Chief judge wants funding for civil lawyers for poor

Long Island's main source of civil attorneys for the poor, Nassau Suffolk Law Services, has had a tough year. Faced with dwindling funds during tight economic times, it laid off eight lawyers and shut down programs helping domestic violence victims and those seeking child support.

The result: "More and more people going to court without lawyers," said executive director Jeffrey Seigel. "It's a strain on the system."

Now, the state's chief judge, Jonathan Lippman, is proposing infusing millions of dollars to provide lawyers for the poor facing foreclosures, eviction, the loss of welfare benefits and other civil legal problems. In contrast to criminal cases, civil court has no constitutionally protected right to counsel.

Wednesday, Lippman will present a 2011-2012 budget that - for the first time in state history - allocates a steady stream of funding for civil attorneys for the poor. He is asking for $25 million a year for the next four years, according to officials who have seen the proposal, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The request comes after the expected released Tuesday of a Lippman-appointed task force report saying 3 million people with cases in the state's civil court system this year went without attorneys. They slow down proceedings and more often lose their cases, forcing them to seek help from other state agencies at taxpayer expense, according to sources.

"Do you let these people fall over a cliff with all of the resulting costs to society?" Lippman told Newsday Monday. The New York Times first reported the budget request Monday.

The total budget for the Office of Court Administration is now about $2.7 billion.

Lippman's proposal faces approval by the State Legislature. Assemb. Helene Weinstein (D-Brooklyn), the Judiciary Committee chairwoman, said she was "optimistic" about the extra money, which she called "extremely necessary." Senate leaders and Governor-elect Andrew Cuomo did not respond to requests for comment.

Samuel Levine, a former Nassau District Court judge who has long advocated better legal representation for the poor, said the Legislature should go further - giving the indigent an absolute right to counsel in civil matters involving their health and welfare and forcing all attorneys to provide 50 hours of pro bono service annually.

"It's one of the most important problems the legal profession has in New York state," Levine said.

The federal Legal Services Corp. in Washington provides much of the funding for groups like Nassau Suffolk Legal Services, along with private donations, grants and the Interest on Lawyer Account Fund, or IOLA, which draws money from interest on escrow accounts, a sum that fluctuates year to year.

Other groups, like the Nassau County Coalition Against Domestic Violence's legal unit, say they still don't know what the state budget will give them in 2011.

"On Jan. 1, we could have no money," said Lois Schwaeber, the coalition's legal director.