Recommendations for Strengthening Civil Legal Services and Access to Justice in New York City

SUMMARY

The Pro Bono and Legal Services Committee (Hamra Ahmad and Dara Sheinfeld, Co-Chair) issued a report to the new mayoral administration to urge robust support for pro bono civil legal services and access to justice initiatives. The Committee emphasizes that low-income New Yorkers face significant barriers when navigating complex legal systems without representation, particularly amid heightened federal enforcement priorities and ongoing post-pandemic recovery challenges. Although the City faces a budget deficit, the Committee argues that investing in legal services yields substantial economic and social returns by keeping families housed, preserving access to benefits, promoting racial equity, and strengthening the fair administration of laws and public programs.

The Committee also outlines several priority recommendations: directing resources toward immigration, housing, family court, domestic violence, incarceration, and consumer debt matters; expanding legal services for immigrants, including restoring and strengthening immigration representation programs; hiring Civil Surgeons within public health facilities to provide low- or no-cost immigration medical examinations; maintaining and expanding the right to counsel for low-income tenants and other civil litigants; and meaningfully collaborating with the existing pro bono and legal services community. The letter closes by expressing a desire to partner with the Administration to advance equitable access to justice across all five boroughs.

REPORT

REPORT BY THE PRO BONO AND LEGAL SERVICES COMMITTEE

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR STRENGTHENING CIVIL LEGAL
SERVICES AND ACCESS TO JUSTICE IN NEW YORK CITY

On behalf of the New York City Bar Association’s Pro Bono and Legal Services Committee, we write to introduce ourselves to Mayor Mamdani’s Administration (the “Administration”) and to share our policy recommendations regarding pro bono civil legal services and access to justice, many of which were reflected in the Mayor’s platform and have been discussed during the early days of his term.

As attorneys who work at public interest and pro bono legal services organizations, civil rights organizations, law schools, or who direct pro bono efforts at law firms and corporate legal departments, we write to express our hope that the Mamdani Administration will direct significant attention and resources towards addressing the civil legal needs of low-income individuals and families in New York City as the Mayor outlined during the campaign. When individuals are forced to navigate complex legal systems without representation, it is nearly impossible for them to experience a fair and just legal system, and the need for representation has become even more critical during the second Trump Administration. We support the Administration’s plans to prioritize access to justice and ask that the relevant agencies and governmental bodies strive to implement new and innovative policies and programs to ensure that all New Yorkers can access the protections and benefits of the law on equal footing.

Although we understand the current budget deficit presents a significant challenge, increasing funding and resources for legal services will generate economic benefits that far exceed the costs of providing such services. Reducing the number of unrepresented litigants by providing low-income New Yorkers with competent representation offers an exponential return on investment, as it can help to keep families together, in their homes, and receiving the benefits they need to thrive and contribute to the City’s economy. Increasing access to justice is critical to helping low-income communities that are still recovering from the pandemic, which disproportionately impacted the most vulnerable New Yorkers. It is also essential for advancing racial justice and ending systemic inequities, and for the fair and effective administration of our laws and public programs.

We respectfully urge this Administration to continue to keep these critical needs in mind as it begins to implement funding and programmatic priorities. In particular, we would like to highlight the following issues as priorities:

• Implement promised policy reform to prioritize directing resources toward issues affecting vulnerable communities – namely, immigration, housing, family court matters, domestic violence, incarceration, and consumer debt issues. Recognizing that these issues disproportionately affect communities of color, we urge the Administration to reform policies in a way that promotes racial equity in the law.
• Increase support and resources to low-income immigrants by expanding already-existing legal services for noncitizens and directing City agencies to seek to recognize and address the full range of legal needs immigrant communities face. This is especially true in the face of recent and planned cuts to essential programs for immigration representation, and especially the representation of children. We applaud the Administration’s considered approach to supporting this work as outlined in the Mayor’s platform memos. It is also important to address funding needs for immigration legal services, the consequences of closing the Asylum Application Help Center, and the continued growing need for experienced immigration practitioners.
• Hire Civil Surgeons to ensure low-income New Yorkers can apply for green cards in a timely manner or even at all. Our committee has a proposal, which we can share upon request, outlining this simple yet effective intervention. Borrowing the idea from other jurisdictions who have successfully created this model, New York City could have civil surgeons on staff at public health facilities who would complete the I-693 physical examination and application for free or a reduced fee for certain categories of immigrants. This simple and low-cost intervention could make a significant impact on the ability of New Yorkers to obtain greater immigration protections under the law.
• Ensure that New York City remains a leader in advancing the right to counsel for low-income civil litigants by continuing to strengthen and adequately fund the right to counsel for low-income tenants facing eviction, and by seeking ways to expand the right to counsel in other types of civil proceedings.
• Seek meaningful input and advice from the pro bono and legal services community so that we may offer input on how prospective policies across the City will impact the low-income communities we serve. Mayor Adams created an Office to Facilitate Pro Bono Assistance without consulting the already existing community of legal service organizations and law firms that are experts in this work. In addition to creating confusion for New Yorkers who were trying to obtain help from an agency that had no staff to give said help, there are ongoing concerns about how information is being kept confidential and protected by this agency. As such, we welcome the opportunity to meet and genuinely collaborate on how to use New York City’s robust pro bono community to support all New Yorkers.

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Thank you for considering our proposals and for the acknowledgment of the affordability crisis in New York City, which overwhelmingly impacts each client seeking civil legal services across all five boroughs. We welcome the opportunity to collaborate with the Mayor and the Administration to achieve access to justice for all New Yorkers.

Pro Bono & Legal Services Committee
Hamra Ahmad, Co-Chair
Dara Sheinfeld, Co-Chair

February 2026