Brooklyn Bar Association Volunteer Lawyers Project Inc

“The organization's audit committee and president/ceo review and approve the form 990. It is then sent to the entire board of directors for review prior to submission.”

“The audit committee is responsible for monitoring any conflicts of interest. Each board member and officer must report any conflicts to the audit committee, and board members and officers must complete an annual disclosure questionnaire to list any potential conflicts of interest. The audit committee reviews the questionnaires and monitors any conflicts that may arise and investigates pursuant to the conflict of interest policy.”

“The president & ceo's compensation was determined and approved by the board of directors, using information from 990s of other organizations as well as compensation surveys, and then documented appropriately. On an annual basis, the board approves compensation increases as part of the annual budgeting process. The process for determining compensation of the organization's officers and key employees is set by the president & ceo using salary surveys and industry standards and includes the use of an hr/compensation professional. The president & ceo then makes the recommendations to the board as part of the budgeting process then the board approves them as part of the budget.”

“We will provide documents on request at the office of the corporation.”

“Founded in 1990, access justice brooklyn is an independent 501(c)(3) organization that provides high-quality, pro bono legal services and community education to our neighbors in need. Using the collective talents of our dedicated staff and volunteers, we help ensure a more accessible legal system and equitable brooklyn. Our approach prioritizes the most basic, essential elements and experiences of human life, including housing, family stability, and subsistence income. We work to achieve our vision of a more equitable borough through our proven pro bono model, which allows the organization to provide comprehensive services efficiently and at scale by recruiting, training, and mentoring compassionate pro bono volunteers who join our staff in providing legal services to the brooklyn community. Access justice brooklyn serves brooklyn residents, borough-wide, who are low-income and need help with civil legal issues in any of our practice areas including advanced life planning and senior legal assistance; family stabilization matters, such as custody, visitation, child and spousal support, and uncontested divorce; homeowner assistance, including foreclosure intervention and prevention; chapter 7 bankruptcy and consumer debt litigation and advocacy; and immigration and naturalization. To address these needs, we provide advice and counsel, brief services, and full legal representation, as applicable, as well as referrals for legal needs outside our scope of services. Core to our approach is our pioneering pro bono model, which engages private attorneys and other volunteers to provide community support allowing us to serve far more people than we could alone. During the past year, with the assistance of pro bono attorneys and law students, access justice brooklyn provided direct civil legal services in 4,196 matters affecting 9,543 individuals and families. We also provided pro se assistance to a total of 287 brooklyn residents, helping them better represent themselves in their legal matters, and reached 610 people through community legal education and outreach efforts throughout the borough. For people seeking help with issues outside of our scope of services, we provided 1,770 individuals with referrals for other legal and social service needs. Central to our mission and essential to our service model, access justice brooklyn recruits, trains and actively supervises volunteer lawyers and law students to provide pro bono representation, advice, brief legal services at courthouse clinics and in-office clinics, daily advice and counsel, and community legal education presentations. In the last year we deepened our relationships with private law firms, in-house counsel, and law schools to provide pro bono assistance to our clients, engaging a total of 204 pro bono attorneys, law students, and other volunteers who provided 5,524 hours of direct legal assistance and community legal education for the benefit of the brooklyn community. Access justice brooklyn also helped our clients obtain critical financial support and avoid fees and other debts, increasing their overall financial stability. As a result of our advocacy, our clients obtained $158,914 in child support arrears and $9,501 in monthly child and spousal support benefits (or $114,011 annually). We helped clients save or recover $16,305 through settlements in foreclosure actions; $342,508 through bankruptcy; $2,232,341 through avoidance, reduction, or recovery in consumer debt matters; and $153,750 in avoided or reduced department of buildings fines and penalties through representation before the office of administrative trials and hearings. We were also able to save clients $11,365 in court filing fees by obtaining fee waivers in bankruptcy and divorce cases.”