On May 22nd, lawyers, students, community partners, and others committed to access to justice will join together in Buffalo for a conference entitled Access to Justice in Buffalo and Beyond: How Pro Bono Scholars and Other Volunteers Transform Lives. The University at Buffalo School of Law will bring together experts to examine issues related to the power of pro bono.
Video remarks by New York Court of Appeals Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman will open this exciting event. The Chief Judge has been a tireless advocate of access to justice and pro bono work.
This conference celebrates a number of things, including the first year of the New York Unified Court System’s Innovative Pro Bono Scholars Program. Announced by Judge Lippman in his 2014 State of the Judiciary address, 12 UB School of Law Pro Bono Scholars have joined other selected third year scholars from around the state and spent their last semester of school in full-time pro bono service for people of limited means in western New York. Like their colleagues across the state, SUNY Scholars have worked at placements with several local legal services providers, and in a law clinic, providing thousands of hours of essential legal services in their last year of law school. These Scholars will present results of their own research on poverty issues they have seen through their volunteer work, or other experiences, in a series of short panels. They will discuss the potential for increased student pro bono work, in conjunction with continued commitment to service by practicing lawyers, to make real change for those in need.
This conference also celebrates the influence of pro bono work in our region. A keynote address, entitled “Mobilizing Meaningful Change Through Student Pro Bono Work,” will be delivered by Dr. Robert Granfield, University at Buffalo Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs. Dr. Granfield has studied the positive impact of pro bono work for decades, and edited Private Lawyers and the Public Interest: The Evolving Role of Pro Bono in the Legal Profession.
The conference will close with an interactive panel of practicing attorneys who have extensive experience in pro bono work, either as a private firm attorney, a full time legal services attorney, or a professor teaching courses that meet the pro bono requirement. They will discuss the potential for increased student pro bono work, joining a commitment to service by practicing lawyers, to make real change for those in need.
