This important initiative, which was inspired by our Diversity Committee and Affinity Group members and is led by our Pro Bono Committee, pursues pro bono opportunities focused on racial injustice and inequality, including criminal justice reform, which has been a long-standing focus of our pro bono work. We remain committed to supporting actions that can effect real change. More than 120 volunteers, staff and attorneys are engaged, working on a variety of projects. Some of them are highlighted below.
Neighborhoods Now, Urban Design Forum and Van Alen Institute. The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected communities of color, and it threatens to expand the racial wealth gap in neighborhoods that already lack access to resources as a result of long-term structural inequities. In response, Urban Design Forum and Van Alen Institute launched Neighborhoods Now, an initiative connecting four neighborhoods hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic (Bed-Stuy, Washington Heights, Kingsbridge and Jackson Heights) with law firms, design professionals and community health experts to develop safe and effective reopening strategies.
We are advising community-based organizations on a range of legal issues that have arisen relating to permitting and city requests, Department of Buildings complaints, leasing challenges, nonconforming uses, and others.
Veterans Assistance Project, City Bar Justice Center. The Veterans Assistance Project helps disabled veterans apply for medical benefits after they have been previously denied. The disabled veteran client base is approximately 75% persons of color, and these New Yorkers typically face a range of systemic challenges on top of handling often deeply difficult disability conditions. Kramer Levin attorneys are working with those veterans whose claims have been denied to assist them in assessing their claim and preparing the necessary paperwork.
Small Business Clinic, NYC Business Solutions. Kramer Levin is collaborating with the Harlem and Morningside Heights offices of NYC Business Solutions to help low and lower-income entrepreneurs in Upper Manhattan and the Bronx as they restart, maintain and grow their businesses. Many of these businesses have been especially hard hit by COVID-19 and the shutdown. They are in great need of legal assistance — whether it be in regards to Paycheck Protection Program loans and forgiveness; seeking debt and contractual forgiveness with existing vendors, service providers and lenders; or challenges regarding reopening, etc. Kramer Levin hosts monthly clinics to assist those businesses and our lawyers meet with clients at the virtual clinic.
Civil Complaint Review Board Assistance, The Legal Aid Society. Kramer Levin joined the Legal Aid Society to help educate and guide individuals through the steps required to file a complaint with the Civil Complaint Review Board (CCRB).
Voting Hotline, Election Protection. Election Protection is the nation’s largest nonpartisan voter assistance organization. Kramer Levin volunteers staffed phone banks to answer voter questions and ensure fair voting practices throughout the country in advance of Election Day.
Election Day Poll Monitoring, Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund. Kramer Levin volunteers signed up to be nonpartisan poll monitors at various election sites in New York City on Election Day. The project focuses on ensuring that everyone who should be able to vote was not turned away, and that conditions at the polling stations were as they should be.
Kramer Levin Joins Law Firm Antiracism Alliance (LFAA). Kramer Levin joined the Law Firm Antiracism Alliance (LFAA), whose growing membership features more than 120 firms across the United States. The LFAA was formed to leverage resources from the private bar in conjunction with legal service organizations to amplify the voices of communities and individuals oppressed by racism, and to use the law as a vehicle for change that benefits communities of color. Together with our recently formed Racial Justice Initiative, our membership in the LFAA underscores the firm’s commitment to promoting racial equality and working against discrimination in any form.