Closing the Justice Gap

Photo: Fordham Law School Professor and Dean Emeritus Matthew Tiller addresses the Chief Judge’s Civil Legal Services Hearing at Court of Appeals Hall in Albany. On the panel are (L-R) Presiding Justices Elizabeth Garry and Dianne Renwick, Chief Judge Rowan Wilson, Presiding Justices Hector LaSalle and Gerald Whalen, and New York State Bar President Domenick Napoletano.

September 16, 2024
Court of Appeals Hall, Albany

Low-income New Yorkers and vulnerable communities continue to face serious barriers accessing the civil justice system. Hon. Rowan D. Wilson, Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals and the State of New York, presided over a statewide public hearing on September 16, 2024 to evaluate the unmet civil legal services needs in New York and assess ways to reduce the state’s civil justice gap. Chief Judge Wilson was joined on the panel by the four Presiding Justices of New York State Supreme Court’s Appellate Division, Hon. Dianne T. Renwick, Hon. Hector D. LaSalle, Hon. Elizabeth A. Garry, and Hon. Gerald J. Whalen, along with Chief Administrative Judge Joseph A. Zayas and New York State Bar Association President Domenick Napoletano. The hearing was held in person at the Court of Appeals—New York’s highest court—in Albany and livestreamed.

During the hearing, individuals, organizations, and other entities presented testimony regarding the current scope of unmet civil legal services needs in housing, consumer debt, family and other essential matters; the economic and social consequences of insufficient civil legal services; the justice barriers facing litigants in New York’s rural communities; and the potential of the enhanced use of volunteer programs, technology, and other innovations in narrowing the justice gap, in addition to other important issues.

The New York State Permanent Commission on Access to Justice—whose mission is to expand access to justice and which is led by distinguished attorney Helaine Barnett, Supervising Judge of State Supreme Court in New York’s Third Judicial District Christina Ryba, and Supervising Judge of New York County Civil Court Shahabuddeen Ally—provided critical support in preparation for the Chief Judge’s public hearing. The Commission will issue a report with information and data gathered during the hearing, as well as guidance on ways to narrow New York’s justice gap, including recommendations to the Legislature and Governor regarding public resources needed to enhance access to justice throughout the state.

More information about the Commission is available at:
www.nycourts.gov/accesstojusticecommission/index.shtml

Photo: Justice Elizabeth Garry, who presides over a mid-level appellate court in New York’s Third Department—which stretches from the Canadian border to the lower Catskills to the Vermont and Massachusetts borders to the Finger Lakes—speaks at the hearing, which highlighted the existing justice gap in the State’s rural communities.

Photo: Chief Attorney of the Civil Practice of The Legal Aid Society Adriene Holder testifies during the Chief Judge’s Civil Legal Services Hearing in Albany on Monday, September 16th.