherein Dr. Cohn engaged students in ways to effectively address psychosocial and other aspects of interviewing and counseling. This knowledge adds to their skills as student-lawyers in the Clinical Program, and as public citizens helping people navigate through difficult periods in their lives.

CBS Highlights Disaster Relief Clinic

Click here to view CBS New York’s coverage of the Disaster Relief Clinic’s fight to assist Superstorm Sandy victims.

Joan Clay Joins the Mortgage and Foreclosure Clinic

Please join us in welcoming Joan Clay as Practitioner in Residence for the Mortgage and Foreclosure Clinic. She will be teaching, supervising and mentoring students in the Mortgage & Foreclosure Clinic as they provide representation to Suffolk County homeowners facing foreclosure of their primary residences.      

“Joan Clay brings a wealth of practical knowledge as well as teaching experience to Touro Law Center. She is a welcome addition to our clinical team,” says Dean Patricia Salkin.

For nearly a decade, Joan was a partner in her Chicago law firm and specialized in Business and Real Estate Law. She also taught as an adjunct in the areas of Business, Civil Procedure, and Criminal Law at MacCormac College in Illinois. She is an accomplished litigator who has cultivated long-lasting client relations during her time in practice. Joan has also made significant contributions to the Chicago community by volunteering her time at the First Defense Legal Aid hotline and Chicago Volunteer Legal Services. Since 2005, Joan has litigated, mediated and arbitrated building code violations, mortgage fraud, and foreclosure matters such as modifications, short sales, and deeds in lieu of foreclosure.

Joan received her B.A. in Communications with an emphasis in Journalism from Loyola University of Chicago. She earned her J.D. at the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law and is admitted to the Bar in Illinois and New York.

Vets’ Clinic Student Mike Bignami Helps Get Vet Out From Under $147K Tax Bill

Michael Bignami, 2L

Congrats to Vets Clinic student Mike Bignami, whose research helped save a vet $147K in New York State taxes!  The clinic did an intake on a vet whose business failed in the early 1990s, leaving him in the hole for $147,000 in long-overdue NY State taxes. The state was threatening to put a lien on the vet’s bank account, even though now, over 20 years later, the vet is fully disabled, unable to work, and living on a small VA pension. Mike located the hard-to-find contact information for the New York State Taxpayer Rights Advocates, a small unit in the State Tax Department that is responsible for helping taxpayers avoid unfair burdens (http://www.tax.ny.gov/tra/). The vet was so anxious, he called back the next day, but the clinic hadn’t received his paperwork with info on the collection action, so Clinic Director Ken Rosenblum gave the vet the contact info Mike found, and told him to call directly. The vet called back the following day to tell us that the matter had been resolved! He said he called the contact number, and reached a sympathetic representative, with whom he arranged to make nominal payments when he was able – not even a regular payment schedule! The takeaway – what clinic students are doing makes a real difference in people’s lives – and the work does not have to be lengthy or complicated – sometimes the smallest and easiest things make the biggest difference.

Well done, Mike!

Suffolk County Veterans Treatment Court Staff Visits Touro

The staff of the Suffolk County Veterans Treatment Court (VTC) visited the Veterans & Servicemembers’ Rights Clinic Seminar on Tuesday, February 3. A key component of the VTC is the use of peer-to-peer mentors, veterans from the Suffolk County Chapter of the Vietnam Veterans of America who are paired with veterans going through the court, to help them navigate court procedures and comply with court-mandated treatment plans. The Suffolk VTC boasts a 97% success rate.

L-R: clinic students Michael Bignami and James Lyons; VA Veterans Justice Outreach Coordinator Eric Bruno; clinic student Stephani Schendlinger; peer-to-peer mentors Clarence Simpson and Adam Jankowski; clinic director Ken Rosenblum; peer-to-peer mentor Ralph Zanchelli; clinic student Edward McIntyre; peer-to-peer mentor Frank D’Averso; clinic student Sura Sakran.

 

Patience, Persistence, and Perseverance

By: Aidan Slevin, 3L

For those in the throes of foreclosure, the costs traditionally associated with seeking legal counsel are not an option. But with their homes on the line, they really cannot take the risk of trying to handle the situation on their own. Being part of a team at Touro that provided assistance to help people keep the houses they’ve worked so hard to own was a truly rewarding, albeit challenging, experience.

Aidan Slevin, 3L

Patience, persistence, and perseverance. This is the mantra of the Mortgage Foreclosure Clinic at Touro Law Center. We were reminded of the mantra every time we were in a flurry of frustration. Trying to coordinate calls and meetings with clients, banks and attorneys can wear even the most resilient of interns down. Thankfully, with our clinic mantra and the amazing support staff working at Touro, the Mortgage Foreclosure Clinic is able to help people stay in their homes every semester.

Student interns—Touro Law Students—contact the bank representatives, bank attorneys, servicing companies, and clients. We drafted and submitted legal documents, bank statements, and any other materials that were required. Oftentimes, materials went stale in the process and new forms were needed. The process could be frustrating. Mr. R is an older gentleman, and his family fell on hard times about five years ago and was forced to file for bankruptcy. Over the last few years, he did all he could to reinvent his credit and establish his family in their community. Approaching his mid-60’s, he was forced to retire from his job. Bills began to pile up again, and he came to Touro for help with a modification on his mortgage. The servicing company was evasive and demanded document after document. For months we worked with them, and Mr. R was always prompt with providing his documents and never failed to say, “thank you.” I called the servicing company three times a week for two months, and finally they told me that Mr. R had been approved for a modification. Better than that, the modification amount was something he could afford so he wouldn’t be forced to uproot his family. I called him with the good news; the excitement and relief I heard in his voice, and the kind words he said to me about how much I had helped them, made every phone call, email and fax worth it. We were patient, we were persistent, and we persevered.

The Mortgage Foreclosure Clinic is an amazing opportunity for any student looking to help the local community and gain invaluable real-world experience.