New York, NY—The New York Legal Assistance Group (NYLAG) marked the one-year anniversary of Superstorm Sandy with a One Year Commemoration and Pro Bono Awards Reception, recognizing the contributions of the NY legal community in enabling the organization to continue its important work during and after the crisis.  Reflecting on the past year, NYLAG thanked Dentons and other New York firms for the extraordinary mobilization that allowed it to operate during the storm with minimal interruption to critical ongoing casework and to provide free legal assistance to over 5,500 disaster victims thus far in the twelve months since.  Dentons was honored for housing NYLAG personnel in Sandy’s immediate aftermath and for helping small businesses get back on their feet by volunteering lawyers to NYLAG clinics and other NYC organizations, such as the City Bar Justice Center.

During the storm, NYLAG’s headquarters in lower Manhattan flooded, shutting down communications and displacing hundreds of staff attorneys, paralegals, administrators and volunteers.  New York Litigation partner Sandra Hauser, New York Litigation managing associate Melanie McCammon and New York operations manager Diana Bezares were instrumental in quickly organizing the space, computers and administrative assistance at Dentons’ midtown office for NYLAG's Special Litigation Unit (SLU).  The Firm’s rapid response helped SLU get its operations up and running within 48 hours of Sandy’s October 29 landfall, enabling staff to seamlessly continue to serve their clients. 

NYLAG’s SLU works to ensure that vulnerable New Yorkers receive the government benefits and services to which they are entitled.  SLU also works to protect clients’ statutory and constitutional rights, initiating class action and other impact lawsuits on behalf of groups of individuals who experience a common problem resulting from a broad failure in the system.  Dentons and NYLAG’s SLU have been co-counsel on a class action litigation on behalf of Medicaid recipients in New York State for the past seven years, and the team was able to work seamlessly through this rough time period for NYLAG.  Through our successful joint efforts in impact litigation, hundreds of thousands of low-income New Yorkers have obtained and retained essential benefits and services.

Dentons’ contributions to NYLAG and the post-Sandy recovery continued long after the storm had passed.  New York Litigation partner Stephen Marshall led a large team of lawyers and paralegals that lent their time and expertise at NYLAG free legal clinics, including on the unique Mobile Legal Help Center, a legal services office and courtroom on wheels that brought lawyers to affected neighborhoods.  The Firm’s volunteer lawyers met the needs of small business owners by answering Sandy-related questions and helping them navigate their legal options in the wake of the storm. 

“We are grateful to Dentons and the entire New York legal community,” said Yisroel Schulman, NYLAG’s President and Attorney-in Charge.  "Their support made it possible for NYLAG to respond quickly and effectively to the legal needs of low-income New Yorkers at a time of unprecedented crisis."

A full year later, Dentons remains committed to recovery.  In October, with the assistance and support of Chicago Pro Bono partner Ben Weinberg, the New York office organized dozens of volunteers over four days to participate in several rebuilding projects with The New York Says Thank You Foundation (NYSTY), Dentons' long time pro bono and community service partner.  Our team worked on projects in the Rockaways section of Queens and in Babylon, NY, helping to rebuild homes of New York first responders (FDNY) in areas that still bear heavy scars from last year’s disaster.  Volunteers were mobilized by New York managing partner Bob McCarthy and Sandra Hauser, whose family started NYSTY in 2003.  

By helping NYLAG respond quickly and effectively to the legal needs of affected communities, the Firm fulfills its own mission of leading our peers in public service and commitment to pro bono work.  NYLAG’s award recognizes Dentons’ longstanding dedication to serving our community and pulling together in a time of crisis, either in the middle of one or one year later.

Information about NYLAG and its Storm Response effort

New York Legal Assistance Group (NYLAG) is a legal services organization that provides access to justice for low-income New Yorkers who cannot afford private attorneys. After the storm flooded the agency’s offices, law firms and donors across the city provided temporary office space and pro bono support. NYLAG’s legal service units were back up and running within 48 hours. NYLAG immediately reached out to legal services providers in Louisiana and Mississippi who shared their insights and lessons learned post-Katrina. With their help, NYLAG was able to train 100 of its own legal staff and subsequently more than 1,500 pro bono attorneys, including many from Dentons, on the basics of disaster law, using in-depth webinars and training manuals. Recently, NYLAG has been able to “pay it forward” by advising and training legal services groups in Arkansas and Colorado after natural disasters left their communities with similar immediate legal needs.

One year later, NYLAG’s specialized Storm Response Unit - with more than two dozen attorneys and other staff members, supported by the private bar - has helped over 5,800  storm victims, making it New York State’s major provider of legal services to Sandy victims. And their work is not over. Many Sandy victims still face multiple legal issues that are interconnected and complicated, with many cases taking months to complete, and some housing, foreclosure, insurance and other disputes potentially lingering for years before final resolution.

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