President Kathleen Sweet Joins Panel on Needs of New York’s Civil Legal Service Providers

President Kathleen Sweet Joins Panel on Needs of New York’s Civil Legal Service Providers

9.23.2025

By Jennifer Andrus

New York State Bar Association President Kathleen Sweet joined Chief Judge Rowan Wilson and members of the Court of Appeals and the Appellate Division for the annual Civil Legal Services hearing. The event brings together providers from across the state to Albany to report on the status of services for low-income resident such as eviction prevention, securing public benefits, veteran assistance and help for recent immigrants.

In opening the hearing, Chief Judge Rowan Wilson reiterated his commitment to provide state funding for civil legal services including an allocation of $150 million in the current state budget which is an increase of over $45 million from past years funding. Even with those gains, Wilson said, there is still work to be done in closing a widening gap in access to civil justice. Wilson spoke candidly on the return on investment to the taxpayer for providing legal services for the poor.

“One dollar spent on indigent legal representation returns between five and 10 dollars in avoided social costs,” he said.

Wilson also pledged to increase the number of lawyers serving rural areas and increase the salaries for legal service providers. He called on a continued partnership with the bar to provide more pro bono hours of service.

“A fair day in court must not depend on where you live or how much money you make. It is a basic right to which every New Yorker is entitled.”

In the hearing that followed, President Sweet and the other panelists heard testimony from several providers grappling with projected budget cuts or entire programs slated for elimination in the proposed federal executive budget.

“Recent and anticipated federal funding cuts pose a serious threat to the civil legal services safety net in New York state,” said Christine Fecko, executive director of New York’s IOLA Fund. “This moment requires urgency. The erosion of federal support threatens not only our sector but threatens the bedrock principle of equal justice for all.”

Fecko detailed how many of the legal service providers who receive state funding also rely heavily on federal funding for up to 20% of their operating budget. The current federal budget from the White House zeroes out funding for the Legal Services Corporation. Fecko says the federal staff has alerted its grantees to expect at least a 20% cut in funding in the near future.

“This is only one part of the funding equation,” Fecko said. “Grant funding from the Departments of Justice, Health and Human Services and Housing and Urban Development to New York state providers is at risk.”

During Fecko’s testimony, President Sweet asked how bar associations can help with the work of civil legal service providers. Fecko answered that legal aid providers spend a lot of time redirecting clients who have other needs not served by legal aid including tax or personal injury cases. A better connection with those referral services would help lessen their intake load.

“The bars have fantastic legal referral services. If we had better bridges between those legal referral programs and legal services that could help us dramatically. The state bar can help with messaging and pointing people in the right direction.”

The issue of staffing and heavy caseloads for civil legal service providers was another issue raised by several groups. Nikole Nelson, CEO of Frontline Justice detailed how a community justice worker program is finding success in meeting the needs of rural Americans.

Her organization trains and deploys community advocates to become frontline legal helpers who assist residents in applying for public benefits. These justice workers are supervised by legal aid attorneys. Nelson says her home state of Alaska has benefitted from hundreds of justice workers providing access to justice in rural areas.

Each year, the chief judge is required to hold a hearing to evaluate the continuing unmet civil legal service needs and report his findings to the New York State Legislature and the Permanent Commission on Access to Justice. You can watch the full hearing here.